Failed CE again should I move on?
So I just took CE for the second time and unfortunately did not pass. I'm a bit frustrated because I didn't improve. My score report shows that I am close to passing and this time I received the same exact scaled score as my first attempt at CE. The positive I guess I can take away is that I didn't do much worse this time.
What else can I study to get better at Content Area 2: Construction Observation? On both attempts my score report shows that I got the same exact 62% when next to it shows 74% is needed to pass this section.
My weak spot on the first attempt was Content Area 3: Administrative Procedures & Protocols needing 75% to pass and I received a merely 54%. This second time I got a 70% which I was happy is an improvement but still not enough! and unfortunately at the expense of Preconstruction Activities and Project Closeout and Evaluation going down a little bit this time.
On my first attempt I felt really confident while taking the exam I studied hard. 17-20hrs a week for a couple of months before. I studied all about the A201, AHPP, and BCI details, took a ton of practice tests from Ballast, Black Spectacles, Designer Hacks, and weARE. I was passing all the practice material. After I got the first score report I knew I was close to passing so booked it 60 days after and doubled down and kept studying.
Now as I'm trying to plan out my year of when to take my next tests... If I take it again in another 60 days and fail a third time I won't be able to take CE for 6 months. So I plan on taking a few months off and later in the summer and get back to the studying grid to take CE again this Fall.
Does anyone think I should just change course and start studying for PA next instead of taking a break? I know it's a completely different exam but just trying to keep going.
Any advice I appreciate and hopefully we get it on the next one. Thanks for taking the time to read my post. - Mike
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Know that you don’t have to “pass” a section to pass the exam division and the percentage in the right hand column is not the number you need to pass but rather the average score of everyone who passes the division (so if I barely passed and you aced the test, the average score would almost certainly be much higher than the minimum you need to pass….so if you missed a overall pass by, say, three questions, and you were trying to study for the retake, it wouldn’t matter at all where the extra three questions came from. They could come from a section you did well on or from a section you did poorly on and it wouldn’t make a difference….but since some sections represent less than five percent of the questions you’ll see and others represent nearly 40%….it’s much more likely that the extra questions will come from the larger section and that one is better to study….but here’s the thing: even if you knew you needed to study “construction observation”…where would you go to study that? That could mean mastic flashing or weld types or roof isolation types…same thing with “administrative procedures and protocols” that could mean CM contracts or pay app accounting, or insurance! How does that help you? It does not. These fail reports are nearly useless for strategizing your studying…they are, however useful for learning how close you came to passing. What was your scaled score?
-Michael Ermann, Amber Book creator -
Michael Ermann thank you very much for this insight that makes a lot of sense now.
For both my attempts my scaled score is 520 and underneath where it states this there is this quote below
"*Scaled results range from 100 to 800 with a result of 550 representing the minimum threshold of acceptable performance. This scale allows candidates to have a common metric for interpreting scores across administrations and divisions. Scaled scores are not available for exams taken prior to June 1, 2022."
So if 550 is the minimum for passing does that mean both times I didn't pass CE by a matter of three or five questions? If so should just keep going with CE and do a retake soon?
I was thinking about this a lot today about how I could possibly take a third attempt in August with my schedule looking good to study throughout most of July/August.
I feel that I know this content pretty well by now however the way NCARB ask questions I think is really unfair when sometimes they use different wording on the exam of basic terminology which we study.
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That score means that you missed a pass by two questions….you might consider taking it again…but keep studying the technical content in the meantime…ass you know from your two attempts, nearly a third of the test items on CE are pro practice content, so as you study for the other three technical tests, you’ll automatically increase your chances of success with CE should you fail your third attempt. Remember that you have to study that content ANYWAY for PA PPD and PDD…good luck
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Ha... the fact that you say I missed it by TWO questions (facepalm) I'm going to retake in August. I know I can do this. and I agree it can only help me, in the long run, to start studying the technical test content. I always planned on signing up for Amber Book once I completed these first three exams but better sooner rather than later! Michael Ermann Thank you for such quick responses today. You really helped me today not feel down and out about this attempt. I really appreciate what you do for this community Mike. Cheers.
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This may not make you feel better but remember that the overwhelming majority of failed exams are missed by just a few questions…and the overwhelming majority of passed exams are also by just a few…your passes may have been by only one question and you understandably assume that you did everything right and you fails are by two or maybe even one question and you assume that you did everything wrong…better to think of these exams probabilistically…given X total hours available to study, and with a surprisingly low penalty for failing a division (costs 200+ dollars and wait 60days for a retake) …how do you give yourself the highest likelihood of getting licensed in the least amount of time…that will involve, for many people, a few failed divisions on the way.
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Just wanted to jump in with a word of encouragement. I thought I’d breeze through CE because I have 15 years experience, most of it in the field. But it was hard! I really underestimated how much pro practice content would be on the exam and you’re right that NCARB’s way of asking questions takes some getting used to. It feels awful to fail, but these exams are not a direct reflection of professional competence. Both fails AND passes are some combination of experience, preparation (studying), and luck. We tend to underestimate the luck part.
Anyway, I don’t know whether you should move on to PA or take CE again right away, but the one thing you shouldn’t do is give up! Hang in there — You’re much closer than you think.
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Christine Williamson Cronin Thank you! Your video on Mastic posted on this forum was a huge help to me and I'm sure countless others so I appreciate you chiming in here!
I wholeheartedly agree about Luck. I've been working on residential and commercial projects for well over 5 years now, I've studied contracts and a ton of practice material, and still NCARB’s way of asking CE questions is tricky! But thank you for the encouragement this was reassuring to hear from Michael that I was close both times. Still thinking about the few questions I know I found troubling. I'm still hungry for it.
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