Validity of the differential aptitude test for the assessment of immigrant children

Examined the construct and criterion validity of the Dutch version of the Differential Aptitude Test (DAT) for the assessment of secondary school minority group students (N = 111) as compared to majority group students (N = 318) in the Netherlands. Comparison of the test dimensions with the structural equation modelling program EQS showed that construct validity was good for both groups. With 1 exception, the subtests of the DAT measured the cognitive abilities of minority and majority group students equally well. The estimate of g as computed with the DAT showed strong predictive validity with little bias for various school subjects and achievement tests for mathematics and Dutch. Although some criteria showed prediction bias to the disadvantage of the minority group, these differences concerned very small changes in R-sup-2. Conversely, the predictive value decreased substantially when an estimate of g was used excluding subtests that measure aspects of crystallized! intelligence. Spearman's hypothesis tested with DAT subtest scores and criterion scores showed that g explained most of the group differences. The authors conclude that professional test users can safely draw conclusions from the DAT regardless of the students' ethnicity