There are many potential sources of test bias besides that of the particular item content within the test. The other potential sources, designated here as program and utilization must also be encompassed in any thorough and effective program to increase the accuracy of assessment for members of ethnic minorities. As usual, the research findings…

The purpose of this study was to establish score equivalencies between the College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and its Spanish language equivalent, the College Board Prueba de Aptitud Academica (PAA). For the first phase, two sets of items, one originally appearing in Spanish and the other in English, were chosen; and each set was…

A survey was conducted of California community colleges to determine their practices concerning testing used in matriculation and placement. Questionnaires were sent to 95 colleges, 77 of which returned the completed questionnaire. Responses were tabulated according to size of college, distinguishing between testing required for matriculation and…

Form 5 of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) was administered to over 35,000 male and female students in grade nine through twelve. The sample was selected to be representative of the students in the national high school population. Normative percentile tables were developed for each subtest and composite for each grade and…

The Computer Aptitude, Literacy, and Interest Profile (CALIP) is a standardized test battery with six subtests designed to assess computer-related abilities of individuals between 12 and 60 years old. The CALIP was developed to assess computer-related aptitudes of younger or inexperienced populations, including talented minority persons and…

Presents new evidence to show that nuclear radiation is associated with impaired cognitive functions. Links changing levels of radiation from U.S. nuclear bomb testing to the long decline--and now the beginnings of a rise--in Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. (Author/RW)

Three former secretaries of education--William Bennett, Lauro Cavazos, and Terrel Bell--have touted state-level SAT scores as proof that educational financing does not matter. Recently, Brian Powell and Lala Carr Steelman adjusted scores for participation rate and detected a very strong relationship between expenditures and SAT scores. Bigger…

Standardized tests have been introduced to promote more uniform measurements of cognitive abilities and science achievement. With faculty redirecting their efforts to conform to the design and content of standardized tests, tests like the National Board of Medical Examiners examinations, have begun to direct the content of medical education. (MLW)

Two sides of debate on racial norming of aptitude tests are argued: that aptitude tests cannot be neutral to experience because aptitude itself is not neutral to experience, thus fairness to everyone is not possible in a single test; and that, predictively, ability tests are essentially color-blind and racial norming satisfies affirmative action…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of two different admission procedures (high school grades/scholastic aptitude test (SAT) versus high school grades/SAT + interview) to a program in professional psychology on students' and supervisors' experiences of the group climate in psychotherapy supervision groups during an eighteen-month…

The feasibility of using item response theory (IRT) as a psychometric model for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) Aptitude Test was addressed by assessing the reasonableness of the assumptions of item response theory for GRE item types and examinee populations. Items from four forms and four administrations of the GRE Aptitude Test were…

Several samples of Black and White students were drawn from the 1970 PSAT administration in Georgia and studied for item x race interaction on both the verbal and mathematical sections of the test. When subsamples of candidates were drawn from their respective racial groups, matched on mathematical for the study of verbal items and matched on…

The probability sample was a two-stage stratified sample. The first-stage units were schools and the second-stage units were students. Because certain subpopulations were oversampled, the data had to be weighted for analysis purposes. The analyses concerned contrasting North Carolina and its various subpopulations with the nation on standardized…

The relationship of retest effects from pretest to posttest 2 to 4 weeks later was studied for 2,014 elementary school children (second through sixth graders) taking a battery of 26 multifactor aptitude tests--the Structure of Intellect Learning Abilities Test. Implications of score gains are discussed for age and gender groups. (SLD)

Reviews notable education books: "The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager" (Thomas Hine); "The Big Test" (Nicholas Lemann); "The Educated Child" (William Bennett); "Lost Boys" (James Garbarino); "The Schools Our Children Deserve" (Alfie Kohn); "Ready or Not" (Kay Hymowitz); "High…