Heather Fearn was intrigued by the factors that might have led her higher-performing students to talk in historically mature ways about unseen sources without any prior knowledge of the topic in hand. She began to wonder if what she was hearing was not best accounted for by a content-free disciplinary aptitude, but rather that it might be the…

The purpose of this ex post facto investigation was to determine the characteristics of and need for developmental education in the college applicant pool in 2006. Demographic data and COMPASS placement test results were gathered for the 1,079 applicants in 2006 who had complete records. These data were considered in the aggregate and in subsets…

Imposing time limits on tests can serve a range of important functions. Time limits are essential, for example, if speed of performance is an integral component of what is being measured, as would be the case when testing such skills as how quickly someone can type. Limiting testing time also helps contain expenses associated with test…

Rebuts articles asserting that the steep decline in school test scores has been stopped. (IRT)

Many community colleges have a need for a mathematics placement test which tests achievement for initial placement in the different levels of mathematics classes. Merrit College investigated this need by examining the scores of all the entering students who did not complete the mathematics section of the School and College Ability Test which they…

Student scores on standardized tests have steadily declined since 1965. Researchers conducted a literature review and completed data analysis to determine the reasons for this decrease, assessing trends for the period from 1965 to 1983. The kinds of tests most commonly used are aptitude, achievement, and tests of personal and social…

A study dealt with the use of the Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) within a job component validity framework as the basis for estimating aptitude requirements of jobs represented by scores on commercially available tests as contrasted with scores on General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) tests. Procedures generally consisted of the use of job…

Male and female enlistees were compared on the basis of their performance on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. Mean Aptitude Index scores were compared for male and female enlistees on the original testing and on retest. Males scored higher on mechanical and electronics, and females scored higher on administrative and general. Both…

This synthesis of findings from 40 studies showed that students can raise their test scores by taking practice tests. The size of the gains were a function of three factors: identical vs. parallel forms of the test, number of practice tests, and ability level of the student. (Author/BW)

Asserts that the expected consequences of ability test results can constrain performance. Predicts that status processes, including status differences and differences in resulting rewards and costs, will produce differences in ability test scores between high-status and low-status individuals. Finds expected performance differences between test…

This report is the second part of a study designed to construct a test for measuring musical aptitude of persons from various age groups. It covers the construction of the test, material, item analysis, reliability, validity, and possible future steps. The test is composed of musical recordings, determined from pilot studies, that the test groups…

The Miller Analogies Test, speeded and somewhat powerized, is a highly verbal test that calls for analogies using words drawn from various academic disciplines. It has been given since 1961 to those who requested it and to all those who proceeded through the Master's program at the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. Of 821 students who took…

Students (N=22,923) who took the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test were classified by the four general undergraduate fields of study and by gender. Analyses were performed of the impact of gender and field of study on GRE scores after controlling for SAT scores. (TJH)

Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test results from Spring 1984 through Fall 1986 were analyzed for 14,768 males and 16,574 females with regard to gender differences at the item level. For four of the six subtests, differences were related to item subject content; this was untrue for the two quantitative subtests. (SLD)

The effect of different item formats (multiple choice and open) on gender differences in test performance was studied for the Swedish Diagrams, Tables, and Maps (DTM) test with 90 secondary school students. The change to open format resulted in no reduction in gender differences on the DTM. (SLD)