Achievement Tests

Date: April 18, 1994, pp.13 The Scientist did an excellent job reporting FairTest's recent study demonstrating that the lion's share of National Academy for Science, Space, and Technology (NASST) scholarships went to boys because of reliance on American College Testing (ACT) exam scores to choose winners (F. Hoke, Jan. 10, 1994, page 1). However, the reaction statements attributed to spokesmen for ACT contain such significant errors

| 2 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
2:00
Share

The Scientist did an excellent job reporting FairTest's recent study demonstrating that the lion's share of National Academy for Science, Space, and Technology (NASST) scholarships went to boys because of reliance on American College Testing (ACT) exam scores to choose winners (F. Hoke, Jan. 10, 1994, page 1). However, the reaction statements attributed to spokesmen for ACT contain such significant errors of fact and logic that further clarification is necessary.

For example, the statement by ACT's Kelley Hayden that the test has a predictive validity of 95 percent for both males and females is not supported by a single piece of data. The test-maker's own research shows that ACT scores have a correlation of about 0.4 with first-year college grades, the only outcome the test claims to predict. That means the ACT explains less than 20 percent of the variance in grades. Moreover, ACT admits that young women receive higher ...

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to digital editions of The Scientist, as well as TS Digest, feature stories, more than 35 years of archives, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here

Meet the Author

  • Cinthia Schuman

    This person does not yet have a bio.

Published In

Share
3D illustration of a gold lipid nanoparticle with pink nucleic acid inside of it. Purple and teal spikes stick out from the lipid bilayer representing polyethylene glycol.
February 2025, Issue 1

A Nanoparticle Delivery System for Gene Therapy

A reimagined lipid vehicle for nucleic acids could overcome the limitations of current vectors.

View this Issue
Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Considerations for Cell-Based Assays in Immuno-Oncology Research

Lonza
An illustration of animal and tree silhouettes.

From Water Bears to Grizzly Bears: Unusual Animal Models

Taconic Biosciences
Sex Differences in Neurological Research

Sex Differences in Neurological Research

bit.bio logo
New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

New Frontiers in Vaccine Development

Sino

Products

Tecan Logo

Tecan introduces Veya: bringing digital, scalable automation to labs worldwide

Explore a Concise Guide to Optimizing Viral Transduction

A Visual Guide to Lentiviral Gene Delivery

Takara Bio
Inventia Life Science

Inventia Life Science Launches RASTRUM™ Allegro to Revolutionize High-Throughput 3D Cell Culture for Drug Discovery and Disease Research

An illustration of differently shaped viruses.

Detecting Novel Viruses Using a Comprehensive Enrichment Panel

Twist Bio