Choate Self-Assessment© Featured in National Association for College Admission Counseling Podcast

WALLINGFORD, Conn., Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Briefing Room of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, which tracks events, legislative actions, and research initiatives related to college admission is featuring a podcast by Admission Director Ray Diffley III on a validity study conducted by Choate Rosemary Hall's Admission Office in partnership with Dr. Robert J. Sternberg at Yale's PACE Center.

This 10-year project studying factors beyond GPA and standardized testing that lead to academic success was featured in a Fall 2009 Journal of Educational Psychology article co-written by Dr. Sternberg and his collaborators, Diffley and Choate Headmaster Edward J. Shanahan. The full study revealed that when admission officers considered the results of the assessment along with grade point average and standardized test scores, this increased their ability to predict applicants' success at the secondary school up to three times more than GPA and testing alone.

One element of the full battery of assessments that is now being administered to applicants in the admission process at Choate is called the Choate Self-Assessment©, a series of 40 questions measured on the Likert scale which evaluates an applicant's academic self-efficacy, locus of control, and intrinsic motivation. In 2009, the first year the optional self-assessment was administered online, 400 applicants took the test. Last year, more than 1,600 applicants took the self-assessment, which augments the predictive power of prior grades and standardized test results.

This innovative approach to admission assessment at the secondary school level has received national attention. Says Diffley, "This is the first time we have genuine science behind the intuition. This work has given us an incredible platform to use in talking with parents and educators about what really matters to develop healthy and successful students in school and beyond."

This study also has implications for stakeholders in the college admission process.  New research conducted among M.B.A. students at the University of Michigan Business School by Dr. Sternberg and his collaborators provides further evidence that tests that assess students' practical abilities can be as valuable as standardized intelligence testing, like the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).

The research will ultimately allow schools to customize admission batteries to those key ingredients; for example, leadership or creativity, considered essential to continued academic success and learning in college and beyond.

To arrange an interview with Ray Diffley, please contact Lorraine Connelly, Communications Office, at (203) 697-2475.

SOURCE Choate Rosemary Hall

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