This research study explores the concurrent and predictive validity of the English language proficiency screening test used by the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and the relationship of this measure to academic performance. It is concluded that (1) evidence of the predictive validity of the test supports its use for efficiently…

In fall 1985, a study was conducted at Broome Community College (BCC) in Binghamton, New York, to determine whether students who added a class on or after the first class meeting (i.e., late admits) were at greater risk of withdrawing or failing than students who registered on time (i.e., regular admits). Final grades awarded to students in ENG…

Methods for examining the viability of assumptions underlying generalized linear models are considered. By appealing to the likelihood, a natural generalization of the raw residual plot for normal theory models is derived and is applied to investigating potential misspecification of the linear predictor. A smooth version of the plot is also…

The Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) Validity Study Service was created to enable graduate schools of management to investigate the adequacy of the devices and procedures they use for selection purposes and to facilitate the accumulation and summary of data from many individual graduate management schools. Participating schools are…

This guide explains the benefits of and procedures for constructing and administering criterion-referenced performance tests in vocational education programs. Addressed in the individual sections are the following topics: the rationale for using task performance measures in vocational education; the predictive validity and physical fidelity of…

Stepwise regression was used in 1986 and 1987 to determine the best predictor variables for predicting the percentage of students in the 113 Atlanta Public Schools scoring at or above the national norm in reading and mathematics on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills/Tests of Achievement and Proficiency. Twenty elementary school, 16 middle school, and…

Adapted screening devices and teacher observation were used in a 1974 study of 1003 Finnish students (ages 6-8) in an effort to predict future learning difficulties. Six areas were assessed: gross motor skills, sensory-motor integration, perceptual-motor skills, arithmetic skills, socioemotional adjustment, and verbal ability. In a follow-up study…

A study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) in predicting success or lack of success in selected postsecondary health occupations programs. The predictor variables used in the project were the TABE reading and mathematics grade equivalent scores and the number of times each section of the TABE…

Because of the high rate of failure of engineering students in a required engineering physics course at the University of Texas at Austin, College Board Achievement Test (CBAT) scores in Mathematics Level 1 for 537 students enrolled in the course were compared with their physics grades. Performance on the mathematics section of the Scholastic…

This report describes a large scale research effort to validate and improve the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) aptitude area (AA) composites now used by the Army to select and classify enlisted personnel. Data were collected from existing Army sources on over 60,000 soldiers and over 60 Military Occupational Specialties (MOS).…

The predictive validities of (1) a test of divergent thinking, (2) an experimental measure of creative performance, and (3) an inventory of creative personality characteristics were compared by correlating scores on each measure for 19 fifth graders with scores on the ACT Interest Inventory one year later. It was expected that each of the three…

In light of criticisms that teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare prospective reading teachers and specialists for actual classroom problems, a study was conducted to determine the accuracy of teacher diagnoses and planning for reading difficulties and to examine differences in coursework preparation and classroom experience.…

During the academic year of 1978-1979, a system for the early identification of students who were likely to have difficulty with the core curriculum in language and/or mathematics was introduced into the London, Canada, system at the kindergarten and grade 1 levels. In the two subsequent years the early identification system was extended to grades…

Statistical methods employed to test individual differences in dual-task performance and the existence of a general time-sharing ability are reviewed and critiqued. Specifically, both the types of data being collected and the types of data analysis procedures have been inadequate to the critical evaluation of a hypothetical…

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of the cultural distance hypothesis in determining group differences on intelligence and performance scales in Black and White subjects. This view, the Cultural-Distance Approach, briefly stated is that a sub-culture's distance from the major culture, on which test questions of a test are based and…