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)
