This study investigated whether the "Big-5" structure (a 5-factor model used to capture variance in adult personality) can be obtained from parental ratings of 4-year-old children using traditional markers of this structure that are derived primarily from research on adult personality. The study also examined whether Big-5 markers can be…

California's College of the Canyons has used the four Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project (MDTP) tests to assess students' abilities in basic and college math since spring 1989. These four reports dated June 1993, July 1993, May 1994, and June 1994 examine the predictive validity of the MDTP tests and the cut scores used to place students. The…

The study hypothesized that scatter analysis of the three subtest scale scores on the Meeting Street School Screening Test (gross motor patterning, visual-perceptual-motor, and language) given at the beginning of first grade would prove to be a more accurate predictor of future placement in a learning disabilities program than the cut-off total…

The predictive validity of the Simultaneous Technique for Acuity and Readiness Testing (START), a developmental screening approach, was assessed with school performance as outcome criterion. The sample consisted of over 1,000 rural, preschool children between 54 and 66 months of age who were screened over 3 successive years. Follow-up achievement…

The purpose of this study was to test the predictive efficiency of the Graduate Record Examination Analytical (GRE-A) score when used in combination with other predictors for doctoral candidacy decisions in an educational psychology department. It was hypothesized that the GRE-A would be a more efficient predictor than faculty ratings on a…

Texts on measurement theory report many studies on the consistency of intelligence test scores, but the stability of academic achievement over the school years has never been adequately studied. To investigate the stability of achievement test scores from fourth grade to college, a random sample of 100 students was selected from a 1978 graduating…

In 1986, Seattle (Washington) Pacific University (SPU) chose to research the relationship of students' entering grade point average (EGPA) and scores on the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) to students' GPA achieved while attending SPU's graduate school (GGPA). Subjects were 350 students admitted from 1973 through…

The final report of the Bilingual Prediction Project presents a review of the project from its inception in 1975 through completion in 1979. The main goal was to predict a student's academic ability in English. A prediction index was constructed in two stages. The first stage was a description of the target population and their school setting, as…

Drawing from work on the meta-analysis of over 500 validation studies of the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) by the U.S. Employment Service, the paper presents a methodological message and a substantive message. Gene Glass's methods, as used by Edwin Ghiselli in personnel selection, ignore study artifacts (sampling error, error of…

Demonstrates that variables that are the basis for admitting students to graduate school must have low correlations with future measures of the success of these students. The question of interest in the admissions procedure is how well the variables evaluate the applicant population rather than the selected students. (GS)

The measurement of personality characteristics via the analysis of verbal communication is of interest due to its unobtrusive, accessible, and objective nature. The Mahl Speech Disturbance Indices, a procedure for assessing anxiety on the basis of speech disturbance patterns, was examined to assess the nature and reliability of the indices and…

The correction for attenuation formulas for partial, multiple, and canonical correlation coefficients are discussed and the effects of measurement errors on these statistics are explored. The notation is standardized and the derivation extended where appropriate. It is shown that as the reliabilities of the predictors become more disparate, the…

An investigation of how well the predictor variables of credit hours, student credit hours, contact hours, student contact hours, level of instruction, and academic rank correlate with faculty self-report measures of time-use for each class taught showed that only contact hours were a reliable measure of faculty effort as measured in time for a…

The hypothesis that the Zax Information Prifile (ZIP) would differentiate between help-seeking college students and non-help-seeking students was supported by the data. The potential use of the ZIP as a predictor of college adjustment and as a useful entrance screening device is discussed. (Author/EVH)

Common factor scores were compared to unfactored data-level variables as predictors in terms of the correlation of a criterion with the predicted value in multiple regression equations applied to replication (cross-validation) samples. (Editor)