ABSTRACT
The basic method of assessing the validity of selection is as follows. Pupils selected by entry tests or examinations are followed up in their secondary-school years. Then their success in the secondary school is assessed by internal or external examinations, such as the G.C.E., and these follow-up measures of success are correlated with the entry data. The essential problem is whether grammar-school attainments, however and whenever taken, are a sufficient measure of a pupil's gain from grammar-school life. The validity of the objective components of selection examinations and procedures has been the subject of many inquiries. English was a close second as far as Arts subjects were concerned, whilst Arithmetic fell somewhat short in its prediction of mathematical and science subjects. The objective Arithmetic test was superior to the English test when they were compared as predictors of related grammar-school subjects. Recent American work suggests that the correlation coefficient itself gives a better index of the 'pay-off' of a selection.
