News
New Score Reports Debut in June
Beginning June 1, 2000, MCP exam score reports will omit section scoring.
Beginning June 1, 2000 Microsoft will issue score reports for new MCP exams in a different format. One significant change is the omission of section scoring. According to Microsoft, test takers would often use section scoring to gauge performance on the exam. But introduction of several new exam item types, such as partial credit for partial right answers, made section scoring "inappropriate and invalid," according to a press release available at Microsoft's MCP Web site.
"Candidates who were accustomed to relying on the section score feedback for self-assessment may feel this information is no longer available to
them," says Tina Koyama, an account manager in Microsoft's Certification and Skills Assessment group. Instead, she suggests that candidates turn to offerings from MCP Practice Test Providers, which "are designed to provide diagnostic feedback." There are currently two official MCP Practice Test Providers, MeasureUp (http://www.measureup.com) and Self-Test Software (http://www.selftestsoftware.com).
The new score reports apply only to exams being introduced after June 1. Microsoft has no plans to change score reports for currently available exams, but Koyama indicated that Microsoft "may change the score report format of [a current] exam if it is republished" in the future.