Discussions of the barriers to completion in community colleges have largely focused on student success in introductory college-level math and English courses, and rightfully so, since these courses are typically required for degrees. However, there is a much broader range of courses that also serve as "gatekeepers" in the sense that they are…

This study determined the validity of vocational interest scores for persons with high, medium, and low levels of experience appropriate to their predominant interests. The experiences and interests of a national sample of 1,380 young adults were assessed concurrently with scales paralleling Holland's types. The degree of congruence between…

An auditory masking procedure was successfully used to identify those speech handicapped children who would maintain or improve the accuracy of speech production during a three-week treatment break. Subjects were 28 primary grade children with relatively low levels of phoneme acquisition. Results have implications for scheduling and treatment…

Holland's (1973) theory of vocational choice proposes a typology of, and a match between, people and occupations. The Self Directed Search (SDS) can be used to assess people's occupational orientation types. To assess the construct validity of Holland's theory of occupational preferences, 171 female industrial workers participated in a study,…

Statistical analyses of scores on subtests of the Intelligence Test for Visually Impaired Children were done for two groups of children, either with or without usable vision. Results suggest that the battery has differential factorial and predictive validity. (Author/DB)

A study was done at Panhandle State University (Oklahoma) examining whether high school grade point averages or ACT (American College Testing) scores provided a better predictor of freshman academic success. Study procedures included a review of the literature, meetings with the academic vice president and five deans, as well as examination of…

Blind vocational rehabilitation clients (N=100) were administered the Displacing and Turning tests of the Minnesota Rate of Manipulation Tests after three practice trials. Subjects essentially scored lower than people with normal vision, with their means on both tests being at the first percentile of the norms for sighted persons. (Author/DB)

The prereading and reading performance of 370 predominantly Hispanic, bilingual school children was followed for 6 years. A 5-test Screening Index misclassified many failing readers but accurately identified children who eventually read well. Predictor tests administered at beginning of first grade showed significant correlations with reading at…

The United States Employment Service is now able to expand the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) coverage from approximately 400 jobs to all candidates for every job in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (over 12,000 occupations). In addition, employers can now receive more useful feedback on applicants. Instead of reporting whether a…

The Hiskey-Nebraska Test of Learning Aptitude (H-NTLA) (Hiskey, 1966) has been regarded by reviewers as one of the best instruments for assessing the learning abilities of hearing-impaired children. However, there has been a paucity of research on the validity of this test. Further, there is no established test-retest reliability, and questions…

The criterion most frequently used in studies designed to assess the predictive validity of measures used in college admission has been the freshman-year grade point average (GPA). It is not self-evident that the first-year GPA provides either a sufficient or a representative sample of a student's academic performance. Questions have been raised…

In 1987, Santa Barbara City College, California, received a grant to develop valid and culturally fair assessment procedures for placing students into appropriate level courses. Specifically, the project sought to: (1) determine faculty and student perceptions of the skills needed to succeed in entry-level college classes; (2) examine the…

Defines and illustrates basic concepts of dichotomous logistic regression (DLR) and presents strategies for teaching these concepts. Strategies include using analogies between ordinary least squares regression and logistic regression; illustrating concepts with contingency tables; and linking logistic regression concepts to interpretation of…

The accuracy of SEARCH for identifying children at risk for developing learning disabilities was evaluated with 1,107 kindergarten children. Children identified as at risk were of average intelligence. SEARCH scores were significantly correlated with sequential and simultaneous information processing skills. SEARCH predicted adequacy of…

Illustrates some applications of elementary probability and statistics to epidemiology, the branch of medical science that attempts to discover associations between events, patterns, and the cause of disease in human populations. Uses real-life examples involving cancer's link to smoking and the AIDS virus. (MDH)