SAT Scores and Academic Performance in High School.

The aim of this study was to appraise whether different forms of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) used since the mid 1970s varied in their correlations with academic performance criteria in the same cohort of examinees. A 1975 form and a 1985 form were administered to equivalent samples of high school juniors, and self-reported grade-point average and high school rank were obtained. The SAT Verbal and Mathematical scores generally had similar correlations with the grade criteria in the two samples, but the Verbal score had a significantly higher correlation with school rank in the 1985 sample. The principal conclusion is that the 1975 form of the SAT does not have greater validity than the 1985 form in assessing academic performance, at least at the high school level. This outcome offers no support for the hypothesis that the decline in the SAT's ability to predict college grades since the mid 1970s, observed in recent research, is attributable to changes in the test. Three tables present analysis details. (Contains seven references.) (Author)