Procedures for identifying the gifted often make use of tests of general intelligence, among other assessments. Robert J. Sternberg recently suggested that identification of the gifted should further involve assessment of what he refers to as adaptive intelligence--the ability to adapt to real-world environments. Such a conception of intelligence…

Proficiency with written communication (WC) is critical for success in college and careers. As a result, institutions face a growing challenge to accurately evaluate their students' writing skills to obtain data that can support demands of accreditation, accountability, or curricular improvement. Many current standardized measures, however, lack…

Relational reasoning is the foundational cognitive ability to discern meaningful patterns within an informational stream, but its reliable and valid measurement remains problematic. In this investigation, the measurement of relational reasoning unfolded in three stages. Stage 1 entailed the establishment of a research-based conceptualization of…

Critical thinking is a learning outcome highly valued by higher education institutions and the workforce. The Educational Testing Service (ETS) has designed a next generation assessment, the HEIghten™ critical thinking assessment, to measure students' critical thinking skills in analytical and synthetic dimensions. This paper introduces the…

Data from 181 college students were used to assess whether math reasoning item response times in computerized testing can provide valid and reliable measures of a speed dimension. The alternate forms reliability of the speed dimension was .85. A two-dimensional structural equation model suggests that the speed dimension is related to the accuracy…

If numerical reasoning items are administered under time limits, will two dimensions be required to account for the responses, a numerical ability dimension and a speed dimension? A total of 182 college students answered 74 numerical reasoning items. Every item was taken with and without time limits by half the students. Three psychometric models…

Because it is often impractical or impossible to obtain school transcripts or records on subjects, many researchers rely on college students to accurately self-report their academic record as part of their data collection procedures. The purpose of this study is to investigate the validity and reliability of student self-reported academic…

Noncognitive attributes as the researchers have measured them do correlate with college GPA, but the incremental validity associated with these measures is relatively small. The noncognitive measures are correlated with other valued dimensions of student performance beyond the achievement reflected in college grades. There were much smaller…

Test-taking strategies are important cognitive skills that strongly affect students' performance in tests. Using appropriate test-taking strategies improves students' achievement and grades, improves students' attitudes toward tests and reduces test anxiety. This results in improving test accuracy and validity. This study aimed at developing a…

Previous research notes the importance of understanding racial/ethnic differential prediction of college grades across multiple institutions. Institutional variation in selection indices is especially important given some states' laws governing public institutions' admissions decisions. This paper employed multilevel moderated multiple regression…

Scores from the Scholastic Aptitude Test and a new test of reading and writing, the California State University and Colleges English Placement Test, were examined to determine if unique properties for either test could be found. Both tests seem to be measuring the same underlying ability with few unique properties. (Author)

This study was designed to determine what happens to the intelligence quotient of freshman students during their enrollment at a private Negro college. The Otis Quick-Scoring Mental Ability Test, Gamma Em, was administered to 822 students from a population of approximately 2,000 in their freshman year at Hampton Institue, Hampton, Virginia. The…

This study was an examination of the usefulness of a statistical regression approach to identify prospective Engineering and Information and Computer Science (ICS) applicants most likely to succeed at the University of California at Irvine (UCI). The specific purpose was to determine the extent to which preadmissions measures such as high school…