A study used an existing data set to assess the predictive validity of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) for civilian occupations. (The ASVAB is a multiple-aptitude test battery used by all military services to determine the qualifications of candidates for enlistment and assign enlistees to military occupations.) The…

The construct validity of biographical items in the Individual Achievement Record (IAR) was assessed in an attempt to develop a confirmatory factor model. This first phase of a two-phase study focused on the IAR's use as a predictor of job performance. The IAR is an empirically keyed biodata inventory containing 112 multiple-choice items. Item…

In 1977, the Dallas, Texas Independent School District modified its teacher selection criteria. In addition to the previously used evaluation criteria involving transcripts, references and evaluations, three new measures were employed: (1) a test of verbal and quantitative ability, the Wesman Personnel Classification Test (WPCT), which was later…

The analyses of J. E. Hunter (1983) were replicated with an expanded data set. The Hunter study, the basis of the Validity Generalization system used by the United States Employment Service, contained 515 General Aptitude Test Battery validation studies. The data set in this study included these and additional studies to bring the data set to 755…

The purpose of this research paper is to identify and examine legal issues and implications of mandatory competency tests (MCT) for high school graduation. The major data source for this investigation was actual court cases and abstracts and interpretations of court cases. It is not the purpose of this paper to perform a general review of…

A comparative study of item analysis was conducted on the basis of race to determine whether alternative test construction or processing might increase the proportion of black enlisted personnel among those passing various military technical knowledge examinations. The study used data from six specialists at four grade levels and investigated item…

There is currently a conflict between educational accountability and the distrust of standardized testing. Concern for the quality of education is based on evidence of students' academic dificiencies, the decline in test scores, and increasing education costs and school taxes. As a result of criticism, states have mandated, or are considering,…

The construction and early validation of an ipsative, forced-choice vocational interest inventory (VII) to measure Roe's eight foci of occupational activity is detailed. Designed for counseling the broad range of high school students, the VII produced consistently interpretable mean profiles for groups of high school juniors having only tentative…

Examines the legitimacy of concern with the disproportionate distribution of false negatives and positives in job screening through imperfectly predictive tests. Argues that false negatives should pose problems for meritocrats concerned with individual over group rights, and that result-oriented quotas must be differentiated from screening with…

This paper addresses the cross-cultural development and use of the Behavior Description Index (BDI). The development of culturally-transportable scales; cross-cultural comparisons of results for 12 Spanish, 15 Hungarian, 15 Indonesian, and U.S. managers; and the transportability of competencies as constructs are considered. A competency is an…

This study examined the contribution of five categories of variables to the standard-setting recommendations of a representative sample of 241 judges recommending standards for the General Knowledge and Communication Skills Tests of the National Teacher Examinations (NTE) for the state of North Carolina. It was based on the assumption that…

Meta-analytic research techniques were used to compare the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) validities of blacks and non-minorities. The sample consisted of 7,854 black and 15,769 non-minority subjects from 113 Specific Aptitude Test Battery (SATB) validation studies analyzed since 1972. The first approach was to compare average validities…

The Florida Teacher Certification Examination was developed as a comprehensive written examination for use in initial teacher certification in the state. Applicants must demonstrate mastery of 23 generic minimum competencies in teaching adopted in Florida statutes and State Board of Education rules. Subtests in General Education cover writing,…

In a speech on the current criticism leveled against testing programs, the speaker states that attacks on testing are partially motivated by the public's reluctance to acknowledge unpleasant truths about society's weaknesses and problems. Some of these weaknesses are described as the inadequacy of public education; the incompetence of a portion of…

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…