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Differences Among Racial and Ethnic Groups in Mean Scores on the GRE and SAT: Longitudinal Comparisons GREB GRE SAT

Author(s):
Pennock-Roman, Maria
Publication Year:
1993
Report Number:
RR-91-14
Source:
ETS Research Report
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
26
Subject/Key Words:
Graduate Record Examinations Board, Ethnic Groups, Graduate Record Examinations (GRE), Racial Differences, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT)

Abstract

If one compares racial/ethnic group differences on verbal and quantitative tests from published data on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test, some group differences appear to be relatively larger (in standard deviation units) on the GRE General Test than on the SAT. The objective of this study was a retrospective, longitudinal analysis of individuals who had taken both tests to see if group differences remain the same or change over time. The pattern of results from longitudinal evidence was very different from that found in cross-sectional comparisons of published GRE and SAT data for the various groups. The changes in the relative size of mean differences were in the direction of closing the gap between non-Hispanic (NH) White and minority groups, especially for Asian American and Puerto Rican examinees. The regressions of GRE General Test scores on SAT scores (i.e., growth) for various racial/ethnic groups were dissimilar from that of the NH White group, but the differences in growth patterns did not widen the distance in means between NH White test takers and minority groups

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