The current criterion for acceptance to universities in Israel is based on psychometric testing that presents a strong barrier for acceptance of students of Ethiopian origin (SEO) to the universities. Based on the sociocultural theories of Vygotsky and Feuerstein, we suggest an intervention aimed at integrating SEO, considered to be…

Notwithstanding the introduction of education multilingual policies worldwide, testing and assessment procedures still rely almost exclusively on the monolingual construct. This paper describes a study, part of a larger project fostering a new multilingual education policy in Israeli schools, exploring bi/multilingual assessment. It included two…

Many medical schools have adopted multiple mini-interviews (MMI) as an advanced selection tool. MMIs are expensive and used to test only a few dozen candidates per day, making it infeasible to develop a different test version for each test administration. Therefore, some items are reused both within and across years. This study investigated the…

The aim of the present article is to point out the problematic issue of administrating PISA science literacy exam to the ultra-orthodox schools in Israel. It has been assumed that some texts included in the test may offend the feelings of the ultra-orthodox population or may contradict Orthodox upbringing and therefore constitute a cultural bias.

Use of conventional standardized intelligence tests to identify gifted students presents problems with students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Assessment of learning ability (in particular the method of "test, teach, and test") may be a better method for identifying gifted students. Tests being used in Israel and Great Britain are…

A questionnaire assessing achievement motivation in Israeli and American middle managers was developed and its structure was analyzed. A three-facet definition of achievement motivation--behavior modality, type of confrontation, and time perspective--was suggested which provided guidelines for the formulation of hypotheses. (Author/JKS)

Analysis of the English language aptitude test scores of 824 full-time Jewish students studying at a major Israeli university evidenced both slope and intercept bias by ethnicity (Western or Oriental), and by gender, tending significantly to overpredict or underpredict students' first-year cumulative grade point averages. (31 references)…

Examines the validity of the cultural bias contention with respect to English aptitude tests by looking at test scores of Jewish and Arab students applying for admission to a college in Israel. Results show evidence for differential construct or predictive validity of test scores as a function of cultural group membership. (31 references)…