Disillusioned with Medal Tests

[dancingirldancing]

Have anyone noticed that NO ONE ever fail their medal test in Australia ?

Well, I have not even seen anyone scored under 85% in my studio OR in the other 2 studios I frequented previously.

Normally someone good will score about 94 to 98%, someone who dances so so with score about 90-94% and someone who just walk around doing the steps (eg no cuban motion at all in latin, no swing in swing dances) who forgets half his/her routines will score 86-90%.

I know that you dont want to discourage people from doing these medals but these extremely high often undeserved marks really lose the value of doing these medal tests for me.

I dont think I deserve anything over 90% I would rather get a 70 % or 80% and when I am really really good to then get something like 90%.

What do you think about this ?

[wonderwoman]

It's still going to be quite some time before I comp out of bronze 1, but from what I have witnessed... If a person sticks with it long enough to get to a medal test, they are probably proficient in everything, meaning not only can they walk through it, but can apply the technique reasonably well for the level they are. I think that instructors are the ones qualified to assess a students ability. And they want their students to keep going, not get discouraged by low scores. But I think I kind of get where you're coming from. You want to excel. You want to stand apart from the crowd of average dancers in some way.

It's kind of like how I felt in high school... If I got A's in honors classes and someone taking remedial classes also got straight A's also, we had the same GPA.

[waltzguy]

I don't know about Aussie. But in the US, I find that the results of medal tests or progress tests to be inflated. There's other things that are inflated too, but that's another thread.

To fail a student means the student is dejected. A dejected student means ... .

[wonderwoman]

Originally Posted by waltzguy

I don't know about Aussie. But in the US, I find that the results of medal tests or progress tests to be inflated. There's other things that are inflated too, but that's another thread.

To fail a student means the student is dejected. A dejected student means ... .

They don't buy no more lessons! :P

[etp777]

Heh, yeah, I've noticed every passes, and same on proficiency at our FA comps. That being said, while the scores cover a very limited range (80 and up or so), they definitely are scored in that range. So best dancers are definitely at top of the range, and people who can't dance are definitely at bottom.

[Terpsichorean Clod]

There was at least some social promotion in the medal exams I've seen. I've observed awful "silver" exams, pretty good pre-bronze exams, decent intermediate bronze exams - everyone passed. It's really just a bunch of steps graded at an arbitrary standard. In this case, the standard was set below your personal standard. If the studio/examiners wanted to, they could set the bar so high that only the top pros could pass.

I don't think you should do medal exams for the score. You should do them because:
-you like the structure/goal (especially if one doesn't compete)
-you want to present some of your dancing in public
-you want the examiner's comments (written feedback, not scores) on your dancing

Medal exams are more of a personal thing. If you're comparing scores with other students, there's this sort of event where judges rank dancers relative to each other called a "competition" that might be a better fit for you.

[waltzguy]

I think if you're an amateur wanting to become a professional, then medal exams could provide some level of "proof" of your proficiency. But, like me, if you want to dance as an amateur with no goal of being a pro, I would not bother with medal exams. Competitions, IMO, are a much better judge of how you do. But that is another thread.

The basis is simple, with medal exams, everyone can get a 99, A+, etc. At comps, only one couple can get first place, except for a tie. So, it's a much better way than to differentiate yourself, good or bad. Again though, that's another thread.

[waltzguy]

Originally Posted by Terpsichorean Clod

there's this type of event where judges rank dancers relative to each other called a "competition" that might be a better fit for you.

Ooops, I didn't read your thread carefully, I ended writing basically the same thing.

[waltzguy]

Originally Posted by wonderwoman

They don't buy no more lessons! :P

Yup!

[tanya_the_dancer]

My guess is that people who would fail them do not bother to take them in the first place. That's why the results are skewed.