Validity of GRE Test

ETS and the GRE® Program make ensuring the fairness and validity of GRE tests throughout the test development, administration and scoring processes a high priority. To ensure that these goals are reached, ETS has developed a meticulous system of internal checks and balances, and audit teams routinely verify that all tests and services meet rigorous professional standards such as those outlined by the American Psychological Association, American Educational Research Association and National Council on Measurement in Education.

Fairness

Fairness concerns are an integral part of the development and scoring of all tests. The many activities that ensure fairness include:

• involvement of minority educators and representative committees in every phase of the development and scoring processes
• multiple fairness evaluations by trained reviewers
• routine analyses of test questions to establish that questions do not unfairly contribute to group differences
• rigorous training for all persons involved in the development or scoring of test questions to ensure that all examinees have an equal opportunity to demonstrate their skills and abilities
• appropriate accommodations (e.g., ZoomText®, extra time) for examinees who may need them

Validity

Validity research and analyses establish that the test measures what it is supposed to measure. The GRE Program has documented evidence of the following types of validity in GRE tests:

• construct validity (the test measures the skills/abilities that should be measured)
• content validity (the test measures appropriate content)
• predictive validity (the test predicts success)
• consequential validity (the test demonstrates that adverse consequences are minimal)
• external validity (the test has the expected relationship with other measures of the same construct)

Although ETS works to accumulate validity evidence at each stage of the delivery and scoring process, the initial impetus for validity research comes from feedback from members of the graduate school community, who provide information about the skills and abilities that they consider essential for success in graduate school.

Verbal Reasoning Measure

The Verbal Reasoning measure of the GRE® revised General Test assesses verbal reasoning skills. These skills have been identified by graduate and business school deans and faculty as critical for success in graduate and business school. The capabilities that are assessed include:

• the ability to understand text (such as the ability to understand the meanings of sentences, to summarize a text, or to distinguish major points from irrelevant points in a passage)
• the ability to interpret discourse (such as the ability to draw conclusions, to infer missing information or to identify assumptions)

Quantitative Reasoning Measure

The Quantitative Reasoning measure of the GRE revised General Test assesses quantitative reasoning skills. The skills assessed are consistent with capabilities outlined in the Mathematical Association of America's Quantitative Reasoning for College Graduates: A Complement to the Standards and are based on feedback from faculty surveys. The capabilities that are assessed in the GRE Quantitative Reasoning measure include:

• reading and understanding quantitative information
• interpreting and analyzing quantitative information, including drawing inferences from data
• using mathematical methods to solve quantitative problems