This article describes a study to construct and validate a rating scale to assess appropriateness of career choices of 143 high school students. Test-retest reliability coefficients for the rating scale scores were in the .80s and .90s. Intercorrelations of teacher and counselor ratings were in the .50s and .60s. Rating scale scores correlated mostly in the .30s with an objective testing method of assessing appropriateness of students' career choices, based on ACT Career Planning Program (1985) scores. Suggestions are made for using the rating scale in research and practice.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
American College Testing Program. (1974). Handbook for assessment of career developmentBoston: Houghton Mifflin.
2.
American College Testing Program. (1983). The ACT Career Planning Program: Counselor's manual (3rd ed.). Iowa City, IA: Author.
3.
American College Testing Program. (1988). Intertm psychometric handbook for the 3rd edition: ACT Career Planning ProgramIowa City, IA: Author.
4.
Bennett, G.K., Seashore, H.G., & Wesman, A.G. (1982). Second edition manual of directions for administration and scoring of the Different Aptitude Tests and DAT Career Planning Program: Forms V and WSan Antonio, TX: The Psychological Corporation.
5.
Brown, D., & Brooks, L. (1996). Career choice and development (3rd edSan Francisco: Josey-Bass.
6.
College Entrance Examination Board. (1978). Career Skills Assessment ProgramNew York: Author.
7.
Crites, J.O. (1961). A model for the measurement of vocational maturityJournal of Counseling Psychology, 8, 255-259.
8.
Crites, J.O. (1969). Vocational psychologyNew York : McGraw-Hill.
9.
Crites, J.O. (1973). Career Maturity InventoryMonterey, CA: CTB/McGraw-Hill.
10.
Crites, J.O. (1978). Career Maturity InventoryMonterey, CA: CTB/McGraw-Hill.
11.
Kuder, G.F. (1934). Kuder Preference RecordChicago : Science Research Associates.
12.
Parsons, F. (1909). Choosing a vocationBoston : Houghton Mifflin.
13.
Prediger, D.J., & Swaney, K.B. (1992). Career counseling validity of DISCOVER Job Cluster Scales for the revised ASVAB score report (ACT Research Report No. 92-2Iowa City, IA: American College Testing.
14.
Saal, F.E., Downey, R.G., & Lakey, M.A. (1980). Rating the ratings: Assessing the psychometric quality of rating dataPsychological Bulletin , 88, 413-428.
15.
Strong, E.K. (1927). Vocation Interest BlankStanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
16.
Super, D.E. (1955). The dimensions and measurement of vocational maturityTeacher's College Record, 57, 151-163.
17.
Super, D.E. (1957). The psychology of careersNew York: Harper & Brothers.
18.
Super, D.E. (1990). A life-span, life-space approach to career development In D. Brown & L. Brooks (Eds.), Career choice and development (2nd ed.). San Francisco : Josey-Bass.
19.
Super, D.E., & Overstreet, P.L. (1960). The vocational maturity of ninth-grade boysNew York: Bureau of Publication, Teachers College, Columbia University.
20.
Super, D.E., Thompson, A.S., Lindeman, R.H., Jordaan, J.P., & Myers, R.A. (1981). Career development inventory: School formPalo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
21.
Westbrook, B.W. (1970). Cognitive Vocational Maturity TestRaleigh, NC: North Carolina State University.
22.
Westbrook, B.W. (1976). The relationship between vocational maturity and appropriateness of vocational choices of ninth-grade pupilsMeasurement and Evaluation in Guidance, 9(2), 75-80.
23.
Westbrook, B.W. (1997). Correlational data for career maturity in high school Unpublished manuscript, University of North Carolina , Raleigh.
24.
Westbrook, B.W., Elrod, T., & Wynne, D.C. (1996). Career assessment and the Cognitive Vocational Maturity TestJournal of Career Assessment, 4, 139-170.
25.
Westbrook, B.W., & Parry-Hill, J.W. (1973). The measurement of cognitive vocational maturityJournal of Vocational Behavior , 3(3), 239-252.
26.
Westbrook, B.W., & Sanford, E.E. (1991). The validity of career maturity attitude measures among Black and White high school studentsCareer Development Quarterly, 39, 199-208.
27.
Westbrook, B.W., & Sanford, E.E. (1993). Relation between self-appraised and appropriateness of career choices of male and female adolescentsEducational and Psychological Measurement, 53 , 291-299
28.
. Westbrook, B.W., Sanford, E.E., & Donnelly, M.H. (1990). The relationship between career maturity test scores and appropriateness of career choices: A replicationJournal of Vocational Behavior, 36, 20-32.
29.
Westbrook, B.W., Sanford, E.E., Merwin, G., Fleenor, J., & Gilleland, K. (1988). Career maturity in Grade 9: Can students who make appropriate career choices for others also make appropriate career choices for themselves?Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 21, 64-71.
30.
Westbrook, B.W., Sanford, E.E., & Youngblood, M. (1987). The relationship between cognitive career maturity and self-reported career maturity of high school studentsMeasurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development , 20, 51-61.
31.
Westbrook, B.W., & Wynne, D.C. (1994). The relationship between the Career Maturity Inventory and appropriateness of career choices of black adolescentsEducation and Psychology Measurement, 54, 788-792.
