Here is the teaser summary from the Observer:
"There were some interesting twists and turns on the road to the new SAT, and APS Fellow Richard C. Atkinson, President Emeritus of the University of California, was in the driver's seat. Atkinson offers a detailed account of his leading role in changing the face of college admissions testing."
The article is adapted from an invited address at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in April, 2004. That definition, and the definition of an aptitude vs. an achievement test opens the talk. I would think that this group would be able to handle a technical definition.
His distinction between aptitude and achievement tests was odd also.
"For example, an algebra test given at then end of a course would be classified as an achievement test, whereas a test given prior to the course--designed to predict the student's performance in the algebra course--would be classified as an aptitude test. In actual practice, the distinction between achievement and aptitude tests is not as neat as these definitions might suggest but the conceptual difference is useful."
It is an odd article and I hesitate to summarize it. I think it would be fair to say that Atkinson's goal was to change the SAT from at aptitude test to an achievement test.
Hi Ken -
I do not have ready access to the APS Observer. Please, what is the context of this statement in the personal perspective provided by Atkinson? It seems that speculation about the author and his meaning is limited without this in situ information.
Thanks,
Sandra
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Sandra M. Nagel, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Psychology
Saginaw Valley State University
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http://www.svsu.edu/~smnagel/research/
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--------------------------------------------------------------- Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 USA ---------------------------------------------------------------
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