A calibration of the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) composite of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Forms 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, and 10b to the metric of the AFQT Form 7a (AFQT-7a) and a comparison of these outcomes to the operational calibration tables implemented 1 October 1980 are presented. A sample of applicants for…

The effectiveness of 19 methods of smoothing was investigated as those methods apply to the equipercentile method of test equating. Seven methods involved smoothing the score distribution before the tests were equated (presmoothing). Seven involved smoothing the resultant points after the equating (postsmoothing). Five methods involved combining…

Equating a new standard test to an old reference test is considered when samples for equating are not randomly selected from the target population of test takers, identifying two problems from equating from biased samples. An empirical example with data from the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery illustrates the approach. (SLD)

Model-based equating was compared to empirical equating of an Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test form. The model-based equating was done using item pretest data to derive item response theory (IRT) item parameter estimates for those items that were retained in the final version of the test. The analysis of an ASVAB test form…

Research on military reading abilities has shown a direct relationship between reading ability and training and job performance. The objectives of this study of the development of a reading scale were to: (1) measure the reading ability of military applicants using six commonly used reading tests; (2) use the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude…

This report describes the development and norming of parallel forms of the Air Force Reading Abilities Test (AFRAT) which have been designed for Air Force use as replacements for commercial reading tests. A previous study on service applicants found considerably divergent reading grade levels (RGL's) from different commercial tests for subjects of…

In order to meet the needs of all the Armed Services, new forms of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) must periodically be developed, refined, and standardized on an appropriate normative sample. Since one of the uses of the ASVAB is to determine candidate suitability for military service, it is necessary for the…

Test performance of high school students on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), the General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB), and the Differential Aptitude Tests (DAT) was compared. The design of the study provided for information on test intercorrelations, prediction equations for the ASVAB tests from the commercial tests and…

The selection of an appropriate test battery is based on its content and applicability to the vocational trainee population. This report describes the testing of a national sample of U.S. high school students with an established version of Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), and a new, enlarged version of the same test battery.…

In the late 1970s, the Department of Defense requested that the reference population for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) be changed and updated to reflect the current youth population. Analyses of new data collected in 1980 indicated that speeded subtest scores of the new sample were atypically low and that the sample might…

Six new forms of Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) were developed. These new forms were equated to a standard reference test, ASVAB 8a, using normative data based on a 1980 weighted probability sample of American youth, ages 18-23. Equating allows the services to report the distributions of examinee ability on a common metric or…