Low Academic Ability Research Articles

Sample attrition bias in a longitudinal study of young people

Abstract Attrition analyses are reported from a longitudinal survey of young people conducted annually over the years 1980–1988. Not surprisingly, there was considerable sample attrition over the period so that the initial sample of 3,130 was reduced to 483 after eight years. This reflected an average annual retention rate of just under 80%. There was evidence of some selective bias in attrition, particularly during the early years, when those dropping out tended to be of lower academic ability, lower socioeconomic status, and from non-English backgrounds. Although most of the differences were slight, the drop-outs also exhibited greater externality of locus of control and less achievement motivation than those who stayed in, as well as being greater consumers of alcohol, cigarettes, and both non-prescribed and illicit drugs. These results are similar to those that have been reported from other comparable studies conducted in the United States. Implications for the interpretation of longitudinal survey da...

Teacher Compensation and the Supply of Teachers

The Elementary School Journal Volume 86, Number 4 O 1986 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0013-5984/86/8604-0003$01.00 The status of the teaching profession has been the subject of many studies in recent years. These studies demonstrate that the academic ability of college students choosing teaching as a profession has declined over the past decade. In addition, although teaching has long attracted a disproportionately large number of college graduates with relatively low academic ability, this problem has worsened in recent years (Sykes, 1983). The importance of this problem is emphasized by empirical studies that demonstrate that students' scores

A comparison of the vocational interests of second year comprehensive school pupils

Abstract A sample of second year comprehensive school pupils drawn in equal numbers from high and low academic ability forms, and differentiated on the basis of their performance on the AH2 Test of Intelligence, were given the Rothwell—Miller Interest Blank Test. Among both sexes in the high ability group the medical category was the most preferred area, followed by science for the boys and literacy for the girls. The least preferred among boys were the musical and social service categories and among girls the musical and mechanical. Among pupils of low academic ability the most preferred interest among boys was the mechanical followed by the practical, and among girls the practical, followed by the clerical. The least preferred for these boys were musical and social service and for girls the science and computational. The results confirm much earlier research concerning the relationship between ability level and interest orientation.

Ethnographic Study of Participant Structures in Task Completion: Reinterpretation of “Handicaps” in Mexican Children

Ethnographic studies are becoming increasingly popular due to their ability to arrive at the meaning of interactional events through sociocultural and linguistic cues of observed behavior. Using an ethnographic approach, the present study was conducted in an effort to offer an alternative to many teachers' misinterpretation of Mexican children's copying as indicating low academic ability and inappropriate work habits. Through careful observation and recording of the classroom interactions of 7 Mexican students under four different participant structures, copying is shown to be a legitimate activity, based on home socialization patterns that stress collectivity and social cohesiveness. Thus, rather than representing low ability and lack of motivation, copying is considered by Mexican students a constructive approach to intellectual exchanges and the acquisition of new knowledge in a social unit composed of peers. Instructional implications of these findings are drawn.

Two types of voluntary undergraduate attrition: Application of Tinto's model

Tinto's model of institutional attrition was tested by comparing undergraduate students who had dropped out from Washington State University (WSU) one year prior to the study with a control sample of students who continued at WSU. Tinto's constructs of individual attributes, past educational experience, goal commitment, institutional commitment, social integration, and academic integration were operationalized using variables obtained from precollege records, academic records at the university, and a post-withdrawal survey. Setwise discriminant function analysis was used to discriminate between the attrition sample and the control sample using Tinto's constructs. Variables measuring individual attributes, past educational experience, institutional commitment, and academic integration all contributed significantly to the discriminant function when all other variables were controlled for. Tinto's model was also able to explain the differences between those attrition students who transferred to another institution and those who dropped out of higher education. Those that dropped out had a significantly lower academic ability, lower academic integration, lower goal commitment, and lower social integration.

The effects of cognitive and affective variables on academic ability: A multivariate analysis

This study deals with two questions: (a) What are the net effects of affective and cognitive variables on two measures of academic ability? (b) What is the net effect of Socioeconomic Status (SES) on academic ability when the cognitive and affective variables are held constant? The data, collected on 171 Israeli seventh grade boys, were analyzed twice: Once at the empirical variables level (correlations and multiple regression) and once by applying abstract variable analysis which, presumably, controls for measurement errors. The results show (a) that the net effect of the affective variables on academic ability is almost nil but undergoes a revival when abstract variable analysis is applied; (b) that reading comprehension has the strongest effect on academic ability; and (c) that in a multiple regression analysis—controlling for the effects of affective and cognitive variables—the effect of SES on academic ability is substantially reduced but does not completely disappear. It is suggested that the lower academic ability of lower class children may in part be affected by status-related factors like the child's functioning in his role as a pupil, and that future research include them in a model explaining SES effects on academic ability.

Differences between vertical transfers and native students in four-year institutions

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 were drawn to compare those who transfer from two-year colleges and those who enroll in four-year institutions immediately after high school. The comparisons were made on background variables, individual characteristics, and financial aid status. Results indicated that transfers came from lower SES families, and had lower academic ability, high school achievement, and educational aspiration than native students. Transfers were less likely than native students to receive scholarships, fellowships, or grants, and they showed lower achievement in the year after transfer. Implications of these findings are discussed.

Effect of student academic ability on learning from programed text, slide‐tape, and lecture

The results of this study demonstrate that the programed text, slide-tape, and lecture do not differ greatly in effectiveness at any ability level. This fact eliminates the potential nightmare of having to assign dental students to different teaching formats according to academic ability. Future research should concentrate on the long-range effect of self-instructional materials, especially for the development of the effective study habits and self-reliance, which may be particularly important for low academic ability students. It is possible that academic ability is not the most important factor in matching students to teaching formats. Perhaps student personality characteristics will yield more useful guideposts for tailoring teaching to the student's best advantage.

Verbal Ability and Socioeconomic Status of 9th and 12th Grade College Preparatory, General, and Vocational Students

High schools in this country provide three basic programs: college preparatory, vocational education, and the general program. National data collected by Project TALENT have been analyzed for the first time and show that the two programs with defined goals, college preparatory and vocational education, enroll students from markedly different socioeconomic and academic ability populations. To provide separate schools for these two curriculums would result in a great deal of socioeconomic segregation. The general program, lacking defined goals other than a high school diploma, is the only program that shows a percentage increase in low academic ability and low socioeconomic students from the 9th to the 12th grade. This result holds for both males and females and is in spite of a very high dropout rate for both sexes. Implications of these findings are presented.

MULTIPLE COLLEGE APPLICATIONS

ABSTRACTA sample of 18,601 Virginia high school seniors was used to gather information regarding multiple college application practices. Approximately 35% of the college applicants filed one application, 26% filed two applications, 24% filed three applications and 16% filed four or more applications. Eighty‐five percent of the students who filed one application were accepted, while 91% of the four or more application group were accepted by at least one of their first three college choices.Discriminant analysis was used to describe the academic characteristics of students filing multiple applications and to determine how these academic characteristics were related to college acceptance. Students who filed multiple applications tended to have higher SAT scores; however, they performed less well in high school than would be predicted from their SAT scores. High school performance appeared to be less important for females in gaining admission than it was for males.The findings of this study contradict the popular beliefs that most college applicants file three or more applications and that more applications are filed by students with low academic ability.

EVALUATION OF THE CHANNEL 13/WNDT ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXPERIMENT

ABSTRACTDuring the summer of 1963, the Educational Broadcasting Corporation offered over Channel 13/WNDT two college‐level courses, one in American History and one in Calculus. Provisions were made for students, if they so desired, to seek formal credit for the course by applying for and taking an appropriate examination of the Advanced Placement Program. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the learning experience of the TV students, primarily through analysis of their performance on the Advanced Placement Examinations.A random sample of students residing in the TV viewing area, who had prepared through regular but varied channels and who had taken the Advanced Placement Examinations in the spring of 1963, was drawn as a control group. The performance of these students was compared with that of the telecourse students. In addition, certain background information was obtained by questionnaire from members of these two groups, as well as from a number of the telecourse students who had taken the course in a non‐credit status. A summary of findings is presented below.1. How effective is the learning experience? In the telecourses, 71% of the History students and 50% of the Calculus students obtained passing grades, but the TV students as a group performed less well than did the control groups who took the regular spring 1963 Advanced Placement Examinations. The general academic performance of the TV students, as measured by high school grades, was also lower. Results of analyses of covariance indicate that the lower examination performance of the TV History group as compared to the regular Advanced Placement group may well be due to generally lower academic ability and performance but that the examination performance of the TV Calculus group is still relatively lower when previous academic performance is controlled.2. What were the patterns of study and other activities of the telecourse students, and how do these patterns compare with the study patterns of regular Advanced Placement students? The TV students studied somewhat more hours per week than did the Regular AP students, but probably somewhat fewer hours for each hour of class lecture time. Thus there is at least a possibility that the relatively poorer examination performance of the TV students is due to relatively less study of assigned materials. The Regular AP students studied more for other courses, worked less at paying jobs, and spent more time on recreation than did the TV students.3. What are the reactions of students to the telecourses? The majority of TV students felt that the teacher did an extremely good job, and most of the rest thought he did a fairly good job. In addition, all students were asked if they would be in favor of teaching basic college freshman and sophomore courses by means of educational TV. The majority of the TV students would favor such a policy, while a majority of the Regular AP Group would disapprove. The generally favorable attitudes of the TV students provide some evidence that the overall experience provided by the telecourses was positive.4. What kinds of students are attracted by the TV courses? The TV students, as compared to regular AP students, tend to be older, are more likely to be female, come from high schools where a relatively smaller proportion of seniors go on to college, and come more often from laboring class and lower‐middle class homes. These results can be summarized as indicated by the fact that the TV students were a more heterogeneous group than the Regular AP students. This is an indication that the telecourses reached their intended audience.It should be noted that sampling limitations (deriving primarily from differences in origins, characteristics, and incentives of students in the experimental and control groups) make some generalizations to the general population of high school students hazardous. The findings are therefore most appropriately considered as descriptive of the particular samples studied.