The Predictive Validity of the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills for Developmental Students over a Four-Year College Program

Abstract

The sample for this study included 496 students admitted to a large midwestern university through the special admissions program. Validity coefficients of the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills (DTLS), the Academic Tests of the ACT Assessment Program (ACT), and high school percentile rank were calculated with cumulative grade point average (CGPA) at the end of each of four years of college. The most valid predictor of CGPA was ACT composite, although selected ACT tests and DTLS tests yielded statistically significant validity coefficients. High school percentile rank, traditionally a significant predictor in other studies, was not predictive of CGPA at any time for this sample. Regression analyses for a subset of 138 of the special admissions students remaining in college after four years showed that, after the first year in college, the DTLS tests did not make a significant contribution to academic success in college over and above that of the ACT tests and high school rank. At the end of the first year, the three DTLS tests in combination contributed over and above the ACT tests and high school rank. Also, at the end of the first year, the DTLS Vocabulary Test and DTLS Logical Relationships Test separately contributed over and above what the ACT tests, high school rank, and the other two DTLS tests did contribute.