The aim of this study is to show how a many-facet Rasch measurement model (MFRM) can be used for quality control whilst monitoring a musical aptitude examination. The data used in this study was gathered from a musical aptitude examination which was applied in 2019-2020 academic year for selecting teacher candidates to a music education department…

For educators seeking to differentiate instruction, cognitive ability tests sampling multiple content domains, including verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal reasoning, provide superior information about student strengths and weaknesses compared with unidimensional reasoning measures. However, these ability tests have not been fully evaluated with…

Psychologists and educational specialists with expertise in areas related to intelligence testing responded to a questionnaire dealing with possible racial and socioeconomic bias of IQ tests. Overall, experts hold positive attitudes about the validity and usefulness of intelligence and aptitude tests. (Author/LHW)

This paper analyzes research findings about the role of values and beliefs in aptitude testing. Indications are found that the ongoing controversy over the lack of ethnic, racial, and sex fairness in aptitude testing is rooted in the tests themselves. Test designers, it is argued, are influenced by their socioeconomic position (they are usually…

This paper grew out of a presentation made as part of a panel discussion on the Bakke case, and is second in a series of Institute for the Study of Educational Policy documents on important educational issues and problems. Many of the factors that impact test performance or scores are examined. The primary thesis of the paper is that it is…

This revised manual for the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) discusses: (1) historical development; (2) item analysis; (3) factor analysis; (4) physical format; (5) general working population norms (ages 18-54); (6) intercorrelations of raw GATB test scores and of GATB aptitude scores; (7) development of norms for specific occupations (tables…

A study of possible test bias in the Arabic and Hebrew versions of a standardized scholastic aptitude test used in Israel found a slight overprediction of performance for Arabs, but the findings appear to be more consistent with psychometric than cultural bias. (Author/MSE)

Because of concerns about the validity of tests used in education and employment, a consultation on June 16, 1989, focused on tests of ability, achievement, and other skills. Invited experts were asked to address a set of issues common to both education and employment testing, primarily related to test construction procedures and how to establish…

Minority and majority groups were administered a special quantitative section of the Admission Test for Graduate Study in Business (ATGSB) under varying time conditions to determine if increasing the time allotted for the test would eliminate any bias which may exist due to an irrelevant speed factor. By a commonly employed definition the special…

Appropriateness indexes (statistical formulas) for detecting suspiciously high or low scores on aptitude tests were presented, based on a simulation of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) with 3,000 simulated scores--2,800 normal and 200 suspicious. The traditional index--marginal probability--uses a model for the normal examinee's test-taking…

In this analysis of intelligence testing of minority group children, the implications of inadequate testing practices are discussed. Several aspects of test design are examined: deficiencies in intelligence testing, cultural bias, construct validity, and diagnostic utility. A sample set of results derived from a Stanford-Binet test administered to…

Learning about tests will help parents help their children perform better on all types of assessments. This guide explains the many types of tests that students can take and describes the benefits and limitations of each. Test use and improving test performance are discussed. Assessment usually takes place for purposes of instruction, screening,…

The 75 papers included in these conference proceedings discuss testing conducted by the different brances of the armed forces. The importance of relating necessary job skills to the skills measured by the tests administered to the job applicants is emphasized. Various evaluation methods--including peer rating, aptitude testing, adaptive testing,…