The need to assess and understand students' strengths in choosing their future careers is essential. Aptitude exams like the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE) and Academic performance via Grades are important data used as the basis for determining student career strength. This study employed descriptive-correlational research, where…

First- and higher-order factor analyses are explained from a conceptual rather than a mathematical perspective. A case is made for performing higher-order factor analysis when factors are theoretically related. Actual scores of 301 children on 24 ability measures are used to demonstrate interpretation of second-order factors using the FORTRAN…

An important but too infrequently considered methodology that can be used in research, especially research focusing on Pearson's "r" (B. Walsh, 1996) or the multiple "R" (see B. Thompson, 1992) involves testing for moderator or mediator variable effects. As explained by M. Gall, W. Borg, and J. Gall (1996), moderator analysis…

This is an introductory comment by the organizer of the 1986 symposium of the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). The symposium was organized as a memorial to the late Roger Lennon, former president of NCME and a scholar in the field of educational measurement. (JAZ)

Past studies have indicated that job performance in general tends not to decline with age, but performance on at least several aptitudes does decline noticeably with age. If these relationships hold up over the entire occupational range, there is the possibility that aptitude correlations with job performance may be moderated by age. To…

In a study to identify brief forms of the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery (MAB), 30 samples of approximately 250 respondents each were drawn from a population of 4,928 adolescents to evaluate by replicated multivariate regression analyses the best combinations of scales for predicting MAB total scores. MAB subscales measuring Comprehension,…

The assessment of brain impairment is important in the vocational rehabilitation of persons with neuropsychological dysfunction. To determine the sensitivity of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) to lateralized cerebral dysfunction compared to neuropsychological evaluation, 79 epileptic subjects were assigned to one of three groups…

A factor analytic study was designed to examine the factor structure of a battery of 17 tests administered to 100 students at the primary, intermediate, and advanced (grades 7-10) levels and to determine differences in factor structures for the three groups. The tests, measures of academic achievement, included the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for…

Since at least 1897, educational researchers have reported, with great frequency, "no significant differences" with respect to studies investigating the effects on educational outcomes of various treatments, suggesting that many educational variables are relatively impotent. A possible reason for at least many of the no-difference findings may lie…

Recently there appears to have been an increase in interest in the relative power of general ability and narrower cognitive aptitudes to predict real world performance in training programs and on the job. This area has important practical implications for personnel selection and classification, particularly for large organizations such as the…

The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of correlated dimensions and differential ability on one dimension on parameter estimation when using a two-dimensional item response theory model. Multidimensional analysis of simulated two-dimensional item response data fitting the M2PL model of M. D. Reckase (1985, 1986) was conducted using…

As test standards and research literature in general indicate, definitions of test bias and item bias vary considerably, as do the results of existing methods of identifying biased items. The situation is further complicated by issues of content, context, construct, and criterion. In achievement tests, for example, content validity may impose…

A quantitative method, meta-analysis, is used to integrate research findings from a representative group of 38 coaching studies. Because different studies reported results on different scales, effect size was used to transform all results to a common metric. This meta-analysis showed that there are two distinct literatures on the effectiveness of…

This paper examines the differences between student performance on two separate measures, the Spatial Visualization portion of the "Differential Aptitude Test" and the "Geometry Content Knowledge Test." Results from the hybrid quantitative/qualitative study indicate that although there were no differences in performance on spatial visualization…

Describes the effort the state of Alabama has exerted to construct and use content-oriented tests valid for ranking applicants for employment in the state merit system. (IRT)