The Predictive Validity of Ethiopian Higher Educational Entrance Certificate Examination and Its Relationships with Proficiency and Other Examinations

Abstract

The Ethiopian Higher Educational Entrance Certificate Examination (EHEECE) is a test, which serves to select candidates to higher learning. Nevertheless, there is no available research on whether the EHEECE English achievement scores directly relates with and predicts learners’ language proficiency and academic success. To examine the above issues, proficiency examinations, extracted from various texts, were conducted to first year Social Science students at Adama University. The findings reveal that there is a positive but low relationship between EHEECE and proficiency examination. Similarly, the EHEECE predicts learners academic success but in an unsatisfactory manner. On the other hand, the proficiency examination displays high relationship with learners’ academic achievement. Additionally, the EHEECE affects female students negatively. Hence, the EHEECE English examination needs revision. The examination should appraise learners’ proficiency. It also needs to include subjective questions to carry out its selection effectively.