R score
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The R score (cote de rendement au collégial, CRC or côte R in French) is a statistical method which classifies CEGEP students' academic performances in Quebec. It is used by Quebec universities for selection purposes.
The R score is in fact a z-score to which an indicator of group strength (ISG) has been added.
R score = ( Z score + ISG + C ) x D
The R score calculation is done for every CEGEP course, excepting physical education courses, high-school level upgrading courses, and courses in which fewer than 6 students are registered. However, it is important to note that Physical Education courses will be given an R-score in the Fall 2007 semester and in subsequent semesters. The final, computed R score is the result of the weighted averaging of all the R scores from the individual courses. Also, an additional score of 0.5 is added to the overall R score to a student graduating with an International Baccalaureate degree or a DEC (Diplôme d'études collégiales) en Sciences, Lettres et Arts.
The Z score gives an indication of the grade of the student with respect to the grades of other students in the class.
The ISG is the Indicator of the Strength of the Group. It serves to indicate the relative strength of the student group that a student was part of during their course. This group strength is determined using the weighted grade results of all of the courses taken in Secondary IV and V for all of the group's students. The ISG was implemented primarily to offset the advantage enjoyed by high-performing students in weak class groups over equally high-performing students in strong class groups. The inclusion of the ISG in the determination of the R score allows for a more equitable comparison of students between themselves, regardless of their CEGEP's academic rank, although its efficacy remains in dispute.
ISG = ( Average grade results of Secondary IV and V of all the group's students - 75 ) ÷ 14
The addition of a constant C (C=5) eliminates the possibility of a negative value in the score. The final operation, in multiplying the sum of all the preceding values by the D constant (D=5), positions them over a fixed amplitude scale. Thus, the minimum R score possible is 0, and the maximum R score possible is 50. The average R score is between 15 and 35.
Most R scores do indeed range from 15 to 35; average marks should result in an R score of 25.
In addition, courses having a grade of 60% or below are given a reduced weighting in the overall R-score. In the first term, failed courses are weighted at 0.25 and subsequent failures at 0.5. This correction has been in effect since October 2004.
[edit] Criticism
Firsthand experience suggests that the R score is not as ideal a tool as it was meant to be. A recurring complaint from students is that the ISG does not seem to sufficiently offset the advantage enjoyed by students in weak groups. Such students have the opportunity to obtain marks much higher than the low average of their class, thus earning an elevated z-score, whereas students in strong groups cannot earn such high z-scores. The presence of the IGS is supposed to work to the advantage of students in strong groups. Thus, sometimes, the best students in weak groups have lower R scores than the best students in strong groups (for example students in enriched programs). Nevertheless, the average R score in a strong group is generally higher than the average R score in a weak group due to a low standard deviation which helps bring the Z score up. Furthermore, students are not given a different R score after fixed intervals of time. Their R score constantly changes, and it is sometimes unclear whether this oscillation is due to a correction or an evolution taking new marks into account.
Such perceived weaknesses of the R score are particularly worrying, because it is the main and sometimes only criterion considered by Quebec universities during the admissions process. Since the R score is perceived as an absolute measure of a student's academic performance regardless of his/her CEGEP's academic rank, differences smaller than 0.5 are often used to discriminate between candidates applying to programs with fixed quotas, such as medicine, dentistry or law.
