is there some sort of casualty when you take the test during a certain month? maybe the octover test is easier than the november, or decembeer is the hardest…
Good question and the answer is “Yes”…but it’s not as simple as “choosing an easier month”, nor would taking an “easier” form of the test be a guaranteed route to a higher scaled/percentile score. The distribution of the forms is random.
Additionally, here’s some correspondence I had from SSAT back in 2010, in response to a question I had:
When creating many editions of a test, it is impossible to make them exactly the
same level of difficulty. Though the differences are very small, there will
always be “easier” and “harder” forms.
Therefore, SSAT statistically determines the “level of difficulty” of each new
test section through pretesting. Pretest takers write both a baseline form and
a new test form. The sections are scored and the resulting data allows SSAT to
create a difficulty factor. This factor indicates how much easier or harder the
new test form is in comparison to the baseline form. This factor, which
compensates for the very small differences in difficulty, is applied to a
student’s raw score just before it is converted to an SSAT Scaled Score.
If a form is easier than the baseline form, the raw score will be slightly
decreased. Likewise, if a form is harder than the baseline form, the raw score
will be slightly increased. At the SSAT possible score range extremes (low and
high) this anomaly is apparent, however, it can not be removed as long as the
“level of difficulty” of each form is taken into consideration. It is simply a
limitation of the scoring process.
My inquiry was based on something I noticed between two of my older daughter’s test sittings. I wondered if, on certain forms/editions of the test, it would be impossible to get an 800 on a section even if you got every question correct. And the answer is “Yes, that is possible.”
I also tend to think that the October and November test sittings are “Prime time” therefore a more competitive peer group. December and January may be a bit more of a what shall we call it, “Laid Back” cohort?
Remember though a student isn’t just compared to those people in his or her sitting.