The impetus for test-based accountability systems is to improve the educational opportunities afforded to all students so as to improve their learning; therefore, integral to the validity argument of these systems is the appraisal of test-based inferences and decisions in terms of their consequences. Both positive and negative consequences of…

One purpose of this study was to compare the incremental effectiveness over high school grade point average (GPA) alone of the American College Testing Program (ACT) assessment, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and the California Achievement Tests (CAT) in predicting college freshman GPA. A second purpose was to look at the relative…

Findings are reported from a series of comprehensive and detailed empirical investigations that evaluated four different teacher certification paper-and-pencil tests through a typical content validation method and from three distinct and independent empirical validation studies of these devices. These latter studies can be understood as providing…

The sample for this study included 496 students admitted to a large midwestern university through the special admissions program. Validity coefficients of the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills (DTLS) subtests, the Academic Tests of the ACT Assessment Program (ACT), and high school percentile rank were calculated with cumulative grade point…

This study examined the relationship between results of the ACT Assessment and the Health Occupations Basic Entrance Test (HOBET) entrance examinations. The purpose of the study was to estimate the validity of the HOBET as a predictor of student success and to compare the two examinations as predictors of grade point average (GPA) for students in…

Acceptable performance on the Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) is necessary for acceptance into medical school; therefore, students planning a career in medicine and their advisors would benefit by having information useful in predicting performance on this examination. The present study examined the validity of the ACT Assessment as such a…

The usefulness of vocational interest measures has been questioned by those who have studied the predictive validity of expressed choice. The predictive validities of measured interest for decided and undecided students, expressed choice and measured interest, and expressed choice and measured interest when they are congruent and incongruent were…

Evidence indicates that college grades have increased on the average and that the college-bound population has decreased in traditional kinds of academic skills, based on observed declines on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT). But the relationship between these traditional skills and grades appears not to have…

This study examined aspects of concurrent, predictive, and consequential validity evidence of the Pre-Professional Skills Test (PPST) scores as college of education admission criteria. American College Test (ACT) and PPST subtest scores of 372 graduates, and PPST scores, undergraduate grade-point averages, and student teaching ratings of 1,062…

This paper explores what a responsible test developer would do to support the consequential validity of a test early in the development process, and how the consequential validity of the program should be monitored and addressed during the life of the program. To illustrate the issues concretely, the validity of the American College Testing…

This paper considers the problem of validating placement procedures or, more precisely, of determining their educational appropriateness. At issue is determining whether a test score serves the particular educational function it was designed to serve (for example, course placement), and whether it does so in an economical way. These determinations…

Issues associated with the ACT (American College Testing) Assessment Program illustrate the need to assess college entrance examinations in terms of the variety of common predictive uses such as estimation of first year grade point average (GPA), or chances of obtaining a C average after certain semesters or in specific courses. Test developers…

A study was done of the relationship between the American College Testing (ACT) Assessment and the ACT/COMP (College Outcomes Measures Program) test and general intellectual ability of college students. The subjects for the study were 133 undergraduates, mostly freshmen, in Introductory Psychology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. The…

The impact of admission criteria to teacher education programs in Alabama and the impact of a recently established exit examination required for certification were examined. Current admission criteria included: (1) completion of 60 semester hours of the approved general studies program with a grade point average (GPA) of at least 1.2 on a 3.0…

Study strategies are the activities that an individual uses to facilitate learning. Although no consistent findings exist to show the factors that comprise the study-strategy concept, a three-factor conceptualization (cognitive, affective, and behavioral) is often suggested. These factors were studied with 128 undergraduates of high and low…