Aptitude Tests for School Beginners (ASB)

N.M. Olivier, D.J. Swart & T.M. Coetzee

The Aptitude Tests for School Beginners can be applied either to a group of learners or to an individual. The aim of the tests is to obtain a differentiated image of certain of the aptitudes of the school beginner.

The tests can also be administered to children who are about to start school in order to evaluate the cognitive aspects of school readiness. The best time to apply the tests is during the first two months of the school year.

The eight tests are:

• Visual Perception
• Spatial Orientation
• Reasoning
• Numerical
• Gestalt
• Co-ordination
• Memory 
• Verbal Comprehension

The test of Verbal Comprehension is printed in a separate test booklet.

In cases where speakers of African languages have to be tested, the instructions have been made available in the 7 most commonly spoken African languages. The manual for the tester is only available in English/Afrikaans.

Norms

Norms were established in 1974 for children in Sub A/Grade I during the 4th to 6th week of the school year and are provided in the form of staves.

Revised norms were established in 1994 for all South Africans. The same version of Test 8 (1182) was used for everyone. These tests were administered during the 7th to 9th week of the school year.