A procedure for the detection of differential item performance (DIP) is used to investigate the relationships between characteristics of mathematics achievement items and gender differences in performance. Eight randomly equivalent samples of high school seniors were each given a unique form of the ACT Assessment Mathematics Usage Test (ACTM).…

Effects of item arrangement (easy-hard, uniform, and random), test anxiety, and sex on a 48-item multiple-choice mathematics test assembled from items of the American College Testing Program and taken by motivated upper level undergraduates and beginning graduate students were investigated. Four measures of anxiety were used: the Achievement Test…

The news release and other documents in this packet report information about the nation's 1996 high school graduates who took the American College Testing Program (ACT) Assessment. The packet contains, in addition to the news release, the 1996 Summary Report of national data, "The High School Profile Report, Normative Data: A Description of…

In recent years the American College Test (ACT) score decline has been largely due to the changed pool of test-takers if the limited data studied here have applicability to the national scene. Data from state testing programs and the National Assessment of Educational Progress were used to determine who takes the test and how well prepared they…

Analysis of Self-Efficacy Scale, Skills Confidence Inventory; ACT Assessment, and grade point average (GPA) results for 189 women and 91 men revealed strong relationships between generalized self-efficacy and confidence in Investigative and Enterprising occupations for both and Conventional occupations for men. ACT scores were related to…

The purpose of this study was to examine patterns with regard to six advanced high school mathematics courses 12th-grade students who took the American College Testing (ACT) assessment had taken between 1987 and 1997. Differences in performance on the ACT mathematics test were studied with respect to mathematics courses taken, gender,…

To shed as much light on the declining test score phenomenon as possible, pertinent American College Testing data are presented here in a succinct question and answer format. (JY)

Results of study suggest several factors which may have contributed to ACT score decline between 1966 and 1976. These are (1) increased number of Black students taking the test and scoring lower than White students, (2) decline in number of academic courses taken by students, and (3) increased absenteeism. (Author)

The definition of differential item performance (DIP), often referred to as item bias, is discussed. DIP is suggested as a comprehensive term to encompass item bias (item invalidity which is unfair to certain population subgroups) and instructional bias (a valid reflection of group differences in instruction or background). This study investigated…

This study investigated gender differences on the ACT English and mathematics scores by controlling both high school course taking patterns and high school subject matter course grades. A sample of 5100 ACT test takers (44% male) from the 1989-1990 academic year was selected for this study. Data were analyzed separately for juniors and seniors.…

Data reported in this paper are drawn from The American College Testing Program (ACT) files of student records collected over the five year period from 1970-71 to 1974-75 through administration of the ACT Assessment Program. The data from 1970-71 and 1971-72 represent a five percent random sample and the data from 1972-73, 1973-74, and 1974-75, a…

Researchers in the past have found discrepancies in the prediction of college grade point average (GPA) between genders with the use of standardized tests such as the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT). These differences were studied to determine if the potential differences could be attributed to differential…

The purpose of this study was to determine if academic achievement differed among the Piagetian cognitive levels of teacher education students and if these differences interacted with sex, age, classification (e.g., freshmen, sophomores), or ACT scores. Sample for the study consisted of 670 students enrolled in a developmental psychology class.…

Results indicated that manifest needs measures correlated significantly with grade point average (GPA) for males only; personal problem measures correlated with GPA for males and females; a manifest anxiety measure correlated significantly for males only; and scholastic aptitudes correlated significantly with GPA for males and females. (BJG)