Relationships of Graduation Requirements and Course Offerings to Scholastic Aptitude Test Performance of Seniors in High Schools

Abstract

AbstractA study was conducted to investigate the relationships of two school-level curriculum variables on the Scholastic Aptitude Test performance of seniors in high school. The curriculum variables were (a) the number of (Carnegie) units in English and mathematics required for high school graduation, and (b) the number of courses a school offers in various subject areas. A stratified random sampling of 150 comprehensive high schools was drawn from a southeastern state. Data were gathered from counselors and records maintained by the state’s Department of Education. SAT verbal and mathematics means for each school were compiled. Several school-level covariates were identified for incorporation into the analysis. Results indicated that the number of English units and mathematics units do not bear a statistically significant relationship with SAT performance. Likewise, the number of course offerings in 10 major subject areas did not bear a statistically significant relationship with SAT performance.