[Coleman]

1 Each answer sheet is run through an electronic scanner. This transfers the information directly to cartridges, creating a record for that sheet.

2 The scanning cartridge is processed by computer. The computer program checks each record for invalid or missing identification data and scores the student's responses.

3 The computer counts how many answers the student got wrong, then deducts a fraction of that number from the number of right answers. For exams with five-choice items, the fraction is one quarter; for those with four-choice items, it is one third. This type of scoring is appropriate for tests where students are not expected to have mastered all of the material that might be tested. With this procedure, the average multiple-choice score under purely random guessing is zero.

4 The total score is now rounded to the nearest whole number; if the score falls halfway between two whole numbers, it is rounded upward. If the student scores less than zero as a result of the correction for guessing, the score is replaced with a zero.

5 Finally, the computer creates a record for the student, containing his or her total multiple-choice score, and any subsection scores needed for calculating the composite score.

After the 2002 administration, nearly 938,000 answer sheets were returned to ETS and then scanned in approximately two weeks.