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GMAC is also surveying business faculty worldwide, asking professors to rate the importance of skills that should be measured and the mastery that they expect students to demonstrate in such skills.
During Phase 2, GMAC will utilize the first phase research to design and pilot-test enhancements to meet the needs of business schools. The goal will be to determine the most effective approaches to measuring the skills that are valued in a graduate management program classroom and creating the optimal test-taker experience.
Before launching the new test, GMAC will ensure that it is easily accessible. In Phase 3, test centers will be upgraded as needed. Test preparation materials will be developed and made available to candidates before the first new tests are delivered. GMAC will search for innovations to enhance access to the GMAT without compromising test security.
The GMAT exam is the only admissions test designed by business schools for business schools. It was created in 1953 by nine business schools that decided they needed their own special test to evaluate and admit the best students for their programs. Five decades later, the GMAT has regularly been shown to be the most reliable indicator of academic success in graduate management education. Today, it is used by more than 4,600 programs in 1,900 schools. In 2008, more than 260,000 GMAT exams were taken by prospective business students in more than 100 countries.
To ensure its high quality, reliability, and validity, the GMAT exam has undergone continuous improvement throughout its history. Some of the changes have been highly visible, such as the switch from paper to computer adaptive testing. Other changes have been “under the hood,” such as improved security, better processes for developing GMAT questions, and stringent procedures to ensure bias-free questions. In 2006, GMAC, Pearson VUE, and ACT conducted an in-depth curriculum study of a variety of business programs to confirm that the GMAT was continuing to perform at the highest level.
The exact form that the Next Generation GMAT will take is impossible to predict. GMAC is investing the requisite time and effort to conduct a thorough review and continual testing to ensure the Next Generation GMAT meets the needs of business schools and students well into the future.
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