This study aims to analyse the impact of demographic and educational factors on in digital upskilling. We address the relationship between digital skills, critical thinking skills and the student learning experience in courses with embedded upskilling programs. Statistical analysis and exploratory research are used to analyse the data collected by…

Prospective longitudinal data collection is an important way for researchers and evaluators to assess change. In school-based settings, for low-risk and/or likely-beneficial interventions or surveys, data quality and ethical standards are both arguably stronger when using a waiver of parental consent--but doing so often requires the use of…

Despite Supreme Court cases which have upheld the 1978 Bakke ruling, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is considering challenging colleges that consider race as a factor in admissions. As colleges and universities prepare to return to the fray in response to the most recent surfacing of this issue, One might ask if everything possible is being done…

This chapter is a research summary of the author's doctoral dissertation completed in May, 2015, which investigates the way Standardized Assessment (SA) is used in state educational accountability structures. This quasi-experimental quantitative study found that SA scores trend towards consistency over time, and that there is additional variance,…

College admission typically requires students to present their high school GPA and a standardized score, such as ACT or SAT. High school GPA is usually attributed to students' cumulative effort during their high school career and is often used as a measure of resilience. The ACT score allows students' aptitude to be assessed. Contemporary…

Assessment is a crucial component of gifted education. Not only does it facilitate the recognition of the potential and specific needs of gifted students, it also monitors the progress and growth of gifted students, and allows for the evaluation of gifted education programs. In the present review, we synthesize the literature on assessment in…

The test-optional movement in the United States emerged largely in response to criticism of standardized admissions tests as inadequate and potentially biased measures of postsecondary promise. Although anecdotal reports suggest that test-optional policies have improved campus diversity, empirical research has not yet confirmed this claim.…

A review of 13 years of research into antecedents of university students' grade point average (GPA) scores generated the following: a comprehensive, conceptual map of known correlates of tertiary GPA; assessment of the magnitude of average, weighted correlations with GPA; and tests of multivariate models of GPA correlates within and across…

Various applications of item response theory often require linking to achieve a common scale for item parameter estimates obtained from different groups. This article used a simulation to examine the relative performance of four different item response theory (IRT) linking procedures in a random groups equating design: concurrent calibration with…

After surveying 1,827 students in their final year at eighty randomly selected two-year and four-year public and private institutions, American Institutes for Research (2006) reported that approximately 30 percent of students in two-year institutions and nearly 20 percent of students in four-year institutions have only basic quantitative…

This research examined whether the SAT and ACT would predict college grade point average (GPA) after removing g from the tests. SAT and ACT scores and freshman GPAs were obtained from a university sample (N=161) and the 1997 National Longitudinal Study of Youth (N=8984). Structural equation modeling was used to examine relationships among g, GPA,…

Considers what a responsible test developer would do to gain information to support the consequential basis of validity for a test early in the development. How the consequential basis of validity of the program would be monitored and reported during the life of the program is examined. The validity of the ACT Assessment is considered as if it…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe how and why Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) has developed a system aiming to effectively place students in freshman and developmental English programs. The placement system includes: triangulating data from external test scores, with scores from a panel-marked hand-written essay (HWE),…

One hundred and forty-three subjects were identified as Field Independent or Field Dependent based on their performance on the Group Embedded Figures Test (GEFT), a measure of cognitive style. Results indicated that Field Independent students performed significantly better on course tests and had higher academic potential, as measured by the ACT,…

Researchers surveyed Kentucky high school seniors to collect data on and compare the results of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System (KIRIS) open-response reading results and ACT reading multiple-choice format. Results found a great deal of disagreement between the KIRIS and ACT reading results. (SM)