A comparative evaluation was made of the ability of the four Academic Tests of the American College Test (ACT) Assessment Program and the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills (DTLS) to predict course grades and freshman grade-point average for 496 students enrolled in a basic skills program at a large four-year midwestern university. Multiple regression analyses indicated that performance in basic skills courses, notably reading and writing, can be predicted equally well by a subset of the Academic Tests of the ACT Assessment Program or a subset of the DLTS. Performance in a basic skills mathematics course was predicted considerably more accurately by three of the four Academic Tests of the ACT Assessment Program as opposed to one subtest from the DTLS. Grade point av erage was predicted equally well with selected subtests from both instruments.EDUCATIONAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL *EASV&dquo;MENT 1990,40 -' POSTSECONDARY institutions over the past decade have modified their admissions criteria in order to identify students who would not normally be admitted to college but who have the potential for satisfactory work. Many of these students are drawn from racial minorities and/or low socio-economic status (SES) groups. Although it is assumed that they possess the necessary intellectual ability to meet the academic demands of college, they are often seriously deficient in such basic skills as reading comprehension, writing, and mathematics. In response to the needs of these students, many colleges have estabat CORNELL UNIV on June 25, 2015 epm.sagepub.com Downloaded from

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.

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