Aptitude Tests

Benefits of college admission testing

-Standardization: offer comparative information -Efficacy: administered a large number of students at once -Opportunity: providing a mean to demonstrate students who have weak academic records, have not attended the most prestigious school, and who have not taken rigorous courses

Impact of coaching (admission tests)

-hard to examine -quasi experimental -meta analysis

Overlap between achievement and aptitude tests

-often include the same kind of materials -used for a different purpose

Key findings about standardized tests

1. test score and undergraduate GPA predict various academic success 2. test score predicts most measures of successful performance better than college GPA 3. The combination of test score and grade yields the most accurately predict "success" 4. Test score is an effective predictor of performance in graduate school

Aptitude Test vs. Achievement Test

Aptitude test: involves and predicts the future Achievement test: What you have achieved/learned/retained thus far (past)

Describe Aptitude Tests in Graduate School Admission (compare and contrast)

MCAT (physiological, biological etc.) LSAT (logical, analytical) GRE (verbal, quantitive, writing) GMAT (analytical writing, verbal)

Describe Aptitude Tests in College Admission (compare and contrast)

SAT -math, critical reading, and writing -1600 max score ACT -English, math, reading, and science -36 max score

Aptitude Tests

assessment instrument designed to measure potential for acquiring knowledge or skill

Standardized tests for racial minorities

lower mean score of SAT/ACT for Black and Hispanic students compared to white

Standardized tests for female students

no more differences (favor female students) or smaller gaps than racial comparison

Occupation Aptitude tests

potential to be a salesperson, a fighter pilot, financial officer etc.

Education Aptitude Tests

potential to study at college/graduate/professional levels

Challenges of aptitude tests

pressure for more prestigious, diverse, dynamic etc.

Standardized tests regression model

the SAT and ACT scores over predict the performance of racial minority students (0.20 GPA). The less magnitude of overproduction for female students (0.10 GPA)