Although by traditional measures of test validity, the verbal section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is not culture biased, it, along with the English Composition Test and the Test of Standard Written English, reinforces a narrow view of academic excellence that excludes culturally different youths. Designed to prevent admission errors, the…

The scores of handicapped students taking tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or the Graduate Record Examinations are flagged so that admissions officers will be aware that they were achieved under special circumstances. A series of studies was initiated to determine whether special administrations of such tests are comparable to…

The predictive validity of the revised Graduate Record Examination Analytical Test (GRE-A) was compared with the experimental form of the GRE-A, in terms of graduate school admissions as well as advancement to Ph.D. candidacy decisions. Prior to 1974 the Graduate Record Examination included just a verbal and a quantitative test; in 1974 it was…

Price indices related to specific expenditure categories are necessary for realistic budget projections in higher education. Given the erratic inflationary behavior of the past seven years, and the uniqueness of higher education expenditures, realistic inflation prediction requires a balanced combination of analytic forecasting and intuitive…

A system which used pupil outcomes to estimate the predictive validity of assessments of teacher outcomes was field tested in a performance-based teacher education program at Florida State University. Three levels of teaching competency were assessed: (1) competencies associated with cognitive identification of appropriate decisions for…

Entrance scores on the Mathematics Achievement Test, Level I, and Scholastic Aptitude Test (verbal and mathematical), and high school rank for 2,189 students entering engineering as freshmen at The University of Texas at Austin during the years 1974-1977 were used in regression equations as predictors of academic achievement and retention for…

Indices of motivation and demand developed to forecast postsecondary enrollment in Manitoba, Canada, are described. The indices were tested with surveys of more than 14,000 high school students with respect to actual outcomes and validated by surveying more than 5,000 students. The theoretical basis of the indices, their use in enrollment…

The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) Cooperative Validity Studies Project began in 1975 to fill the need for cooperation between graduate schools and testing agencies and for graduate level validity studies. More than 150 data sets from the 39 participating schools, representing over 19 fields of study, were analyzed. The data confirmed earlier…

A community assessment questionnaire was developed at Worthington Community College (WCC) to determine sources of information about WCC, attitudes toward and knowledge of WCC, educational needs and interests, how WCC's service population could best be served, and respondent characteristics. A total of 200 people in six population centers were…

Reflecting concern with the nationwide decline in basic skills mastery, the 1975 statewide basic skills tests of the New Jersey Educational Assessment Program (NJEAP) were used to assess the relative performance of college bound seniors. The results of a random 10% sample of the 55,000 students in college preparatory programs were compared with…

Two 160-item experimental forms of multidimensional personality test to assess vocational potential of clients of limited literacy (third grade reading level) were developed and administered to clients at rehabilitation centers and at centers for the retarded. Using the 16 Personality Factors Test as a model, items were constructed to do the…

Rating scales of the "scaled behavioral expectation" type were developed to measure the constructs of independence and initiative, conscientiousness, enthusiasm, critical facility, teaching skills, research and experimentation, communication, and persistence. The scales were used by faculty in three psychology departments, two chemistry…

Research was conducted to improve applicant selection procedures in the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps (AFROTC) scholarship program. The objectives were to document predictive relationships, if any, between student aptitude measures, academic major, institutional selectivity, and eventual completion of the scholarship program. The…

The predictive validity of the Comparative Guidance and Placement Program (CGP) tests for two diverse curricular groups was examined. Three methods for developing predictive equations were compared. The CGP was administered to 417 Liberal Studies and 316 Business Technical students at a New England community college. Principal component analyses…

This paper is a review of opinion and research concerning the objectivity and relevance of grades and grade averages as measures and as predictors of success. As measures they are ambiguous, reflecting differences in sex, basic temperament, instructors, departments, institutions, as much as levels of competence. And as a predictor of…