Selection Criteria for High Ability Science Students

Abstract

THE NATIONAL Science Foundation has supI ported special science and mathematics programs for high ability secondary school students during the summers of 1959 through 1962. The State Uni versity of Iowa was selected to host such programs during 1960, 1961, and 1962. This paper deals with: 1) an analysis of the relative merits of criter ia used in the selection of participants as predic tors of achievement in institute courses and 2) the determination of the degree to which prior science courses in secondary school affected such achieve ment. Data for the study was taken from the 19 6 0 program. A description of this particular program has been published elsewhere (4). Kough has suggested the use of intelligence tests and teacher observation as a means of identifying high ability students (2). Kough and DeHaan list items which characterize the high ability student in science (3). Drews has suggested these same cri teria as the chief means of identification and selec tion for special programs (1). IQ scores and teach er observation were requested on the appl i c a t i o n form for the summer science program described here. In addition much other information indicated later was requested since selection of participants for this program meant choosing 70 from a total of nearly eight hundred. Almost without exception the applicants had the unreserved recommendation of their teachers indicating that they possessed super ior ability and motivation in science. In addition, all were well above average with respect to IQ. This meant that factors other than those usually listed as principal methods of identifying high abili ty students became the chief criteria in finally se lecting participants.