Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

Recent national longitudinal studies of special education students indicate that schools should concentrate on developing students' skills matched to the requirements of their potential occupations. Evidence suggests that the experience of career development among adolescents with learning disabilities is especially frustrating without early exploration and planning. This study investigates the value of using available psychometric data in assisting the school psychologist and other professionals to make initial exploratory estimates of vocational aptitude without referring the student for specialized vocational assessment. General Aptitude Test Battery (GATB) and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) scores were used in multiple regression analyses to examine the predictive relationships existing between the two instruments. The population studied included 172 adolescents wi th learning disabilities enrolled in a public school division. The analyses in this study reveal a high degree of validity between the GATB and WAIS-R. However, the prediction equation appears unsuitable for using the WAIS-R subtests for predicting GATB aptitudes. Aptitude F explains the highest degree of variance. Other squared multiple regressions range as low as .13 for Aptitude Q to as high as .52 for Aptitude S. Results suggest that even though the GATB and WAIS-R share common variance, there is enough independent information provided by each test to warrant employing both in order to insure that the students' vocational aptitudes are fully diagnosed. Implications for school psychologists and other professionals doing exploratory assessments of vocational aptitude from available WAIS-R subtests are discussed, as are assessment issues regarding adolescents with learning disabilities. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to discover if predictive variables could be identified to assist manpower programs with decisions concerning trainee program assignment. The primary problem explored was: What is the relationship between selected trainee characteristics, specific vocational assessment procedures and successful outcomes in a CETA skills training center? The research concentrated on demographic variables of age, sex, ethnic group membership, education and family status, as well as scores on three sp~cific assessment procedures: academic tests, work samples, and a work behavior rating instrument. The study involved a sample of 137 subjects who had completed a vocational assessment experience, had enrolled in one of four vocational classes, and had been terminated, either successfully or unsuccessfully, from a skills training program at the Northern Virginia CETA Skill Center during fiscal year 1981-82. Demographic and test data were analyzed by means of a discriminate analysis program in an effort to differentiate between successful and unsuccessful trainee termination. The results of the study indicated that for each of the three assessment techniques tested: (1) Academic Tests, (2) Work Samples, and (3) Work Related Behavioral Observations, several significant variables were identified. Results of the discriminant analysis were astonishingly h:i.gh and appear to demonstrate that statistical relationships can be proven to exist between certain trainee characteristics, assessment procedures and training outcomes. When the discriminant analysis using the various demographic variables, scores on the work behavior rating instrument, academic tests and work samples were performed, the results were impressive. The discriminant analysis yielded predictive accuracies of 81%-100% for successful and unsuccessful terminatins in three training area. Thus it would appear that the specific demographic variables highlighted by the three assessment techniques employed at the Northern Virginia CETA Program are valuable indicators of trainee outcome. / Ed. D.

La relation entre le niveau d'habileté et la vitesse d’exécution à des tests psychométriques demeure ambiguë en raison de lacunes des mesures employées parle passé. Cette relation est ici étudiée auprès de 111 enfants âgés de 9 à 11 ans. L'indice de vitesse proposé, tiré d'items de tests informatisés, rallie trois contrôles méthodologiques: (1) indépendance du niveau d'habileté, (2) contrôle pour la réussite et (3) contrôle pour la difficulté des items. Il apparaît que les scores-temps mesurent un type de vitesse différent de celui mesuré par les mesures psychométriques classiques de vitesse mentale. En outre, l'apport prédictif des scores-temps se compare avantageusement à celui des scores aux sous-tests du TAI-E dans la prédiction des résultats scolaires. Avec l'augmentation de l'âge, la taille des temps de réponse diminuent et leur apport prédictif de la performance intellectuelle augmente. Une hypothèse quant à l'origine de cette transformation développementale est explorée.

The newly developed Differential Aptitude Test Form S (DAT) does not give an indication of general intelligence or expected achievement in Grade 9. The aim of the current study was to determine the relationships of the aptitude subtests (measured by the DAT) with intelligence and achievement. Two affective factors, motivation and self-concept, as well as study orientation, were included as variables predicting achievement. An empirical study was carried out in which 60 Grade 9 learners were tested. The variables were measured using reliable instruments. Correlations were calculated and multiple regression analyses used to predict achievement. Moderate to high positive correlations between aptitude and intelligence were found. Affective factors explained more of the variance in achievement in key subjects than aptitude variables. One conclusion is that Grade 9 achievement measures affective rather than cognitive factors. Recommendations are made regarding the use of the DAT-S in predicting school achievement. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This study examined the relationship between the sub-components of Holland's Self-Directed Search and independent, objective measures of ability using a comprehensive battery of well-validated tests of primary abilities corresponding to each of Holland's six vocational interest types. The sample consisted of 149 female undergraduate students, ages 18-25. Correlation of the ability measure test scores with the four Self-Directed Search subcomponents revealed that the subtests were not related to corresponding measures of ability in a consistent fashion. Implications for the use of the Self-Directed Search in assessing abilities are discussed along with suggestions for future research investigating the relationhip between interest in ventories and the measurement of primary abilities.

The study described the development of a standardized, normed, content-valid machine transcription test which could be used to evaluate the ability of secretarial applicants to type a mailable copy of a business letter from a dictated tape recording. The test was based on a thorough job analysis and was pretested using a pilot study with job incumbents to confirm its feasibility. Normative data were developed from 50 job applicants. Interrater reliability was statistically significant (r = .85, p <..05). The test was adopted for use at the headquarters office of a major oil and gas producing company.

The purposes of this study were two-fold: to develop a program model for vocational assessment of handicapped students in the public schools that would include information concerning the following components: goals/outcomes, methods, procedures, target populations, and staffing. (2) to compare perceptions of four types of personnel (vocational evaluators, vocational adjustment coordinators, vocational counselors, and educational diagnosticians) concerning the components that should be included in a program model of vocational assessment of handicapped students.

The newly developed Differential Aptitude Test Form S (DAT) does not give an indication of general intelligence or expected achievement in Grade 9. The aim of the current study was to determine the relationships of the aptitude subtests (measured by the DAT) with intelligence and achievement. Two affective factors, motivation and self-concept, as well as study orientation, were included as variables predicting achievement. An empirical study was carried out in which 60 Grade 9 learners were tested. The variables were measured using reliable instruments. Correlations were calculated and multiple regression analyses used to predict achievement. Moderate to high positive correlations between aptitude and intelligence were found. Affective factors explained more of the variance in achievement in key subjects than aptitude variables. One conclusion is that Grade 9 achievement measures affective rather than cognitive factors. Recommendations are made regarding the use of the DAT-S in predicting school achievement. / Educational Studies / M.Ed. (Specialisation in Guidance and Counselling)