GRADUATE RECORD EXAM

The GRE and Student Performance of College Students

Submitted to: Dr. Carolyn Jackson

DEED 545- Educational Measurement and Evaluation

Ryan Willis

Grambling State University

Fall - 2011

Table of Contents

Thesis Statement3

Introduction3

Discussion3

Predictive Ability of the GRE3

GRE Validity5

Does the GRE Accurately Predict Success?7

GRE Validity According to Different Universities8

Conclusion8

References10

The GRE and Performance of College Students

Thesis Statement

This paper should support the fact that the GRE does not accurately predict graduate student performance.

Introduction

Graduate Record Examination is a standardized test. GRE is used by many institutions as an important admission requirement. In 1949, GRE was designed by Educational Testing Service. GRE tends to measure different skills of students. It is a test of students' reasoning, writing, and critical thinking abilities. The Graduate Record Examination is held in the form of a computer-based program. However, in countries where the facility of computer-based system is not available, paper-based exams are administered.

The graduate schools across the United States emphasize the GRE score in the admission process of students. However, the degree of importance of this exam differs among schools. In some graduate schools, GRE is just a formality. On the other side, in some schools, it is an important admission criterion.

Discussion

Predictive Ability of the GRE

The Graduate Record Examination was developed in 1973. The test was devised by the Cooperative Graduate Testing Program. Every year, approximately 600,000 take the GRE. The current measures of this test include GRE-V or verbal reasoning, GRE-Q or quantitative reasoning, and GRE-A for analytical reasoning. The research conducted in GRE declared that the performance of students in GRE can predict their success in graduate schools. The studies conducted to the predictive ability of the GRE have presented diverse findings. According to these studies, the GRE can effectively measure the first year GPA of students and CGPA or Cumulative Grade Point Average. These studies also revealed that test scores of GRE can help faculty evaluate students.

In order to analyze the predictive validity of Graduate Record Examination, a comprehensive meta-analysis was conducted by Kuncel, Hezlett, and Ones (2001). In this meta-analysis, researchers scrutinized the validity of the GRE and undergraduate average points of students as predictors of their graduate school performance. In order to carry out this study, researchers collected samples from different disciplines. The researchers considered different measures in their study. The results of this study specified that GRE is a valid predictor of GPA of students during the first year (Kuncel et al, 2001).

However, there are a few evidences that support the fact that GRE can effectively predict these measures of the graduate school success.

In 1997, Sternberg and Williams conducted a research to determine how well the scores of GRE predict the success of students in graduate schools. During this study, forty faculty members at Yale University were provided with the task of assessing the abilities of students on different scales. These scales included analytical, creative, practical, research, and teaching. The researchers also assessed the GPA of students during the first and second year of graduate schools. In addition, the dissertations of students were also assessed ...