Test development is a complicated process that demands examining various factors, one of them being writing items of varying difficulty. It is important to use items of a different range of difficulty to ensure that the test results accurately indicate the test-taker's abilities. Therefore, the factors affecting item difficulty should be defined,…

Recent methods have sought to improve precision in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) by utilizing data from large observational datasets for covariate adjustment. For example, consider an RCT aimed at evaluating a new algebra curriculum, in which a few dozen schools are randomly assigned to treatment (new curriculum) or control (standard…

There is currently a nursing shortage in the United States. By 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) expects, the number of job openings for Practical Nurses (PN) will be 168,500, an increase of 25% over 2012 (BLS, 2014). Nursing education does not currently meet present, much less future needs. Nursing programs have limited space; according…

Closing the achievement gap in public education is a worthy goal that has been included as a top priority in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (2002). This study analyzed the most salient predictors at the student and school levels to identify their long-term impact on mathematics achievement from the elementary grades to high school. The…

This article outlines shortcomings of currently used university admissions tests and discusses ways in which they could potentially be improved, summarizing two projects designed to enhance college and university admissions. The projects were inspired by the augmented theory of successful intelligence, according to which successful intelligence…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether performance in MI could predict the performance in reading competency. The other objectives were to identify the components of MI which are correlated with the reading test scores, and to determine the relationship between the multiple intelligences and reading proficiency. A descriptive and ex post…

The author found that the GPA at the end of the MBA program is most accurately predicted by the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL). MBA GPA is also predicted, though less accurately, by the Scholastic Level Exam, a mathematics test, undergraduate GPA, and previous career progression. If…

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine how a comprehensive battery of tests administered in kindergarten predicted reading achievement in Grades 1-6. The test variables were reduced to six predictive factors by factor analysis that, combined with the child's sex and the parent's language, had multiple correlations with reading…

The purpose of this study was to determine the relative effectiveness of the College Entrance Examination Board (CEEB) Mathematics Achievement Test, Level I, as an instrument for placing students in beginning college mathematics courses. For this purppse it was compared with several other variables as predictors of success in the specific courses;…

Of all the areas related to the validity of the Commonwealth Secondary Scholarship Examination (CSSE) tests, that of predictive validity seems to have been studied most intensively. Since the inception of the CSSE scholarship scheme, a series of studies which have either examined the predictive validity of certain aspects of the scholarships, or…

A natural experiment dramatically reveals that scores on a difficult standardized mathematics aptitude test predicts achievement in mathematics over a 2 or 3-year period considerably better than the judgment of the students' present mathematics teacher. (Author/AM)

The Structure-of-Intellect Tests are shown to represent promising alternatives to the traditional commercial standardized tests now widely used in predicting success in modern algebra. (Author/NE)

Investigated the efficacy of predicting academic achievement as measured by the Wide Range Achievement Test using the factor scores of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised as potential predictors. Results indicated that the freedom from distractibility factor score significantly aided in the prediction of reading and spelling…

Where human beings are concerned and complex behavior is involved, prediction of future performance is no simple matter. Scientifically developed, systematically standardized and carefully validated tests have emerged as the most reliable tools in predictive efficacy. If opponents of standardized testing win, society will lose. (Author/CM)

Results indicate that the SAT-V and SAT-M scores have sufficient validity for use in predicting how well the typical students would do during the course of their academic career and also in predicting students' relative level of achievement if they persist until graduation, especially if measured by achievement tests. (Author/BJG)