Notes 12 Education

NOTES – EDUCATION GROUP TESTS
1
GROUP TESTS GUIDELINES
Why Used?
Cost Effective
Minimize Administration & Scoring Hours
Little Administrator Training
R Higher
Cautions
Scores Only Bits of Story
Predictions Should Be Limited to Short Periods
Note Abnormally Low Scores ... [Reading]
Note Wide Discrepancies among Scores
GROUP ACHIEVEMENT TESTS ... [Past Learning]
Stanford Achievement Test ... [One of Oldest]
Grades 1 - 9
Content Areas – Spelling, Reading Comp,
Word Study & Skills, Language Arts,
Social Studies, Science, Math, Listening Comp
Stanford Early School Achievement Test => K
Stanford Test for Academic Skills => 10 - 12
Scoring
Per Grade Equivalent
National %-ile Ranking

2
[GROUP ACHIEVEMENT TESTS … Continued]
Metropolitan Achievement Test
Content Areas – Vocabulary, Word Recognition,
Reading Comp, Math, Spelling, Language
Skills, Science, Social Studies
M/C Format
R – High
Total Score = ↑ .90s
Content Areas = .90 - .96
GROUP APTITUDE TESTS ... [Potential for Learning]
SAT (1941) & SAT-I (1995)
R & V Very High ... [Corr W/ College GPA = .40]
Verbal & Math (Scores) ... M = 500, s = 100
Verbal
Critical Reading
Sentence Completion
Analogies
Math
Math Problems
Comparisons
Student-produced Responses
Declining Scores since 1941 ... [20-80 Points]
10,000 ... Probably College Bound
Upper Middle Class Whites
Renormed in 1995
N = 1.8 Million
Conversion Tables for Comparing Pre-1995

3
[SAT (1941) & SAT-I … continued]
New SAT-2005
Essay
No Analogies
Shorter Writing Passages
New Math Content ... [3 rd y college prep]
No Quantitative Comparisons
ACT ... [AR]
Cont Areas – English, Math, Reading, Sci Reason’g
Point Scale 1 – 36
X = 16 (HS) & X = 19 (College Bound) ... s = 5
R & V – [ Corr. With SAT
Revised in 1989
Declining Scores since 1955 ... [Like SAT]
Original Norm Group College-bound
GRE
3 Sub-Tests: Verbal, Quantitative, Analytical
New Scoring Metric (8/2011)
Verbal & Quantitative
Range: 130-170 (1-pt increments)
Each Item = 1 pt
Raw Score => Scale Score (Equating)
Percentiles Scores:
Verbal: 50 th ≈ 151 … 84 th ≈ 159
Quantitative: 50 th ≈ 150 … 84 th ≈ 160
Analytical Writing
Range: 0-6 (½ pt increments)
Scored by Two Readers
Scoring: Critical Thinking & Analyt Skills

4
[GRE … continued]
Problems ... [Text]
R – Good ... mid .90s
V – Poor Pred of Grad Success ... Corr’s .10 to .30
Over-pred for Younger Students ... False (+)
Under-pred for Older Students ... False ( - )
Why There Is No V?
Other Factors
Fortitude – Getting in & Getting out [Norris]
Why Admission Com Use GRE ... [Stand Eq]
GPAs Inflated => Restricted Range
Good Recommendation Letters
Countering Low GREs
Research Productivity
Politics ... Get Acquainted W/ Profs
MAT ... [Alternative to GRE ... Schools of Education]
Only Verbal
Measures Ability to Discern Relationships
Problems ... [Text]
R – ↑ .80s
V – Similar to GRE ... Not So Good
Over-pred Young ... Under-pred Older
Over-pred Males ... Under-pred Females

5
LSAT [Law School Admission Test]
No Proficiency in Specific Knowledge Domains
Short Time Limits
Measures – Reading Comp, Logical Reasoning,
& Analytical Reasoning
Mostly Logical Reasoning ... 1 st Year Law School
Law Schools Publish Cutoff Scores
GROUP INTELLIGENCE TESTS .... [rarely used]
Henmon-Nelson
1 Score … 2 Distribution: Age & Grade
30 Minutes
Used with All Grades
R = mid .90s
Cognitive Abilities Test
3 Scores ... [Verbal, Non-verbal, Quantitative]
+ Poorly Educated
Less Cultural Bias
R = .90+

6
CULTURE FREE/FAIR TESTS ... [a Myth?]
RPM [Raven] – Nonverbal IQ Test ... Popular
Ages 5 to Adult
60 Matrices ... Increasing Difficulty
Logical Patterns W/ Missing Parts
Select Missing Part from M/C
Problems ... [Text]
Measures Single G-factor
R – Fair ... ~ .90
Disabled ... Minorities ... & English-2 nd Lang
Closes 15 Pt Gap B/n Whites/blacks to 7 Pts
K-ABC
OTHER TESTS
ASVAB [Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery]
11 th & 12 th Grade ... Determines Entry & Placement
10 Subtests
3 Types of Composite Scores
1) Academic – Academic Ability, Verbal, Math
2) Occupational – Mechanical & Crafts, Business,
Clerical, Electronics, Health & Social
3) Overall – General Ability
1980 Nationally Normed Group ... Ages 16-23
R – Good ... .84 - .92 (Females) & .88 - .95 (Males)
V – Good Pred of Performance in Service & Vocations
Computer Format & Adaptive Testing