The Hope Scale is an 11-item teacher-rating instrument designed to help identify academic and social components of giftedness. It provides insights from teachers who work with students on a daily basis, which may differ from the type of information yielded through achievement and ability tests. The Hope Scale development was made possible by the…

Parents often struggle with the decision to accelerate their child and may worry about social and emotional issues, although research indicates positive effects on the social and emotional adjustment of carefully selected accelerants. As children's advocates, parents can work effectively with a school system to secure an appropriate academic…

Universities and colleges at the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia assess new applicants using academic indicators, such as high school grade point average (HSGPA) and the score of a national standardized test (the General Aptitude Test), to ensure that they are academically fit to join the institution. Such criteria have been suggested in previous research…

Traditional methods of assessing personality traits in medical school selection have been heavily criticised. To address this at the point of selection, "non-cognitive" tests were included in the UK Clinical Aptitude Test, the most widely-used aptitude test in UK medical education (UKCAT: http://www.ukcat.ac.uk/). We examined the…

Students at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) are required to study a foreign language. In order to place students into appropriate language courses, especially less commonly taught languages defined by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), effective language placement policies are essential. The author…

This article is concerned with developing a measure of general academic ability (GAA) for high school graduates who apply to colleges, as well as with the identification of optimal weights of the GAA indicators in a linear combination that yields a composite score with maximal reliability and maximal predictive validity, employing the framework of…

This paper answers a question about national diagnostic and placement tests that measure students' strengths and weaknesses so that they can recognize their strengths and improve their weaknesses. Some schools and districts described using placement tests, however, for the most part, the names of the specific tests were not given. In states such…

This study investigated the effectiveness of five commonly administered academic testing accommodations on reading and math performance in children with Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). A total of 96 parents of 3rd-8th grade students with ADHD participated. More than half of the sample also had parent-reported learning difficulties…

This paper examines whether subject-specific admission tests may allow Swedish higher education institutions to admit better-performing students. The performance of students admitted via a mathematics and physics aptitude test was reviewed with a focus on activity, retention, and credits earned, and the results were compared with students admitted…

The latest edition of this perennial bestseller instructs and updates students and clinicians on the basic principles of psychological assessment and measurement, recent changes in assessment procedures, and the most widely used tests in counseling practice today. Dr. Danica Hays guides counselors in the appropriate selection, interpretation, and…

Students starting at a two-year college are much less likely to graduate than similar students who start at a four-year college, but the sources of this attainment gap are largely unexplained. This paper investigates the attainment consequences of sector choice and peer quality among recent high school graduates. Using data on all Preliminary SAT…

Mathematics anxiety typically involves apprehension toward activities that require computation, which can lead to complications in every-day-life activities (Ashcraft, 2002). Mathematics anxiety also has become accepted as an issue associated with academic success for both children and adults (Ashcraft, 2002; Ashcraft & Moore, 2009; Beilock,…

The 2015-2016 school year marks the first administration of the redesigned PSAT, which is composed of two sections: (1) Evidence-based Reading and Writing (EBRW) and (2) Math. This memorandum presents results of 2015-2016 Grade 10 PSAT participation and performance of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students. Among 10,859 MCPS first-time…

Aptitude tests should predict student success at the university level. This study examined the predictive validity of the General Aptitude Test (GAT) in Saudi Arabia. Data for 27420 students enrolled at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University were analyzed. Of these students, 17565 were male students, and 9855 were female students. Multiple…

Projections by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (2012) point to a need for approximately one million more Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals than the U.S. will be able to produce considering the current rate of STEM postsecondary degree completions (Executive Office of the President of…