Abstract:
The Prueba de Aptitud para Estudios Tecnicos (PAET) was designed to help educators make placement decisions for Spanish-speaking adults by measuring an examinee's ability to benefit from technical studies at the postsecondary level. Its three domains are verbal ability, quantitative reasoning, and spatial ability. The verbal ability section contains reading selections, understanding vocabulary from context, fact interpretation, and comprehension of the main idea. In the quantitative reasoning section, the examinee demonstrates his/her ability to add, subtract, use formulae, multiply, and work with percentages, fractions, and decimals. The spatial ability section presents the examinee with a two-dimensional diagram of a cube as it would appear if the cube were unfolded and laid flat. Each side of the cube has a letter or symbol on it and the examinee must choose the picture which shows how the cube would appear in three dimensions. Norms for the test were established on a sample of 183 Puerto Ricans in post-secondary technical programs. The reliability of the PAET has been assessed as .89 and its validity when compared to grade point averages is .47. In Puerto Rico, the test is administered by the Corporacion Psicometrica only. In the U.S., Spanish-speaking psychologists using one assistant per 20 examinees may administer the test by special arrangement with the Corporacion Psicometrica. The PAET is restricted in this way to maintain the security of test materials. Tests are machine-scored by the publisher and both examinees and technical schools receive a report of the results including the raw score, percentile, standard score, and a pass/fail rating. Actual test time is 1 hour and 15 minutes.