The Area Tests of the Graduate Record Examination as a Partial Criterion of Academic Success

Abstract

A MAJOR PROBLEM in the prediction of academ ic success in college has been the matter of a d e quate criteria, that is, adequate means for specify ing who is and who is not a superior or inferior stu dent. The demonstrable effectiveness of any pre dictor system is limited by the adequacy of the c r i teria employed. Past failures of ability and achieve ment tests to predict success with greater accuracy may be attributable, at least in par t, to weaknesses in the conventional operational defini tions of academic success. The most commonly employed criterion of aca demic success has been some measure based upon grades such as grade-point-average (GPA) or quality-point-ratio. Such measures have a number of weaknesses. One problem is that they are based upon extremely crude discriminations among students. When one looks at GPA scores ex pressed to two or three decimalplaces,one may for get that this score is based upon a fouror five step discrimination in the original grade (i. e., A, B, C, D, F). Furthermore, grades are s ub j e c t to biases affecting some groups of students but not others. One example is the matter of different grading customs in different departments, i. e., some departments are easier, other de partments are harder. Such biases make the sig nificance of a particular GPA score different for stu dents who have taken different programs of study. On the positive side, it can be noted that GPA does reflect, to some degree, an effort factor on the part of the student. In most good colleges, the only way to obtain good grades is to work for them. Thus, when one encounters a student with a high GPA, one can assume that this student has applied himself well to his studies, and this factor, most persons would agree, is a relevant consideration in the meas urement of success. A final point with re gard to GPA is that this index has become a datum of great practical importance in many situations, e. g., in admission to graduate study. While GPA may leave much to be desired as a criterion of aca demic success, it must be taken into consideration in any study of success where the results are to be considered of practical significance.