A statistical critique of the USAFI tests of general educational development

Data resulting from the administration of the USAFI Tests of General Educational Development to more than 1000 junior Air Force officers have been statistically analyzed to indicate the reliability of these tests, their correlation with school achievement, the comparability of their intercorrelations with intercorrelations among grades in school subjects, their capacity for differential diagnosis, their factorial composition, and their average item-test correlations. In the light of these findings and the finding that there is a low gradient between achievement on these tests and amount of formal education among these officers, the tests have been evaluated as possessing the practical validity suggested by their face validity for selection of young Air Force officers for assignment to study at civilian colleges and universities.Paper read before the National Council on Measurements Used in Education, Atlantic City, New Jersey, February 24, 1948. The writers are indebted to Dr. James E. Greene, formerly Deputy for Research of the Educational Advisory Staff, The Air University, for aid in planning and sponsoring this study.