The California State University and Colleges English Placement Test (CSUC-EPT) was designed to provide information about the performance levels in both reading and writing skills of newly admitted students (mostly freshmen) to any one of the campuses of the California State University and Colleges system (beginning with the Fall 1977 semester or quarter) (Educational Testing Service, 1977a, b). For a total sample of several hundred entering freshmen at one campus who had completed the CSUC-EPT and who had elected to take the general English Composition course (English 155) during the first semester as well as for nearly equal size subsamples of males and females, the major purpose of the investigation was to determine the comparative validity of the CSUC-EPT and of other measures in the prediction of each of two specific criterion variables—1977 Fall Semester Grade Point Average (GPA) and English 155 Grades.For the total sample as well as for subsamples of females and males, intercorrelations among 11 predictor variables and the two identified criterion measures were found, and several multiple regression analyses were carried out to ascertain which particular combinations of predictor variables were the most valid indicators of success on each criterion measure.The evidence provided by the findings led to these conclusions: (1) high school GPA is the most valid predictor of college GPA for males and females; (2) the CSUC-EPT offers slightly greater promise than does high school GPA in predicting grades in a basic English composition course; (3) future success of females in this course can be forecast with a higher degree of validity than can that of males; and (4) among several possible composites of predictor variables an
For two essay questions—Question 1 given to one sample ( N 1 = 100) and Question 2 to a second group ( N 2 = 100)—ratings of student performance rendered by professors of English and by professors in other disciplines were compared for reliability and concurrent validity. From the data analyses it was concluded that the reliability and validity of the ratings provided by professors outside of English departments and by professors in English departments were nearly comparable. It appeared that differences in the reliability and concurrent validity of ratings assigned to writing samples of students might be more a function of the nature of the question posed or of variations in the average ability level of examinee groups than of differences in level of expertise on the part of readers.EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL MEASUREMENT 1980,40 ALTHOUGH considerable attention has been directed toward comparisons of direct or indirect assessment of writing skill (customarily involving respective use of essay or objective tests of standard written English) as evidenced by the comprehensive review of relevant literature and by the results of an empirical study following that review (Breland and Gaynor, 1979), an important concern does exist regarding the extent to which the reliability and validity of ratings of student performance on essay examinations are dependent upon the level of expertise of the reader. In particular, within the college or university setting, are judgments rendered by professors outside English departat UNIVERSITE DE MONTREAL on August 22, 2015 epm.sagepub.com Downloaded from
FOR a sample of more than 500 freshmen at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) who had elected to take the general English composition course (English 155) during their first semester as well as for male and female subsamples of comparable size, comparisons were made of the predictive validity of the California State University and Colleges English Placement Test (CSUC-EPT) (Educational Testing Service, 1977a, b), the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE) of the Admissions Testing Program of the College Board (Educational Testing Service, 1974-1978, 1978a, 1978b), and the Verbal and Mathematics portions of the College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test (CEEB—SAT—Verbal and CEEB-SAT—Mathematics) (Educational Testing Service, 1948-1978) with respect to each of four criterion measures: (a) Grades in Fall Semester 1977 English 155—Written Expression, (b) Fall Semester 1977 GPA, (c) Spring Semester 1978 GPA, and (d) 1977-1978 Academic Year (Total CSUN GPA. Statistical findings suggested these conclusions : (1) the TSWE requiring 30 minutes of test-taking time is very nearly as valid as the CSUC-EPT, which involves two hours and forty-five minutes of working time, in prediction of success in the general English composition course; (2) both the TSWE and the CSUC-EPT appear to be more valid than is the CEEB—SAT—Verbal measure in placing correctly freshman students in an English composition course (from the standpoint of an accurate prediction of their achievement); (3) a short multiple-choice examination requiring knowledge of principles about grammar, usage, choice of words and phrases, and syntax such as the TSWE or a subtest of the CSUCEPT reflecting similar competencies provides a more accurate prediction of success in a basic English composition course emphasizing writing skills than does an essay examination requiring the actual demonstration of writing skills; (4) level of achievement in high school is nearly as valid an indicator of overall academic performance during the freshman year as are scores on the CEEB-SAT— Verbal or Mathematics, the TSWE, or the CSUC-EPT—Total Score measures; and (5) an optimally weighted combination of two or more of these measures is typically more predictive of performance in either the English composition course or in overall academic achievement during the freshman year than is any one of these variables alone. In general, validity coefficients for females are higher than those for males irrespective of which criterion measure is being predicted.
For a sample of 270 students who sought on their own initiative counseling on academic, career, vocational, and personal matters at a university counseling and testing center, intercorrelations of their responses to 20 statements on the Evaluation of Counselors (EOC) scale were factor-analyzed. The following five factor dimensions were identified: (a) Counselee Satisfaction with the Counseling and Testing Center, (b) Counselor's Facilitation of Counselee's Self-Understanding and Personal Growth, (c) Lack (or Presence) of Confidence in or Rapport with the Counselor, (d) Counselor as a Concerned and Effective Individual in His Relationship with the Counselee, and (e) Counselor Effectiveness in Communication and Interpretation of Information to the Counselee. Thus the EOC scale does not reflect a unitary evaluative dimension, but rather several dimensions of counseling effectiveness. Although the EOC scale was heterogeneous in its factorial content, two internal-consistency estimates of .867 and .921 were obtained for the reliability of the total scale
For a sample of 146 student clients who judged the effectiveness of their counselors in a university counseling and testing center on a modified form of the Evaluation of Counselors Scale (EOC), a factor analysis of the intercorrelations of student responses to 19 items provided four orthogonal dimensions portraying perceptions of satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with the counseling experience: (a) Personal Growth, (b) Atmosphere or Environment of the Counseling Center, (c) Trust or Confidence in the Counselor, and (d) Competence in Test Interpretation and Academic-Career Counseling Skills. A formerly identified factor of Counselor Effectiveness appeared to merge with Personal Growth—a circumstance that might have been associated with the rewording of one item and omission of another that had been considered somewhat ambiguous. It would appear that in general the modified form of the EOC reflects essentially the same constructs as those found in earlier versions.
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