Intended consequences of giving applicants the option to select which test scores to report include potentially reducing measurement error and inequity in applicants' prior test familiarity. Our first study determined whether score choice options resulted in unintended consequences for lower performing subgroups by detrimentally increasing score…

At a time when institutions of higher education are exploring alternatives to traditional admissions testing, institutions are also seeking to better support students and prepare them for academic success. Under such an engaged model, one may seek to measure not just the accumulated knowledge and skills that students would bring to a new academic…

In educational assessment, low engagement is problematic when tests are low stakes for students but have significant consequences for teachers or schools. In the current study, we sought to establish the electroencephalographic (EEG) correlates of engagement and to distinguish engagement from mental effort. Forty university students participated…

This report, which is based on an invited presentation given at the 2015 meeting of the Association of Test Publishers, is a response to the continuing proliferation of scale linking studies that have occurred since the publication of "Uncommon Measures" in 1999.The report has four parts. First, I restate the conclusions made in…

The career gains of obtaining a graduate degree are well established, but those from lower socioeconomic status (SES) and underrepresented demographic backgrounds have persistently been disadvantaged in earning those degrees. We aim to contribute to research on enhancing access, diversity, and equity to graduate education by providing insights…

Results from two studies provided strong evidence for the validity of the HiSET® tests, thereby demonstrating that HiSET is a well-developed battery of tests with passing and college and career readiness (CCR) standards that, when met, provide a pathway to postsecondary education, better employment opportunities and wages, and a better quality of…

One of the challenges in scoring constructed-response (CR) items and tasks is ensuring that rater drift does not occur during or across scoring windows. Rater drift reflects changes in how raters interpret and use established scoring criteria to assign essay scores. Calibration is a process used to help control rater drift and, as such, serves as…

This report investigates whether the time between scoring sessions has an influence on operational and nonoperational scoring accuracy. The study evaluates raters' scoring accuracy on constructed-response essay responses for the "GRE"® General Test. Binomial linear mixed-effect models are presented that evaluate how the effect of various…

Gathering a diverse student body is important for institutions of higher education (IHEs) at the graduate/professional level. However, it is impossible to select a diverse student body from a homogenous group of candidates. Thus the aim of this study is to discover the extent to which diversity goals in admissions are precluded by the lack of…

The United States continues to be a top destination for international students pursuing an advanced degree. Some information about the characteristics of international students applying to graduate programs in the United States is available, but little is known about how these characteristics are related to test taker performance on graduate…

Best linear prediction (BLP) and penalized best linear prediction (PBLP) are techniques for combining sources of information to produce task scores, section scores, and composite test scores. The report examines issues to consider in operational implementation of BLP and PBLP in testing programs administered by ETS [Educational Testing Service].

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…

The "GRE"® Psychology test is an achievement test that measures core knowledge in 12 content domains that represent the courses commonly offered at the undergraduate level. Currently, a total score and 2 subscores, experimental and social, are reported to test takers as well as graduate institutions. However, the American Psychological…

Many assessments of writing proficiency that aid in making high-stakes decisions consist of several essay tasks evaluated by a combination of human holistic scores and computer-generated scores for essay features such as the rate of grammatical errors per word. Under typical conditions, a summary writing score is provided by a linear combination…

Educational Testing Service (ETS), working with 21 U.S. law schools, evaluated the predictive validity of the GRE® General Test using a sample of 1,587 current and graduated law students. Results indicated that the GRE is a strong, generalizably valid predictor of first-year law school grades and that it provides useful information even when…