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…

Teaching certification graduates in the years 1982 and 1983 performed as well as or better than non-teaching certification graduates of the same years when measured by either the cumulative grade point average (CGPA) or the upper division major grade point average (UGPA). However, teaching certification graduates were one or two points weaker than…

Many factors that contribute to a negative school climate also cause discipline problems. Our schools are "rigged," like gambling casinos, in that they must produce a certain percentage of losers. The present school system, in performing its screening role for society, demands that some fail. Students today are aware of this rigging and the…

In a survey of a national, stratified random sample of graduate medical educational program directors regarding the way they selected their residents, the interview was found to be the most important selection variable. The results indicate that the recent increase in competition for residency positions has increased the importance of academic…

The Ammons Quick Test (AQT) was investigated to determine the degree to which it could predict first-semester freshman year college grade point average for a sample of 63 specially-admitted Black female undergraduates. A multiple regression analysis indicated that the AQT did not appear to be a valid predictor. (Author/PN)

Explores how the focus on class rank has affected students from star public high schools, creating a disadvantage when students try to enter elite colleges. Explains a new approach, "winner-take-all," being utilized in high schools in which schools focus on the top students. Includes references. (CMK)

Three systems of class ranking (grades, test scores, and clinical performance evaluations) are compared, using 124 residents graduated from medical school. All three systems showed modest correlations with performance in residency, but clinical performance measures were most predictive. Reliable and valid deans' letters of recommendation could be…

Describes a journal-based orientation course at a small, public two-year technical college. Reports on a study of 160 students which found that the orientation-course grade was a better predictor of student success (as measured by timely graduation and grade point average) than high school rank and far superior to the American College Testing…

This paper examined the attitudes and perceptions of urban college students regarding Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) awareness and prevention. AIDS has devastated the lives of citizens in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the AIDS incidence rate for young Americans between the ages of 13 to…

An initial study of the revised (1985) Student Descriptive Questionnaire (SDQ) of the College Board found it to be of sufficient accuracy to fulfill its intended purposes. This second phase examined the adequacy of the SDQ in terms of the predictive validity of its student academic self-report information against a criterion of first-year college…

A study examined the general achievement and aptitude of prospective teachers at the University of Minnesota's College of Education. Test scores were examined over time, against majors in other professional schools in the same institution, as well as across different education majors. The specific variables investigated included subtests of the…

Factors that affect enrollment, applications, and student academic achievement (high school rank and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores) at 38 private colleges and universities in North Carolina were studied, based on data obtained from the Higher Education General Information Survey and the North Carolina Higher Education Data reports. The following…

The predictive value of secondary school honors-type courses for the college admissions process was studied, with attention to the proposition that an honors-type course grade should be promoted one full level (e.g., from a "B" to an "A"). The sample consisted of 950 freshmen at Pennsylvania State University in 1979. The…

The primary purpose of the study is to assess the degree to which SAT scores, high-school GPA (HSGPA) and class rank predict success in college. Data collected from students enrolled in several sections of Principles of Economics at the University of South Carolina in 2000 and 2001 are used to study the relation between college GPA (the dependent…

The aim of this study was to appraise whether different forms of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) used since the mid 1970s varied in their correlations with academic performance criteria in the same cohort of examinees. A 1975 form and a 1985 form were administered to equivalent samples of high school juniors, and self-reported grade-point…