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Summary of Recent Research on the Validity of the American Council Psychological Examination for College Freshmen as a Predictor of College Success ACE

Author(s):
Gaver, Frances R.
Publication Year:
1954
Report Number:
RM-54-02
Source:
ETS Research Memorandum
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
7
Subject/Key Words:
American Council on Education Psychological Examination, Grade Prediction, Majors (Students), Predictive Validity

Abstract

This report presents a summary of recent research on the American Council Psychological Examination (ACE) for college freshmen. The test is used mainly to predict success in college. Conclusions include: 1) There is a wide fluctuation in the predictive power of the test in different institutions, in different fields of study, and in the same institution from year to year; 2) on the average ACE scores correlated with grades produced coefficients in the .40's, and combining ACE with other predictive measures usually results in higher correlation coefficients; and 3) Studies of the subscores Q (quantitative) and L (linguistic) provide less clear predictive validities. The L scores seems fairly good in predicting grades in English and, to a lesser extent, in foreign languages and social studies. The Q score is, in general, a better predictor of grades in math and chemistry than the L score; in other sciences, however, the two sub- scores are usually about equal. A short list of other recent (1947-1950) studies of the ACE is also included. Superceded by RM-54-07.

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