AMERICAN BOARD OF PEDIATRICS

IN THE November 1958 issue of Pediatrics (22:1001, 1958) the Examinations Committee of the American Board of Pediatrics published a detailed account of the written examination to be given on January 9, 1959. Since the general composition of the written test of January 8, 1960, will be similar to that of the 1959 test, the present report will be brief. All candidates who will take the test are, however, advised to read the previous publication. The 1959 examination was taken by 600 candidates. Grades ranged from a low of 30 to a high of 88.25, a variation quite adequate for differential selection. After considerable study the passing grade was placed at 47.5. On this basis there were 558 candidates (93%) who were successful and who accordingly were notified of their eligibility of oral examination. Forty-two candidates (7%) failed to attain the designated passing grade. Other pertinent statistics follow: mean, 63.35; mode, 67.02, median, 64.58; first quartile, 56.84; third quartile, 70.88. Readers may again note that the mean and mode are separated by 3.7 points, an indication of continued success in producing an examination skewed toward the lower grades. The P.E.m of 2.21 is slightly but not significantly higher than that of last year. Those who compare the foregoing data with those of a year ago will observe that the current passing grade of 47.5 is appreciably lower than that of 51.5 for the 1958 test. The lower grade suggests at first glance that the 1959 examination may have been considerably more difficult than that of 1958. It is therefore all the more interesting to note that the 1959 test yielded five grades higher than 85 which was the top mark last year. Suspicion was therefore aroused that an increasing number of less well prepared foreign candidates might be exerting an undue influence on the passing grade. The suspicion has now been confirmed. Five hundred American candidates earned an average grade of 65.07 and only 26 (5.2%) were below the established passing grade.