College Grade Point Research Articles

Organizational Changes to Attract and Retain Qualified Teachers

The public education system in the United States is confronted with a crisis in the number of high quality teachers entering and remaining in the profession. Within the last two decades, a series of trends has upset the delicate balance that provided a continuing supply of new teachers. The decline in purchasing power of teachers' salaries, the increased career mobility for women and minorities, and the loss of occupational prestige of public school teachers have made it more likely that bright, academically able individuals who have the option will choose more lucrative and more prestigious careers-careers that until recently were not as open to females and minorities (Sykes 1983). The research shows that the more able college graduates are not entering teaching in large numbers. Academic scores for education majors, measured by college entrance exams and grade-point averages, have shown a marked decline over the last decade (Merit Pay Task Force Report 1983). The quality of those who remain in teaching is also a major concern. Although education does attract and retain a proportionate share of individuals in the middle rank of academic ability, it attracts more than a proportionate share of students from the lower two ranks and less than a proportionate share from the top two ranks (Schlechty and Vance 1982). A study by Rosenholtz (1985) found that, after six years, only 37 percent of teachers in the top 10 percent of measured verbal ability remained in the teacher work force, while more than 60 percent of those in the lowest 10 percent were still teaching. Stratification by gender in the educational system is another problem. Elementary school teaching remains a job in which women predominate. In the twentieth annual survey of entering freshmen conducted jointly by

Predicting the Academic Success of College Athletes

Abstract Our purpose was to assess the impact of NCAA Bylaw 5–1-(J), pre-facto, on admission and graduation rates of student athletes at the University of Michigan by answering two questions: (a) Does the SAT predict equally well for blacks and non-blacks? and (b) Does limiting admissions have an effect on grade point average (GPA) and on graduation rates? Subjects comprised all grant-in-aid football players entering the program from 1974–1983; the measures were SAT verbal and math scores (SATSUM), high school grade point average (HSGPA), and first semester college grade point average (CGPA). SAT scores were unrelated to CGPA for black athletes and were weakly related for non-blacks; HSGPA alone predicts CGPA. SATSUM of 700 would have resulted in nonadmission of 60% of blacks (of whom 86% actually succeeded). Graduation rates would have been affected similarly. Limiting admission had no positive effect on GPAs or graduation but a severe negative effect due to nonadmission of blacks.

Learners' Cognitive Styles and Psychological Types as Intervening Variables Influencing Performance in Computer Science Courses

During the past twenty years, many educators have tried to incorporate technological progress and processes into the nation's schools. As the demand for computer science courses continues its phenomenal growth into the 1980s, the problems of identifying components of computer science aptitude and predicting academic success in computer science courses become increasingly important. This article is based on the critical analysis of the most recent research studies concerning the identification of components of computer science aptitude responsible for success in computer science courses. The analysis attempts to answer three questions: 1. Do certain cognitive styles have a bearing on performance in computer science courses?; 2. Do certain psychological types have bearing on performance in computer science courses?, and 3. Do certain background variables (sex, age, academic classification, prior computer experience, academic program, and high school and college grade point averages) have relevance for performance in computer science courses? Finally, implications for matching curriculum and instructional strategies with students' different cognitive styles, personality types, and background information are presented and suggestions for advisement and placement of prospective computer science students, and recommendations for further research in this area are made.

Use of a medical reasoning aptitude test to help predict performance in medical school.

A medical reasoning aptitude test (MRAT) was designed to assess aptitude for clinical problem-solving in medical school applicants. The purpose of the study reported here was to determine whether the information provided by this test, when used in conjunction with college grade-point averages (GPAs) and scores on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), would improve the prediction of medical school performance. Specifically, the authors investigated the incremental predictive value of the MRAT relative to students' overall performance in medical school and, more specifically, to their knowledge and clinical reasoning during preclinical years and clinical performance during the clerkship year. Overall, it was found that, with the exception of the first year, the addition of MRAT scores to the GPAs and MCAT scores increased precision in identifying students who performed poorly or exceptionally well in the second year and the clinical clerkship year. This last finding is especially useful, since few other tests have provided that information. On the basis of the preliminary findings, the authors propose further use and validation of the MRAT.

United States citizens studying medicine abroad. Their backgrounds and test performance.

To acquire information about the characteristics of U.S. citizens who had recently studied medicine abroad, the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and the Association of American Medical Colleges merged independently collected data on a study group of 10,460 U.S. citizens who attended 359 medical schools in 75 foreign countries and who took their first ECFMG examination between 1978 and 1982. The study group was markedly heterogeneous: 21 percent were not U.S. citizens at birth, 32 percent did not have English as a native language, and 12 percent had two or more years of undergraduate college education in Puerto Rico. Sixty-seven percent resided in New York, New Jersey, California, Florida, or Puerto Rico, and 74 percent studied medicine in Mexico or the Caribbean. Forty-six percent passed the ECFMG examination on their first attempt, and 22 percent passed a subsequent examination. Only 45 percent had applied to a U.S. medical school, and 65 percent had taken the Medical College Admission Test. The means of the college grade-point averages, known for 39 percent of the study group, and of the scores on the admission test, known for 65 percent, were lower than those of both accepted and unaccepted applicants to U.S. medical schools in the 1976 and 1978 entering classes. The finding that 55 percent of the study group did not apply to a U.S. medical school does not support the widely held belief that most, if not all, U.S. citizens who attend foreign medical schools do so only after several unsuccessful attempts to gain admission to a U.S. school.

Word/World Knowledge: Prediction of College GPA

The prediction of college grade point average has been extensively investigated. The present study examined two salient domains (word knowledge and world knowledge) with two groups of 137 student teachers (elementary and secondary) and 36 freshman students in introductory psychology classes. The results support past research indicating high school GPA to be a good predictor of college GPA. The addition of vocabulary ability improved prediction.

Academic success and job performance of engineering and scientific personnel

The relationship between the college grade point average (GPA) and job performance of research engineers and scientists was studied. The question as to whether raising the GPA requirement for hire was likely to improve the quality of the work force was examined. The results of the study indicated that GPA was not generally related to job performance. However, GPA was found to have a somewhat stronger relationship with performance for employees receiving their degrees from less prestigious university departments than for employees from highly prestigious university departments. Overall, the data suggested that managers of engineering R&D organizations need to consider other information besides GPA in making selection decisions if they hope to improve their work force. Several additional selection techniques are discussed, including work sample problems, situational exercises, situational interviews, and personality type measures.

Predictor and Performance Variables in a Performance-Based Education Course

Abstract Students enrolled in classes that stressed learning theory and human development served as subjects in an investigation of the predictive power of observation scores compared with more traditional predictors such as grade point average and American College Test scores. A stepwise discriminant analysis was employed, using the BMDP7B program on the Sperry 1100 Univac, to distinguish the relative predictive strength of the selected variables on the variable of achievement reflected by grade. In the first step of the analysis, observation scores were significantly above the other variables, confirming our basic hypothesis. The second step in the analysis revealed significance of the observation scores and the college grade point average scores. The results suggest that learning that occurs through observation of selected principles compares more than favorably with standardized testing and grade point averages in predicting success in field-based learning.

Prediction of Academic Success in a University Honors Program

The utility of cognitive and biographical variables for the prediction of academic success in a University honors program was investigated. Several variables modestly predicted both college grade point average and final graduation from the honors program. Results were generally supportive of previous research.

THE TWO‐PREDICTOR VALIDITY CURVE

ABSTRACTA visual display known as the two‐predictor validity curve is introduced. Derivations are presented for the general case. Then, for illustrative purposes the two predictors are taken to be SAT‐V (V) and SAT‐M (M), and the criterion of interest is the first year college grade point average (FYA). The two‐predictor validity curve, in this case SAT V&M, allows one to assess the relative importance of SAT‐V in relation to SAT‐M for predicting the criterion of interest. When several V&M curves are placed on a single page, comparisons across gender can be made and trends across time can also be studied. Several illustrations using SAT data are presented.

Predicting performance in an introductory computer science course

A group of 269 first-semester freshmen was used to predict both performance in an introductory computer science course and first-semester college grade point average by using information regarding the students' programs and performance in high school along with American College Testing Program (ACT) test scores.

Predictors of success in nursing school and on State Board Examinations in a predominantly black baccalaureate nursing program.

High school grade point averages, Scholastic Aptitude Test verbal and quantitative scores, and National League for Nursing Pre-Nursing Examination scores were obtained for 456 black students enrolled in a private baccalaureate school of nursing. Discriminant analysis showed that these measures significantly differentiated between dropouts and graduates. For 181 graduates, these same predictors plus college grade point average also significantly differentiated between passers and failers on the State Board Examination.

Prediction of Academic Success in Associate Degree Medical Laboratory Technician Education

M siuay was aone 10 esiaDiisn me vanauy or crueria usea Tor aamission to a midwest community college MLT-AD program and to determine the relationship between graduate age, college grade point average, ACT scores, and scores obtained on the ASCP MLT-AD Registry Examination. Using ttests, no statistically significant differences were found between graduates and nongraduates in age and ACT composite. However, the f-test was significant in regard to high school rank. Significant relationships were also found between both the college GPA and the ASCP MLT-AD Registry scores and all independent variables except mathematics when Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated. The variables that contributed significantly to the multiple correlation for predicting the college GPA include the ACT composite and age. College GPA and ACT natural science scores contribute to the multiple correlation equation for predicting performance on the Registry exam. Reliance on ACT subsection scores and high school rank for determining program eligibility is unwarranted. Using multiple correlation equations to predict college performance could be a more effective means of selecting students.

Paranormal Belief and College Grade Point Average

The Paranormal Belief Scale and a self-report item concerning college grade point average were given to 307 introductory psychology students. As hypothesized, greater reported belief in both Superstition and in Witchcraft subscales were significantly associated with lower grade point average. These relationships, although statistically significant, were small.

Program for increasing enrollment of early acceptees in medical school

Early acceptees by medical schools generally have higher Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores and grade-point averages than those accepted later. Between 1977 and 1979, the number of these individuals actually enrolling at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Rutgers Medical School (UMDNJ-RMS) declined from 20.4 to 6.5 percent of all incoming medical students. This prompted the development in 1980 of a one-day, preenrollment program informing early acceptees about the UMDNJ-RMS educational program. Subsequently, more than 40 percent of the early acceptees have enrolled at the UMDNJ-RMS, and this noticeable increase appears to be related directly to the program.

Multivariate Analysis of Degree Persistence of Undergraduate Music Education Majors

Two hundred one freshmen and transfer students entering the school of music at a major Southeastern state university in the fall terms of 1978 and 1979 and declaring music education as a major served in the study. Data were calculated at the end of the fall term 1981 and included enrollment status, college grade point average (GPA), high school GPA, jury grade at the end of one year of applied study on the principal instrument, score on Aliferis-Stecklein Music Achievement Test, evaluation of a verbal report concerning desire to become a music educator, levels of teaching competence in the first semester of study evaluated by videotaped analysis, and extent of participation in music organizations grouped by type of ensemble. Four stepwise multiple regression analyses grouped according to subjects' year of entry and class revealed college GPA to be consistently ranked as the highest simple correlation across all groups.

The Validity of the Information and Vocabulary Subtests of the WAIS for Predicting College Achievement

Reviews on the validity of the WAIS have shown that the Information and Vocabulary subtests are valid measures of general intelligence. The present review investigated the ability of each of these two subtests to predict college grade point average (GPA) compared to that of well-established college aptitude tests (ACE, ACT, SAT, SCAT). The means of the comparative validity coefficients indicated that in spite of their greater brevity, the Information and Vocabulary subtests predicted college GPA more accurately than did the verbal sections and as validly as the composite scores of college aptitude tests. It was concluded that the subtests (and their recent revisions on the WAIS-R) could justifiably be used for the quick assessment of academic ability in higher educational settings.

The Comparative Predictive Validities of High School Rank, the Ammons Quick Test, and Two Scholastic Aptitude Test Measures for a Sample of Black Female College Students

In the prediction of college grade-point averages (GPA) for minority college students, researchers often have reported relatively low predictive validity for both the Mathematics and Verbal sections of the College Board Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT-M and SAT-V) in comparison with that obtained for high school class rank (HSR). This circumstance has suggested the need for alternative predictors to replace SAT-V and SAT-M as admissions indicators, particularly in the instance of minority college applicants. One such potential replacement was thought to be the Ammons Quick Test (AQT), which requires ony a short time to administer (10 to 12 minutes). By means of a multiple regression analysis with data from a sample of 63 specially admitted Black female undergraduates, the relationship between the optimally weighted composite of predictors (SAT-V, SAT-M, HSR and AQT) and the criterion (GPA) was evaluated. The HSR, SAT-V, SAT-M, and AQT afforded predictive validity coefficients of .52 (p < .001), .28 (p < .05), .22 (p > 05) and .19 (p > .05), respectively. In the stepwise procedure, there was an R2 of .36. HSR contributed .27 to the variance in the criterion measure, SAT-V added .08, AQT yielded only an additional .006, and SAT-M contributed virtually zero. The AQT did not appear to be a valid predictor. It can be anticipated that the large number of predictors relative to the smallness of the sample probably led to an inflated estimate of the contribution of each predictor variable to the variance in the criterion measure, although the relative importance of each predictor in all likelihood was approximated fairly accurately.

A Concurrent Validity Study of the Learning Ability Profile Against College Grade Point Average: Some Canadian Data

The purpose of this study was to determine the concurrent validity of the Learning Ability Profile (LAP) by correlating the results obtained on the LAP with grade point average (GPA). The sample consisted of 80 French-speaking students in the bachelor's degree program in Business Administration at the Université du Québec a Trois-Rivières. Located in Canada, the institution is one constituent of a state-run university network. Scores on LAP, both weighted and non-weighted, were correlated .30 (p < .01) and .31 (p < .01), respectively, with GPA. It was concluded that learning ability measures obtained with this test could present an acceptable validity in academic contexts in which selection is concerned. It was recommended that further cross-validation investigations be conducted with individuals of other cultural groups or of other academic fields.

Criteria for selecting paramedic trainees.

The experience of training more than 700 paramedics and the detailed records of 221 paramedic students were reviewed to determine possible criteria for selecting individuals who could complete successfully a paramedic course. Individuals over 35 years of age who had not taken competitive examinations or college courses within the last 15 years faired poorly. Review of total college hours, college grade point average (GPA), science hours, and science GPA showed no difference between the group that passed paramedic school and the group that failed. Fire department rookie school grades and emergency medical technician-basic (EMT-A) grades correlated well with success or failure in paramedic school. Psychological screening was important in ruling out serious psychiatric disturbances but was of uncertain help in predicting early burnout.