The identification of gifted and talented students and the accompanying fact that most identification systems result in the underrepresentation of students from African American, Hispanic, Native American, English language learning, and low-income families are two of the most discussed and hotly debated topics in the field. This article provides…

This paper explores how admissions tests are used in different higher education systems around the world. This is a relatively new area of research, despite the fact that admissions processes are a key component of university practices and given the ever increasing globalisation of higher education. This paper shows that aptitude and achievement…

Colleges and universities commonly require multiple tests for their various admissions and placement decisions. The point of this analysis was to determine the degree to which three standardized tests involving eight subtests all administered to the same applicants provided nonredundant information. The instruments were the California Basic…

Explores how social, legal, and demographic forces threaten to dethrone the most widely used college entrance exam. New criticism focuses on the use of what is essentially an IQ test to measure students' ability to learn. (EV)

The University of California is engaged in the elimination of the Scholastic Assessment Test I (SAT-I) Verbal and Mathematics tests as a requirement for freshman admission. Opponents of the SAT-I argue that the tests do not measure the outcomes of the high school curriculum and hence do not reflect student learning in secondary school. Proponents…

The Nairn report, The Reign of ETS, has charged that the major college admissions tests administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS) have undue influence on admissions to higher education, and that the tests have little value in predicting future academic performance. Nairn's claims that the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is a poor predictor…

Although the primary use of the speaking section of the Test of English as a Foreign Language™ Internet-based test (TOEFL® iBT Speaking test) is to inform admissions decisions at English medium universities, it may also be useful as an initial screening measure for international teaching assistants (ITAs). This study provides criterion-related…

Despite claims of its publishers, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) has not tended to help Blacks and other disadvantaged groups get ahead in society. Most minority applicants admitted to selective colleges are accepted in spite of their SAT scores. American society has become more egalitarian, but, the SAT has been more of a hindrance than a…

This study determined whether using ACT Assessment Composite score, high school grade average, or both predictors jointly for college admissions would result in differential prediction or differential outcomes for traditional-aged and nontraditional-aged students. The analyses were based on data from 112,341 students at 79 postsecondary…

Problems with current predictors of success for graduate students (Graduate Record Examinations and grades) include restriction of range artifacts, grade inflation, and the increasing diversity of examinees. A case is made as to why noncognitive variables can add to the validity of selecting graduate students. Legal, moral, ethical, and…

Describes three areas in which the graduate community is vulnerable to substandard practice when using Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) scores in decision processes: percentile versus raw scores, cut-off scores, and summed scores. Asserts that the graduate community is generally unaware that raw scores on the verbal, quantitative, and analytical…

Test repetition is a significant phenomenon in standardized admissions testing in terms of the numbers of examinees involved. This study was initiated to determine what additional advice might be offered to test takers contemplating repetition of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) and test users confronted with how to interpret multiple test…

A study supported use of the objective structured clinical examination for screening foreign medical graduates (n=67) wishing to enter a preinternship program in at the University of Toronto. However, it also showed that appropriate training for the candidates was the internship, not preinternship, program. (MSE)

Examined the benefits to an admissions office of using the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) in predicting freshmen grades (N=169 and N=172). Results suggested the SAT does not increase predictive validity substantially beyond the high school record. Presents an alternative admissions strategy based on multiple regression. (JAC)

After decades of criticism that standardized testing is culturally biased, the Educational Testing Service claims great strides in eliminating test bias in the Scholastic Assessment Tests and related tests and reports initiatives in cooperation with educators leading to better academic preparation for students of color. Critics still ask for…