The Nelson-Denny Reading Test, Form E, the Kansas State Reader Attitude Scale, and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale were completed by 168 college students. The students' American College Test (ACT) scores and self-reported high school grade-point averages (GPA's) were also obtained. Pearson product-moment correlations revealed a moderate relationship between reading achievement scores and ACT scores and a low relationship of reading achievement with GPA and reading attitude scores (r's of .54, .35, and .30 respectively). No relationship was found between reading achievement and self-concept. (6 reftCo-author Charles E . Heerman is at the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Kansas State University. Psychological Reports, 1982, 51 (August) Data were obtained by the Federal Trade Commission on demographic and personal characteristics and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores for 2,754 students who took the SAT for the first and/or the second time between 1974 and 1977, including 514 who attended one of two metropolitan New York coaching schools and 2,240 who received no coaching. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess the impact of coaching on SAT scores. The results revealed that coaching School A but not School B was effective in increasing SAT scores. When the students' predicted Preliminary SAT (PSAT) and first SAT scores were compared to their actual scores, the students who attended School A scored significantly lower on the test taken before coaching than was predicted from their background and personal characteristics, whereas the uncoached students scored higher than expected. No significant differences between predicted and actual precoaching scores were found for the students who attended School B. These results suggest that self-selection was present at School A but not at School B. The students who were coached at School A before taking the SAT for the second time scored lower than predicted on the PSAT as well as on their first SAT, suggesting that the students' initially low scores were not due to chance but were systematic and would have continued without coaching. Data were obtained on background, career motivation, and attitudes toward professional and social issues at several points over four years for 3,146 students who began study in the fields of law, medicine, engineering, or teaching at six Australian universities in 1965. Follow-up data were obtained in 1978 for 65 percent of the original individuals. The early data revealed that the engineering and law students entered their respective fields because of interest, desire for a professional career, and financial rewards, although the law students also expressed an interest in power and influence. The medical and education students showed a strong service interest and little interest in extrinsic rewards. The students' initial motivation persisted throughout their course of study. Data from seven attitude scales indicated that the engineering COLLEGE STUDENT PERSONNEL ABSTRACTS [433
Data collected by the Federal Trade Commission from the Educational Testing Service and Commercial Coaching Schools in the New York Metropolitan area are used in an observational study to test the hypothesis that commercial coaching can improve performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Evidence is presented that many students who sought commercial coaching had scored below expectations on previous standardized exams. Their poor performance, however, was found not to be due to chance but rather to a systematic inability to do well on such tests. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that coaching can, at the very least, help such students to overcome their inability to perform as one would predict from their demographic and personal characteristics.
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