The paper argues that contemporary test validity theory places the consequences of testing on the lives of all college applicants at the back of the test validation argument. It introduces the notion of test efficacy as a process to gather evidence on claims on consequences of testing on all college applicants that can be traced back to validity.…

England has a 'pre-qualification' system of higher education admissions, where applications and offers are made to young people before exam results are received. While in most cases offers are conditional on achieving a grade target in A Level exams, recent years have seen an exponential growth in 'unconditional offers', where the offer of a place…

College admissions in many countries are based on a centrally administered test. Applicants invest a great deal of resources to improve their performance on the test, and there is growing concern about the large costs associated with these activities. We consider modifying such tests by introducing performance-disclosure policies that pool…

The purpose of this study is to examine the characteristics, problems and possible solutions in the international student selection process faced by higher education institutions in Turkey. The study group is composed of academic and administrative executives who are involved in the foreign student selection process of 5 universities in the Aegean…

It is critical both for candidates who apply for programs that require special aptitude and the professors who teach in these programs whether those students' scores on placement exams are correctly calculated. Because student's ability profile and the quality of education in these programs may be directly affected by how candidates placement…

Addresses the central issue of test biases in college entrance examinations. Utilizes differential item functioning analysis (DIF) to compare types of questions, fields of knowledge, and male and female responses in Turkish entrance examinations. Reveals intermittent biases and suggests the tests be used more for assessment than selection. (MJP)