The Prediction of College Achievement from the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the High School Record

Attempting to take a nonadversarial approach to the dispute of Slack and Porter with Jackson over the predictive validities of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the high school record, this report examines both the effect of the selection process on these validities and what these validities might be if all colleges were to use a common standard of academic achievement. The results indicate that for this criterion the Scholastic Aptitude Test may have a predictive validity of .62 and an incremental validity over the high school record of .17 and for the usual criterion the selection process may have a profound effect on the relative predictive validities of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the high school record. The conclusion thus reached is that the Scholastic Aptitude Test is, as intended by its developers, a valid instrument of selection.Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited