The Use of High School Faculty Ratings to Predict USMA Fourth Class Performance.

The potential use of High School Faculty Ratings for admission purposes is investigated. The ratings include the evaluations of a candidate on 10 traits and three overall characteristics. The rating forms are given to a mathematics, English, and physical education teacher, a counselor or high school principal, and one other faculty member by the applicant, prior to his evaluation by USMA admissions officers. The sample of applicants studied included 697 candidates to the Class of 1972, 542 of whom were admitted. The 10 traits were combined into four for each of the five raters by factor analysis. Integer weights for raters were developed for each trait and then for the combined traits to best predict Fourth Class Aptitude for the Service and Fourth Class Grade Point Average. It was found that combinations of the ratings had significant validity for predicting both Fourth Class ASR and GPA. This was especially true with ASR for the group of cadets having ratings from at least a mathematics teacher, an English teacher, and a physical education teacher or coach. (Author/LBH)