While grade point averages and class rank are firmly entrenched in our educational system, they are not particularly reliable or valid indicators of student achievement. Introducing weighted grades creates additional problems. If schools were to eliminate this system, some motivation for grades and easy coursework would disappear. Includes four…

Rebuts the claims of Trusheim and Crouse, made in an earlier issue, that Scholastic Aptitude Test scores are no more effective predictors of college success than is high school class rank. Discusses inaccuracies in the data used by Trusheim and Crouse and points out errors in their analyses. (PGD)

Six widely used college admissions variables and four course-specific measures (tests of entering mathematical skills and physics knowledge, and indexes of previous study of mathematics and physics) were correlated with final marks for 495 students in an introductory college physics course. The college admissions variables included scores on…

Procedures for predicting academic achievement at Indiana University, Bloomington, are examined, based on data for the 4,145 freshmen who entered the university in fall 1983. Three sets of prediction equations and a graphic scheme for determining probable first semester grade point averages (GPAs) for males and females are provided. Entering…

The sample for this study included 496 students admitted to a large midwestern university through the special admissions program. Validity coefficients of the Descriptive Tests of Language Skills (DTLS) subtests, the Academic Tests of the ACT Assessment Program (ACT), and high school percentile rank were calculated with cumulative grade point…

As part of an update of studies for predicting fall semester grade point averages (GPA) of freshmen at Indiana University, 4,260 freshmen entering the Bloomington campus in the fall of 1980 were assessed. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and/or relative high school rank (RHSR) were used to predict first semester GPAs. Three sets of equations…

The effectiveness of a state-mandated set of at-risk criteria to predict which students are likely to become dropouts is evaluated in this study of the Austin Independent School District (AISD). Descriptions of the district information delivery system, state criteria, and criteria operationalization are provided. Discriminant function analysis…

The potential use of actual performance by high school students in college-level courses as a predictor of college achievement, rather than or in addition to Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, was investigated. At Syracuse University Project Advance over 4,000 students a year in 80 high schools in four states participate in joint high school…

The effectiveness of a state-mandated set of evaluation criteria to identify potential dropouts is evaluated in this study. The selection criteria, based on unsatisfactory academic performance, excluded special education and limited language proficient students. Data analysis of school records and various test scores of 55,666 students in grades…

After examining the decline in average scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) from 1963 to the present, it has been suggested that, although SAT scores continue to contribute to effective prediction of college grades, the test may have been overtaken by changes in high school programs that have made the test increasingly less related to the…

Developments relating to college admission standards, the quality of high school curricula, and academic achievement are discussed by a representative of the College Board. Attention is directed to College Board data on the following issues: the decline on verbal and mathematics Scholastic Aptitude Test scores; trends in the number of years that…