Gita Z. Wilder

Attitudes about the computer-based test of English as a Foreign Language☆

Abstract The principal aim of this study was to assess test takers’ acceptance of the computer-based version of the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), and the links between this acceptance, general attitudes about admissions tests, other possible determinants, and test performance. A secondary goal was to evaluate differences in the pattern of results for test takers from different countries. A questionnaire concerning attitudes about the test, familiarity with computers, and other relevant variables was administered to TOEFL test takers at large testing centers in Buenos Aires, Cairo, and Frankfurt. Attitudes about the TOEFL were moderately positive and had similar patterns of relationships in the three countries: slight or moderate with test performance, moderate with general attitudes about admissions tests, slight with computer anxiety and test anxiety, and minimal with other variables.

Why Don't Test Takers Prepare for the Pre-Professional Skills Tests?

This study investigated the extent and nature of preparation for the Pre-Professional Skills Tests (PPST), and the reasons for preparing or not preparing. The PPST, a high-stakes test with a high failure rate, is used for admission to teacher education programs and for teacher licensing. Recent test takers were surveyed. Preparation was limited and mainly involved activities that were free or inexpensive, such as taking a sample test. The reported reasons for not preparing and the empirical correlates of measures of preparation were primarily attitudinal.

The Validity of Written Simulation Exercises for Assessing Clinical Skills in Legal Education1

Four different groups of respondents completed a set of simulation exercises intended to reflect lawyering skills involved in client interviews. The written simulation exercises began with a brief description of a practical situation and required a series of interdependent steps be taken toward resolution of a specific problem in client interviewing. The four response groups were: (a) undergraduate prelaw students; (b) law students without any direct client experience; (c) law students completing programs of clinical legal education; and (d) law professors and attorneys. Scores on the simulation exercises showed successive, significant increases across response groups and seemed independent of academic preparation and ability. These results suggest both the appropriateness of simulation exercises as measures of clinical skills in legal education and the effectiveness of clinical programs in promoting the development of such skills within law schools.

Contributions to Education Policy Research

Over the course of its history, ETS has conducted education policy research focused on promoting equal opportunity for all individuals from early childhood through adulthood. This chapter describes a selection of work in: • Analyzing, evaluating, and informing public policy in educational governance, including school finance; teacher policy; and federal, state, and local education policy; • Examining differential access to educational opportunity in three areas of longstanding interest to ETS: the gender gap, advanced placement programs, and graduate education; and • Reporting on the educational outcomes of the U.S. population and describing the contexts for these outcomes and for the gaps in outcomes that exist among segments of the population.