This article reviews the evidence on the extent to which experts' perceptions of item difficulties, captured using comparative judgement, can predict empirical item difficulties. This evidence is drawn from existing published studies on this topic and also from statistical analysis of data held by Cambridge Assessment. Having reviewed the…

To refine selective admission models, we investigate which measure of prior achievement has the best predictive validity for academic success in university. We compare the predictive validity of three core high school subjects to the predictive validity of high school grade point average (GPA) for academic achievement in a liberal arts university…

A common methodological problem in the evaluation of the predictive validity of selection methods, e.g. in educational and employment selection, is that the correlation between predictor and criterion is biased. Thorndike's (1949) formulas are commonly used to correct for this biased correlation. An alternative approach is to view the selection…

In the UK, students who want to progress to higher education have a number of possible pathways at age 16. The most common of these is traditional, academic focussed, 'A' levels, but increasingly students are taking alternative qualifications (e.g. BTECs, IB, Pre-U). The focus of this research is to infer which (if any) of these qualifications are…

Online education continues to become an increasingly prominent part of higher education, but many students struggle in distance courses. For this reason, there has been considerable interest in predicting which students will succeed in online courses and which will receive poor grades or drop out prior to completion. Effective intervention depends…

Prediction accuracy of academic achievement for admission purposes requires adequate "sensitivity" and "specificity" of admission tools, yet the available information on the validity and predictive power of admission tools is largely based on studies using correlational and regression statistics. The goal of this study was to…

Although diversity at universities has increased dramatically over the past 150 years, many groups are still under-represented relative to their proportion in the general population. Initiatives to improve diversity have included the increased use of entry pathways other than direct admission from secondary school. As admissions via these…

Over 30 states have adopted the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale-Revised (ECERS-R) as a component of their program quality assessment systems, but the use of ECERS-R on such a large scale has raised important questions about implementation. One of the most pressing question centers upon decisions users must make between two scoring…

Researchers investigated the diagnostic utility of the Social Skills Improvement System: Performance Screening Guide (SSIS-PSG). Correlational, regression, receiver operating characteristic (ROC), and conditional probability analyses were run to compare ratings on the SSIS-PSG subscales of Prosocial Behavior, Reading Skills, and Math Skills, to…

This research study describes the correlations between student performance and examination format in a higher education teaching and research institution. The researchers employed a quantitative, correlational methodology utilizing linear regression analysis. The data was obtained from undergraduate student test scores over a three-year time span.…

This study contributes to the on-going discourse on calibration among University students. The study examines the understanding of student self-reflectivity in relation to class written tests and assignments, and of the fact that students' expected results rarely match the actual results. A quantitative research approach was adopted to collect…

This study's goal was to compare aspects related to academic persistence of two groups of college students with non-visible disabilities: 110 Canadian two and four-year college students--55 with mental health related disabilities and 55 with Specific Learning Disorder (LD). Results show that students with mental health related disabilities were…

The study of anthropomorphism in adults has received considerable interest with the development of the Individual Differences in Anthropomorphism Questionnaire (IDAQ; Waytz, Cacioppo, & Epley, 2010). Anthropomorphism in children--its development, correlates, and consequences--is also of significant interest, yet a comparable measure does not…

Two studies were conducted to examine and compare the construct validity of scores on the Junior Metacognition Awareness Inventory (JMAI) and problem-solving interview protocols. Participants consisted of 183 middle and high school students attending a university summer program for academically talented youth. Study 1 results indicated that JMAI…

This study examined whether a novel parent-report questionnaire, the Autism Parent Screen for Infants, could differentiate infants subsequently diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder from a high-risk cohort (siblings of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (n = 66)) from high-risk and low-risk comparison infants (no family history of…