The document is a summary of the conference proceedings for the 23rd Annual Farmingdale State College Teaching of Psychology Conference held on March 20-21, 2009 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Tarrytown, New York. The conference featured a keynote address by Dr. Jeffrey Nevid on Reaching and teaching the millennials: Helping today's students become…

Analyzes a nationwide graduate student survey to examine the influence of social class, sex, race, undergraduate achievement, and rank of undergraduate institution attended on rank or prestige of their graduate school. The results represent a contradictory picture of stratification in the academic hierarchy and reflect specific mechanisms that…

Examination of measures used to predict the academic success of elementary education majors indicated that Scholastic Aptitude Test scores were valid predictors of school success. is noted that high school rank appeared to predict grades and took both ability and motivation into account. (CB)

Results of a study involving over 800 secondary schools; data presented in tables. (SP)

As a result of faculty discussion and study in 1977, Scarsdale High School discontinued the practice of reporting numerical class rank to colleges, and began to report rank by decile. The practice of reporting rank-in-class information to colleges was abolished after a survey of colleges. (MLW)

Presents a new edition (moderately revised in response to survey results) of the guidelines prepared by the National Association of Secondary School Principals' School-College Relations Committee to help secondary schools cope with issues generated by college use of class rankings and grade point averages when evaluating candidates for admission.…

Results of two surveys completed by scholarship recipients revealed that ACT scores and class ranking were important predictor variables for success in college. This study also showed a strong correlation between high school grade point average and freshman grade point average. (MKA)

A major problem for large-enrollment, introductory college courses in natural resources and life sciences is poor attendance. To ameliorate this problem, we designed a hybrid course (part online, part face-to-face) to incorporate the advantages of online learning while retaining benefits of face-to-face instruction. We taught a hybrid introductory…

In this essay, Rebecca Zwick confronts the controversy surrounding the use of standardized tests in college admissions. She examines the degree to which the SAT and its lesser known cousin, the ACT, limit access to college, particularly for racial and ethnic minorities, and considers two alternative admissions policies that do not involve tests:…

This article uses four data sets to assess changes in the relative weights of test- and performance-based merit criteria on college enrollment during the 1980s and 1990s and considers their significance for affirmative action. Our results support the "shifting meritocracy" hypothesis, revealed by selective postsecondary institutions'…

The influence of financial aid on college student persistence was studied using causal modeling. The study population was 227 full-time freshmen, who enrolled in fall 1982 at a liberal arts college at a large commuter institution. All the students received financial aid. The model, which included background and academic variables, accounted for…

The advantages and disadvantages of two common grading methods are presented, and from an analysis of the virtues and vices of these prototypic methods, a set of goals or criteria for grading systems is derived. Percentage and class-curve grading systems are discussed in detail. Criteria for grading systems include the following: obtain relevant…

Compared with data from civilian institutions, data from two graduating classes at the United States Military Academy showed extrordinary stability of independently calculated grade point averages from freshman to senior years and no decline in the validity of Scholastic Aptitude Tests and high school class rank as predictors of these GPAs over…

Analysis of the effects of social class, sex, race, and undergraduate grade-point average on rank and status in graduate professional schools indicated that differences do exist in ranking or attendance at professional schools, based on gender, race, previous rank at undergraduate school, and social status. (CB)