Grade point average for residence hall freshmen (N=1,167; 52%male, 90% white, 74% in-state) is related significantly to precollege characteristics (high school rank, gender, ethnicity, parental education, divorced/separated parents, self-perception of abilities, expectation of honors or changing major) and environmental variables (learning…

The purpose of this article is two-fold; (1) to inform school psychologists of connections between models of school engagement, psychological needs, and strength-based assets and (2) to share data collected with the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) to understand the relationships between academic performance and two environmental protective…

We identify the student characteristics most associated with success in an introductory business statistics class, placing special focus on the relationship between student math skills and course performance, as measured by student grade in the course. To determine which math skills are important for student success, we examine (1) whether the…

Change in middle school students' sense of school belonging was examined in relation to grade point average, motivation variables, and teachers' promotion of mutual respect in classes. Survey data from 618 students collected in three waves during the sixth and seventh grades were submitted to growth curve analysis. On average, students' sense of…

Transcripts of 19,736 students who consecutively attended Florida high schools for four years and graduated in the spring of 1994 were analyzed to determine how course choice, grades, tenth grade standardized test score results, race, and gender affected performance on a computerized placement test (CPT) administered upon entry to community…

Policymakers have long been concerned about the disparities in college attendance between more and less advantaged groups of students. Upward Bound is one of the largest and longest running federal programs designed to help economically disadvantaged students prepare for, enter and succeed in college. Since December 1991, Mathematica Policy…

Presented at the Annual National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) in New York in March 2008. This presentation explores how different item weighting can affect the effective weights, validity coefficents and test reliability of composite scores among test takers.

Much continues to be written about the failure of U.S. schools to provide a quality education for at-risk urban students. Private Nativity model schools have been instituted in response to the need to provide quality education at the middle school level for such students. As the number of these and other alternative middle schools increases, a…

This study of 570 (309 men and 261 women aged 16 to 60 years) undergraduate students in a small, regionally accredited, Southern church-related college was conducted to determine whether or not the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is a valid predictor of academic success for students who entered college late in life (after age 30 years). Data…

In winter 1995, Schoolcraft College, in Michigan, conducted a study to determine reasons why fall 1994 students withdrew from classes. Telephone interviews were conducted with 100 students who withdrew from at least one course and data on student characteristics were collected from student transcripts. Study results included the following: (1) the…

Though many would like to see a de-emphasis on grades in American higher education, three major reasons prevent this: student motivation, student perception, and the nature of American society. Students need extrinsic motivation and grades are the most effective of all student motivational tools. In addition, as evaluation is always oriented…

A longitudinal study evaluated whether early remediation affected the persistence and/or performance of underprepared students at a midwestern, suburban community college. The study focused on the 3,282 students who completed the basic skills inventory in either Fall 1991 or Fall 1992. Students were classified as either prepared (N=2,028) or…

This report describes a program for improving motivation of eighth grade students. Attendance, grades, discipline referrals, and student surveys were used in measuring changes in student attitudes. Problems were documented from data showing grades, attendance, and discipline referrals from the second semester of the 1994-95 school year. A student…

This study examined voluntary and involuntary withdrawal rates of students of various racial origins at York University in Ontario (Canada). Data were obtained from three surveys of first-year students conducted in 1993, 1994, and 1995, and involving 1,864 students. Information on Ontario Academic Credit (OAC) marks, first year grade point…

This study, one of several examining a decline in the predictive validity of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and high school grades between 1975 and 1988, asks whether the criterion, freshman grade point average (FGPA), has changed. College Board tests usually thought of as predictors were used as proxies for the concurrent academic…