The use of item response theory (IRT) in the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) testing program has been limited. This study provides a basis for future IRT analyses of the MCAT by exploring the dimensionality of each of the MCAT's three multiple-choice test sections (Verbal Reasoning, Physical Sciences, and Biological Sciences) and the…

A court decision that a pioneering New York law illegally preempted federal law by forcing publication of standardized test material protected by federal copyright could undermine greater disclosure in standardized testing, but quick changes in testing practice are not expected. (MSE)

This study compared various equating models and procedures for a sample of data from the Medical College Admission Test(MCAT), considering how item response theory (IRT) equating results compare with classical equipercentile results and how the results based on use of various IRT models, observed score versus true score, direct versus linked…

Presents data concerning the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT): number of MCAT examinations, 1968-73; characteristics of examinee population; comparison of percentages; mean MCAT scores by sex; and mean score by undergraduate major. (Author/PG)

Scores on the four subtests of the old Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and the six subtests of the new edition (1978) were factor analyzed. Scores were derived from similar groups of applicants. Two-factors, verbal-general information and science-quantitative, known from previous factorial studies of the old MCAT, emerged again. Five of the…

Reviews errors and misleading statements appearing in various simulated Medical College Admission Tests. (SL)

As a continuing part of its validity studies, the Association of American Medical Colleges commissioned a study of the speediness of the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT). If speed is a hidden part of the test, it is a threat to its construct validity. As a general rule, the criterion used to indicate lack of speediness is that 80% of the…

Data used in a major review of the system for reporting scores on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) are presented and discussed. The data demonstrated the value of the current score-reporting system and led to retention of the 15-point MCAT score scale in 1991. (Author/MSE)

Report of an examination of the relationship between the admissions process, school characteristics which result from the admissions process, and the proportion of a school's seniors placed in rotating internships. (Author)

Performances of students from two medical colleges, one allopathic (M.D.) and one osteopathic (D.O.), at Michigan State University in a first course in psychiatry are compared. The M.D. students had scored significantly higher on the MCAT, but there was no difference in psychiatry course performance. (Author/LBH)

How Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores relate to the probability of a student having academic problems that delay or impede his progress through medical school was studied. (MLW)

Measurement specialists routinely assume examinee responses to test items are independent of one another. However, previous research has shown that many contemporary tests contain item dependencies and not accounting for these dependencies leads to misleading estimates of item, test, and ability parameters. In this study, methods for detecting…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the viability of the property of parameter invariance for the one-parameter (1P), two-parameter (2P), and three-parameter (3P) item response theory (IRT) models for the Medical College Admissions Tests (MCAT). Invariance of item parameters across different gender, ethnic, and language groups and the…

Arguments for enjoining enforcement of the New York state law to disclose results of standardized admissions tests to students address these issues: copyright, financial harm to test creators, constitutional protection, and the public interest. Recent court litigation, especially concerning the Medical College Admission Test, is reviewed. (MSE)

The relationship of National Board of Medical Examiners Part III examination performance for first-year residents with performance on medical school preadmission measures, performance on prior NBME examinations, and clinical performance during medical school was examined. (Author/MLW)