A STUEEIY OF MALE STUDENTS WHO ENTERED
THE COLLEGIATE DWiSIONS OF
FERRL’i ENS'fiTUTE FOLLOWING GRADQA‘E'EGN
FROM HiGH SCHOOL WiTH
SCHfiLAS‘FIC AVERAGES OF LESS ‘E‘HAN “C”

Thesis 590' the Degree of Ed. D.
MICHSGAN SFA‘E'E UNIVERSITY
Hamid Edward Wisner
1958

IIHWIITHWWMWHI

3 1293 00996 9712

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

A STUDY or MALE STUDENTS wuo ENTERED THE
COLLEGIATE DIVISiONs or Fennas Insrururc
FOLLOIING GRADUATION FROM HIGH SCHOOL warn
SCHOLASTIC AVERAGES or Less THAN '0'

presented by

HAROLD EDWARD W I SNER

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

£0.00 degree in EOUCAT'ON

WW5»

Major professor

Date MAY l3, I958

 

 

 

“in

‘ ’

LIB R A R Y
Michhfgm State
University

 

 

PLACE IN RETURN Box to remove this checkout from your record.
TO AVOID FINES return on or before date due.
MAY BE RECALLED with earlier due date if requested.

 

DATE DUE

DATE DUE

DATE DUE

 

 

3:93

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

6/01 cJCIRCIDateDuepes-pJS

 

A STUDY OF MALE STUDENTS WHO ENTERED THE COLLEGIATE DIVISIONS
OF FERRIS INSTITUTE FOLLOWING GRADUATION FROM

HIGH SCHOOL WITH SCHOLASTIC AVERAGES OF LESS THAN "C"

4

BY

Harold Edward Wiener

AN ABSTRACT
Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of
Michigan State University of Agriculture and
Applied Science in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

Department of Foundations of Education

1958

Approved 12EQQQ£Z4BEZ [)7aghknagEQLZhn—
- ‘ I /,

Harold Edward Wiener Abstract

The general purpose of this study was to help to an-
swer the question"Who should go to college?" The specific
purpose was to evaluate critically the progress at Ferris
Institute made by male students who entered the college as a
result of its liberal admissions policy--a policy so liberal
that no student is denied admission because of his previous
academic record.

The group studied consisted of 370 students who en-
tered Ferris during the period from September, 195A through
March, 1957, following graduation from high school with
scholastic averages of less than "C“.

On the basis of cumulative honor point averages for
the first three quarters of continuous attendance or the only
completed portion thereof, 35 percent of the students attained
at least "C" averages at Ferris. The success status of a
given student was not necessarily the same for each quarter
of attendanceo

Of 2h factors tested for their relationship to success
at the college, 11 were found to be significantly related to
success and 13 were not. When the factors significantly re-
lated to success were examined for interrelationships, only
ability, high school achievement and age were found to be
independently related to success.

The findings of this study with respect to the factors

Harold Edward Wiener . Abstract

which were measured for their relationship to success, were
in substantial agreement with the findings of other investi-
gators regardless of whether the findings of other studies
were based on general college student populations or whether
the groups studied were similar to that of the present study.

Only a few of the students could have been denied
admission to the college withoufi in the process, denying ad-
mission to some who succeeded, but combinations of ability,
high school achievement and age could have been used to deny
admission to some groups of students without having barred
from college an appreciable number of students who succeeded.

The data of the study supplied information that is
useful for establishing procedures for probation and dis-
missal of students whose progress is unsatisfactory.

It seems reasonable to conclude that the present
challenge to higher education will be met most effectively
by retaining liberal admissions policies in the American
system of higher education and by carrying out realistic
probation and dismissal procedures for those students who

do not succeed in college.

A STUDY OF MALE STUDENTS WHO ENTERED THE COLLEGIATE DIVISIONS
OF FERRIS INSTITUTE FOLLOWING GRADUATION FROM

HIGH SCHOOL WITH SCHOLASTIC AVERAGES OF LESS THAN "C"

BY

Harold Edward Wisner

A THESIS
Submitted to the School for Advanced Graduate Studies of
Michigan State University of Agriculture and
Applied Science in partial fulfillment of
the requirements for the degree of

DOCTOR OF EDUCATION

Department of Foundations of Education

1958

‘23. {L/'/ 9/

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A project such as this study cannot be brought to
a successful conclusion without the help of others. The
writer is indebted to many people for both moral support
and for specific assistance, but most especially to Dr.
William Warrington, under whose direction the thesis was
prepared. Special recognition should be given, also, to
Dr. Milosh Muntyan, Guidance Committee Chairman, and to
Dr. Robert Hudson and Dr. Arthur Tollefson, colleagues
of the writer. Each of these men has given assistance
repeatedly during the course of the study and their help

has been deeply appreciated.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I.

II.

III.

IV.

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Importance of the Problem . . . . . . . . .
Definition of Terms. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Limitations of the Study . . . . . . . . . .
The Plan of the Thesis . . . . . . . . . . .
REVIEW OF LITERATURE . . . . . . . . . . . .
Studies Describing the Progress of Groups of

Students Whose High Ichool Academic Records
Were Below—average. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Studies Concerning the Relationship Between

College Performance and Various Factors . .

Summary and Implications for the Present Study

PROCEDURES USED TO SELECT, ORGANIZE AND ANALYZE

THE DATA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Selecting the Population to be Studied . . .
Selecting, Organizing and Analyzing the Data
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY. . . . . . . . . .
The Academic Achievement of the Students . .
The Relationship Between Success and the

Selected Factors . . . . .

PAGE

12

13
1h

15

16

19

31

3h
3h
39
A6
2:8
AB

51

iv
CHAPTER PAGE
Comparison of the Relationships Between Success
and the Selected Factors with the Findings of
other Investigators . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Examination of the Data of the Study for
Information that Might be Used to Improve
Institutional Procedures . . . . . . . . . . 67
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

V. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE

STUDY; SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH . . . 78
Summary and Conclusions. . . . . . . . . . . . .78
Implications of the Findings of the Study . . . 85
Suggestions for further Research . . . . . . . 95

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

APPENDIX 0 O O O I O O 0 I O O O O O O O O O O O O O 110

TABLE

7.

9.

10.

11.

LIST OF TABLES

Relationship Between Year of Entering the

College and Selected Factors Based on Academic

Ability and Academic Performance . . .

Classification of Students as to Success in

COllege s e s s o o e s e s 0

Academic Achievement of the Students. .

Relationship Between Success and Selected

FaCtors s s s s s s s o e e 0

Relationship Between Ability (ACEPE Toscore) and

Selected Factors . . . . . .
Relationship Between Success

Ability Held Constant . . . .

Relationship Between Success and Ability,

Age Held Constant s s e o s s

and Age, with

Relationship Between High School Achievement

(HPA's for all Subjects) and
Relationship Between Success
mendation of the High School
High School Achievement Held
Relationship Between Age and
Relationship Between Success

mendation of the High School

Age Held Constant . . . . . .

Selected Factors

and the Recom-

Principal,

Constant .

Selected Factors

with

and the Recom-

Principal,

with

with

PAGE

38

AB
1&9

53

55

56

57

59
60

61

vi

TABLE PAGE
12. Success Status of Students in the Least Favorable

Group Reported for Factors Significantly Related

to Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
13. Success Status of Students 20 Years of Age or

Older in Relation to Ability and High School

Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
1h. SucCess Status of Students Less than 20 Years

of Age in Relation to Ability and High School

Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
15. Students Who Were Unsuccessful the First Quarter

But Who Became Successful by the End of the

Third Quarter . . c . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
16. Students Who Were Unsuccessful the Second

Quarter But Who Became Successful by the End of

the Third Quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .' 7h
17. Students Who Were Unsuccessful on the Basis of

Cumulative HPA's for the First Two Quarters But

Who Became Successful by the End of the Third

Quarter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7h
18. Relationship Between Lack of Success and With-

drawal from the College at the End of the Period

on Which the HPA's Were Based . . . . . . . . . 75
19. Withdrawal from the College by Students with

HPA’B Below 105 e o o s o s o o s s s s

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

I. The Problem

 

Higher education in the United States has evolved
from a state in which college training was intended pri-
marily for the socially elite and for the more gifted
students to a position in which more and more students are
being given an opportunity to go to college. College en-
rollments during this century have increased steadily,
progressing from 238,210 in 1900 to 531,339 in 1920 to
1,599,109 in 19h0 to 2,h39,910 in 1950, according to
Thompson, Crane and Bean (98). Johnson and Fenton (56)
reported that the enrollment for the fall of 1957 was
3,068,000.

We are on the threshold of the greatest challenge
ever faced by educational leaders. Estimates published in
195A by Thompson, Crane and Bean (98) indicate that the
demand for college training in the next few years may far
surpass any estimates that had been made earlier. Their
data showed that if the percentage of high school students
going on to college continues to increase as it has in the
past the college enrollment in 1970 will be more than double
the enrollment of 1950. This estimate does not appear to be

unrealistic, for in the fall of 1957 college enrollments

2
exceeded by 2 percent the estimate of these authors for that
year. Compared to the number of students who will be
clamoring for entrance into college during the years ahead,
the large increase in enrollment following World War II
pales into insignificance.

If the problem before us were limited to finding a
reasonable method for meeting popular demand for education,
the task would be considerable, but trial and error methods
could be used to meet the challenge without ensuing mistakes
having a disastrous effect on our national well-being. The
problem is not limited to increases in enrollment. Recent
scientific developments indicate that our citizens must
enter training programs or employment which will enable them
to make their maximum contribution to our society if our
culture is to survive either as a political entity or as a
way of life. Therefore, we must provide college training
for those who have academic potentialities, and we must make
provision for other types of training for those for whom
college training is not appropriate.

It is from this broader setting that the problem of
this study emerges. The general area of the problem is
college admissions.

Colleges and universities differ widely in their
requirements for admission. Many colleges select their
students on the assumption that they will admit only those
who, on the basis of evidence at hand, are reasonably

certain of success; others will admit all students who apply,

while the remaining colleges and universities have admis-
sions procedures that fall between these two extremes. This
is not necessarily unfortunate. As White (110), Vaughn (106)
and Nelson (73) point out, not every college should seek the
same type of student; neither should all colleges use the
same techniques in admitting students. The policy making body
of each institution should consider all of the possible
reasons which bring students to its school and should attempt
to clarify the objectives so that the college program may be
adapted to the needs and interests of the students who are
admitted. No single plan for admissions can be adequate.
As Cosand (25) said:

If the colleges are to serve society as true

educational leaders, and thus meet the demands

society places upon them, we must be certain

that there is a belief in flexibility, and a

mature consideration of the individual dif-

ferences of those students desiring admission.

The question of who should be permitted to go to
college has been of constant interest to the American
people. At different periods in our history the answer to
the question has carried different implications. Although
the trend has been clearly in the direction of providing
higher education for more and more people, there have
always been some educators who believed we were moving too
far in this direction. In the past decade the issue was
drawn rather sharply and discussed widely as the result of
reports by the Association of American Universities Com-

mission on Financing Higher Education and the President's

Commission on Higher Education. The former Commission

upheld the older point of view in its report (h):

American society requires two interrelated but
fundamentally different kinds of education. One
is common schooling. Its goal is the steady im—
provement in the literacy and social competence
of the individual. The public primary and
secondary school is the chief instrument of this
purpose although it has always been accompanied
and sometimes stimulated by the private school.
The other educational goal is the development of
the intellectual capacities of those possessing
unusual talent. This is the special province of
higher education...

The latter Commission reflected the present trend in its
report (105):

American colleges and universities must envision a

much larger role for higher education in the

national life. They can no longer consider them-

selves merely the instrument for producing an

intellectual elite. They must become the means

by which eVery citizen, youth and adult, is

enabled and encouraged to carry his education,

formal and informal, as far as his native

capacities permit.
Although each of these quotations states a somewhat more
extreme position than the reports as a whole present, they
do reflect the spirit of the two documents.

The issue is now far more important than ever before.
We are concerned not only with the question of who should go
to college, nor are we concerned only with financing ex-
panded college facilities and staffs. We are faced with a
challenge to the survival of our culture and we must proceed
with this challenge clearly in mind. College training must
be provided for those who need it in order to make their
maximum contribution toward the survival of our culture.

If determination of who would succeed in college

could be made in advance the problem would be simplified.

Unfortunately, no practical procedures or techniques that
can be used by most colleges have been found that even
approach infallibility. Numerous studies of the efficiency
of various methods of predicting college performance have
been made and findings are reported in Chapter II. or these
studies, Pothoff (81) wrote in 1931:

Prediction studies during the past 20 years have
shown that it is impossible to forecast accurately
the scholastic success or failure of all the members
of a given group of students, and particularly that
many cases of failure cannot be discovered until the
students have actually tried their hands at doing
college work.

Three years later Segel (90) stated:

Youth always demands another chance. Insofar as any
system of college entrance we now have is concerned,
there is some truth to youth's insistence that he

may succeed if given a chance in any particular
institution of learning. No subjective or objective
method of estimating success has yet been inaugurated
which is perfect. It is true that the most valid
method for finding out whether or not a student can
achieve a certain scholastic standing or be success-
ful in an occupation is for him to try it.

And more than a decade later Borow (16) pointed out:

Despite each new advancement in the methodology of
academic prognosis, one fact remains crystal clear.
No forecasting measure nor any combination of such
devices has as yet approached infallibility...Surveys
of numerous studies in which intelligence test scores
were used have shown that the average intelligence
test possesses a correlation...(that) is only about
11 percent better than the accuracy resulting from
sheer guesswork! The average content examination
produces predictive effectiveness which is approxi-
mately 13 percent better than guesswork. The high
school graduation rank predicts...16 percent better
than chance. The most efficacious combination of
intelligence test, content examination and high
school record rarely produces a multiple correlation

exceeding .75...which is less than Sh percent in
excess of guesswork.

Information found in literature published since 19h6 does not

contradict these statements.

It seems evident that when students are denied ad-
mission because of poor academic records or low test scores,
some who could have succeeded in college are denied college
entrance. Trebilcock (103) wrote:

Colleges which take students without regard to their

high school ranks are performing a real educational

service in many cases, inasmuch as they open the door
or opportunity to many who otherwise would find them—
selves cut off from a college career. While it is
wasteful and otherwise undesirable to have the unfit
in college, it is also wasteful and undesirable to
keep the fit out of college. For many students there
is no adequate test of fitness except the actual
attempt to carry college work.

As Tollefson (10h) said:

who knows the contributions that could have been made

by potential geniuses who have gone unrecognized or

who have been thwarted educationally?

The late United States Senator Woodbridge Nathan
Ferris, who founded Ferris Institute in 188b, was fully
aware of the implications of selective admissions policies
and he was unalterably opposed to them in principle. His
successors as Presidents of Ferris Institute have followed
his lead and when Ferris became a State-owned-and-operated
institution in 1950, the enabling act passed by the
legislature of the State of Michigan (68) specified that the
traditional policies of the institution should be retained.
Accordingly, since its founding Ferris Institute has followed
a liberal admissions policy. It is the philosophy of this
college that a student is entitled to the opportunity to

demonstrate his ability to perform college level work in a

satisfactory manner, even if he failed to earn good grades

in high school or at other colleges; no student is turned
away because of his previous scholastic performance. Though
only about one-fourth of the students entering the collegiate
divisions of Ferris received poor grades at other schools
attended, to these students Ferris is the "school of the
second chance."

Little research has been completed at Ferris to
determine the effectiveness of the liberal admissions policy
in terms of the success of students who were admitted on
this basis. It is known by random observation that many
students who entered Ferris after failing to earn good grades
in their previous schooling have received at least average
grades at Ferris. However, no extensive, critical study has
been made to determine how many of these students have been
successful or to learn what differences exist between those
whose progress has been satisfactory and those whose progress
has been unsatisfactory. The only organized information of
this type is a pilot study completed by the writer (113),
which included 66 students with less than "C" averages for
their previous schooling who entered the collegiate divisions
of Ferris during the 1952-1953 school year. The findings of
this study are reported in Chapter II.

The general purpose of the present study was to help
to answer the question "who should go to college?" The
specific purpose of the study was to evaluate critically the
progress at Ferris of students with below—average high school

grades in relation to these questions:

1. What proportion of students with below-average
high school grades earned at least average grades at the
college?

2. What factors seemed to differentiate between those
students who earned at least average grades at the college
and those who did not?

3. How do these factors compare with factors that
have been found to predict college performance effectively
with general college populations?1

h. How might the information obtained from the study

he used to improve institutional procedures?

II. Importance of the Problem

 

 

 

The personnel of a college should evaluate critically
the various aspects of the program of the institution. As
indicated earlier, such an evaluation has not been made at
Ferris Institute in the area of the present study. It is
unlikely that the findings of this study will cause renun-
ciation of the present liberal admissions policy at Ferris
because the college is firmly committed to this philosophy
by tradition and by law. However, information obtained from
this study may be used to improve college procedures, to

meet better the needs of the students, the college and

 

1A survey of professional literature failed to locate
many prediction studies based on college performance
of high school graduates with below-average high
school grades. Most studies reported were based on
general college populations.

society.

During the period covered by this study no organized
procedures were followed at Ferris for limiting the period
of attendance of an unsuccessful student. From time to time
individual students were denied the right to continue their
programs of study because of unsatisfactory progress.
Information obtained from this study may indicate reasonable
limits of time within which an individual should be expected
to prove his ability or be denied further enrollment in the
same curriculum. If prOCedires limiting the number of terms
of unsatisfactory progress were adopted, facilities would be
made available for others.

At present it is difficult for counselors to indicate
to students with below-average high school grades their
chances of success at Ferris in terms of performance at
Ferris by students with similar backgrounds. They can be
told "Some have been successful; you may try." Information
from this study may make available Specific data which can
be brought to the attention of prospective students to help
them reach decisions as to whether to enter college. Such
information may cause some students to abandon plans for
college and it may encourage others to attend.

The findings of this study should have value for the
personnel of other colleges and universities, and for high
school counselors because there is a dearth of research
information in professional literature.

A number of state-owned and municipally-owned colleges

10
and universities are required by law to admit any graduate of
high schools within specified geographical limits. Some
colleges and universities that are not publicly-owned also
have liberal admissions policies. Since little information
concerning the college performance of below-average high
school students was found, personnel of several colleges and
universities known to have liberal admissions policies were
contacted. In not one instance was information similar to
that sought in this study found to be available.

Apparently, many colleges which admit students with
poor high school records tend to "fly blind" as far as
treatment of these students as a group is concerned. Little
attention seems to have been given to studying their progress
to determine whether the same factors for which much infor-
mation is available concerning general college populations
are applicable to these students.

The findings of this study may contribute to the
solution of the two-fold problem facing higher education
in the United States today-~providing for the masses of
students who wish to enter college in the near future and
helping each citizen to make maximum use of his capabilities.
Should the study reveal that only a small percentage of
these students succeeded in college, perhaps colleges could
deny admission to students with below-average high school
records without significant loss to society. If, on the
other hand, a considerable proportion of these students

succeeded, liberal admissions policies would seem to be

11
Justified as a means of helping each citizen to make his
maximum contribution to our society.

If the study shows that factors which differentiate
between successful and unsuccessful students are sharply
defined, admission to college might be limited to those
students who are more favorably endowed. If, on the other
hand, many of these students succeeded without possessing
the characteristics found to be most frequently associated
with success, limitation of admissions might not be wise.

If the study indicates that students who did not
succeed during the first quarter or two were not likely to
succeed later, limitations on the period of enrollment per-
mitted could be made without harm to society. Otherwise,
the wisdom of limiting the period of attendance by such
students might be questionable.

Either restricted admissions policies or limited
periods of enrollment for unsuccessful students would make
room in college for additional students who wished to enter.
Keeping successful students in college and assisting un-
successful students into training or employment in keeping
with their potentialities would help society to gain the
maximum contribution from each citizen.

The findings of this study, then, should prove helpful
to educators by providing information that will make pos—
sible more effective counseling and training for students
‘Vhose high school performance was below average. Furthermore,

tfihe findings of this study should be of value to the general

12
public, for, in the final analysis, society must decide
whether enough students such as these are successful in
college to justify the retention of liberal admissions

policies.

III. Definitions of Terms

 

Ferris Institute is a State-owned-and-operated edu-

 

cational institution which is located in Big Rapids, Michigan.
Three basically different types of curriculums are offered-
-collegiate, high school, and non-collegiate training in
trade and industrial curriculums and in other Specialized
education curriculums. Ferris grants the bachelor of science
degree in pharmacy, commerce, and teacher-training. Some of
the terminal curriculums lead to the associate in arts de-
gree or the associate in applied science degree, while
graduates of other terminal courses receive certificates
only. The present study is concerned with the collegiate
offerings of the institution only.

The college will refer to two collegiate divisions
of Ferris-—the Commerce Division and the General Education
and Pro-professional Division. There are two other col-
legiate divisions--the Pharmacy Division and the Collegiate
CPechnical Terminal Division--but students entering these
divisions are excluded from the study. A "C" average is
lrequired for entering the Pharmacy Division; the only
firtudents (three in number) with below-average high school

QZFades who entered the Collegiate Technical Terminal Division

13
were in commercial art, a curriculum that is different from
most of the collegiate offerings in that much of it is of
"workshop" nature.

Below average and unsuccessful refer to attainment of

 

 

honor point averages less than 2.0 ("C").

success and successful refer to attainment of honor

 

point averages of at least 2.0 ("C").

Honor Point Averages (HPA'S) are determined by

 

dividing the total number of "honor points" earned by a
student by the total number of credit hours of instruction
completed. In computing college HPA's, honor points were
given for each hour of credit completed. Four honor points
were given for an "A", 3 for a "B", 2 for a "C", and 1 for
a "D"; no honor points were given for an "F". When computing
high school HPA's, honor points were given for each Carnegie
Unit of credit completed. The same number of points was
assigned to each grade as when computing college HPA's.
Student, unless otherwise specified, refers to a male
student who entered the college following graduation from

high school with a scholastic average of less than "C".

V. Limitations of the Study

 

 

The following limitations of the study are recognized:

1. The results of the study will be limited to
firtudents who enrolled at Ferris, though it may be assumed
tilet certain similarities would probably exist with such
Sttidents who enter other colleges.

2. The study does not test for motivation or

12:
perseverance.

3. The study does not include those students who
attended the college after being unsuccessful at other in-
stitutions of higher learning.

h. The findings of the study will not necessarily
be applicable to women students who attend the college.

5. It is assumed that the information in student
records used in gathering data for the study is accurate

and that these data were used accurately in the study.

VI. The Plan of the Thesis

 

 

 

In the first chapter the problem of the study has
been stated, the importance of the study has been discussed,
terms have been defined and certain limitations of the study
have been recognized.

Additional chapters will review the literature in the
field of prediction studies, describe procedures used to
select, organize and analyze the data of the present study,
set forth the findings of the present study, provide a
summary of the study and indicate conclusions of the study

and suggestions for further research.

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Before proceeding to further consideration of this
study, additional phases of the literature which pertain to
the problem of the study will be reviewed. Some references
to literature in the field have been made in Chapter I and
other references will be made in later chapters, as appro-
priate. Most of the literature reviewed, however, is re-
ported in this chapter, to provide a background of under-
standing based on studies that have been reported previously
which should facilitate viewing the findings of this study
in perspective.

The first section of this chapter presents the
findings of studies which had as their major purpose analysis
of the progress of students whose high school honor point
averages'(HPA's) were low. Few studies of this type were
located.

The second section of this chapter is devoted to
studies that sought to determine factors that are predictive
of performance in college. Because the number of studies of
this type is so large and so many of them are similar in
nature, conclusions reported in summaries of such studies
were used liberally in presenting the information.

The third section of this chapter summarizes the
lflindings reported and states implications for the present

Study.

16
For the most part, this review has been limited to

literature which considered matters similar to those used in
this study and the presentation of information is organized
in a matter similar to the presentation of the findings of
this study. The information presented will later serve as a
basis for comparing the experience of the students in this
study with the experience of students in other college

populations.

I. Studies Describing the Progress of Groups of Students

 

whose High School Academic Records were Below-average

 

Trebilcock (103) reported in 1938 the results of a
follow-up study of the graduates of Calumet (Michigan) High
School. He found that from the lower third of the group
studied 28 percent earned approximately average grades, hh
percent earned average grades and 27 percent earned below—
average grades, the last figure including 10 percent who
failed.

Tuttle (10h) reported that, on the basis of first
semester grades, only 13 percent of the students entering
the University of Illinois from the lowest quarter of their
high school classes received college degrees, whereas 50
percent of those entering from the highest quarter did.

In 19hh Berg, Larson, and Gilbert (10) compared the
progress of 79 students at the University of Illinois who
had graduated from the lowest quarter of their high school

Classes with R61 students not in the lowest quarter of their

17
classes. They found that only 15 percent of the lowest
quarter group earned grades above those of the average fresh-
man, whereas 61 percent of the other group did. By inapection
of test data, the writers fixed a critical score consisting
of a raw score of 90 on the American Council on Education
Psychological Examination (ACEPE) and 395 on a composite of
all the tests. Twenty-two students scored below these; 25
had one score above and the other below. The authors stated:

If the college counselors could have used the

critical scores with the group, they could have

justifiably prepared the 22 for failure and

discussed non-college training or vocations

with them. This would have prepared the students

for the difficulties they encountered later.

In 1951 Sanders, Osborne and Greene (89) reported
that a reliably higher percentage of students making better
than "C" averages than of students making less than "C"
averages had come from the upper third of their high school
classes. The opposite was true for students from the
lower third of their high school classes, but the latter
was not statistically reliable.

Farwell (bl) compared a group of 228 students who
enrolled at Michigan State University in the fall term, 1952,
on the basis of testing and counseling procedures (because
their high school HPA's were below the level required for
ordinary admission) with a group of 228 students admitted
by other admissions procedures to ascertain differences and
similarities in respect to their academic accomplishment for

one academic year of three terms. He found that the

similarities between the two groups overshadowed the

18
differences; high school quarter rank proved to be as good a
predictive index as were orientation test scores; the cor-
relation between test scores and HPA's were found to be
similar to those found by most investigators; the value of
the recommendations of high school principals were open to
question; and the most significant relationship for the
borderline sample was the relationship between the university
counselor's recommendation and subsequent success in the
first quarter of college.
Jackson (5h) in 1955 described an experiment at Michigan
State University in which a group of 123 students who failed
entrance examinations were not informed of their failure and
were permitted to enroll as if they had passed the tests.
Their progress was compared with the progress of 209 students
who were admitted by passing the tests and ho students who
were admitted as the result of their performance during a
summer school trial period. The following findings were
reported:
1. Average grades or better were earned by 56.6,
13 and 50 percent of the passing, failing and
summer entrant groups, respectively.
2. Below-average but passing grades were received
by 28.7, h6.h and 30 percent of the passing,
failing, and summer entrant groups, respectively.
3. Failing grades were received by 1h.8, h0.6 and
20 percent of the passing, failing and summer
entrant groups, respectively.
The writer (113), in 1955, studied a group of 66

students who entered the collegiate divisions of Ferris

Institute after receiving less than "C" averages for schooling

19

completed previously. Forty-five of these students had en-

tered the college without having first attended another

college;

21 students had attended another college first and

were selected on the basis of having failed to maintain a

"C" average at the college attended previously. No attempt

was made to compare the groups for homogeneity of background

other than the failure to obtain "C" averages. The following

conclusions were drawn:

1.

II.

One-half the group was either still attending
college in the spring quarter, 1955--at Ferris
or elsewhere--or had successfully completed
pregrams of study.

On the basis of the cumulative HPA's for all
quarters attended at Ferris, one-third of the
students entering from high school and 57
percent of the students who transferred from
other colleges were successful.

About 18 percent of the students entering from

high school and about 23 percent of those en-
tering from other colleges approached success,
with HPA's from .76 to .99. (An HPA of 1.0
represented "C" at that time).

Students with high school HPA's that approached
a "C" average were no more likely to succeed
than were students whose averages were lower.

Students whose HPA's at other colleges ap-
proached a "C" average were more likely to
succeed than were those whose averages were
lower.

Studies Concerning the Relationship Between

College Performance and Various Factors

Studies relating college performance to ability. In

1931 Douglass (32) summarized studies of prediction of

college success that had been made prior to that time. He

20
reported a wide range among 160 coefficients of correlation
(r), with a median r of .h5 between college grades and in-
telligence test scores. Studies since then have, for the
most part, yielded similar results. Segel's (90) review of
the literature in 193“ reported a median r of .hh for the
100 studies be reviewed. In l9h0 Harris (51), reviewing the
literature from 1930 to 1939, found the pattern to be similar.
Crawford and Burnham (28), writing in 19h6, reported the r's
to be typically between .ho and .50 and Borow (16) in the
same year reported .h5. Garrett (h6) in 19h9 reported an
average r of .h7 and Johnson (58), in 1950, found median r's
of approximately .hh to .35. During the period since 1950,
Posz (89) in 1952, found a median r of .hs for the studies he
reported and Cosand (25), a year later, reported a median r
of .h5. Farwell (hi), in summarizing his review of the
literature in 1958, concluded:

The correlations reported in the various studies

and summaries appear to be in agreement, since

the median correlation ranges from .ho to .50.

The literature reviewed suggests that the ACEPE has
predictive efficiency equal to or better than the average of
all types of ability tests reported above. Peiser (77) in
1937, found an r of .h35. while Freelich (hh) reported in
19h1 an r of .55 between the ACEPE and freshman HPA.
Kirkpatrick (60) found r's of .52 and .57 for the 1937 and
1938 editions of the ACEPE, respectively. Grater and Thalman
(h9) in 1955, studying students who received bachelor's de-
grees, found r's of .68, .hz and .58 for the Q-score,

L-score and T-score, respectively. Reviews by Segel (90).

21
Dressel and Schmid (3h), Wagner (107), Super (96), Posz (79),
WilliamSOn and Berdin (112), and Roznik (85) reported results
similar to the range of .30 to .50, hovering near .h5 as the
median r. Bertrand (11) reported in 1950 that at Texas A & M,
an institution to which high school graduation is the only
admission requirement, the ACEPE is more predictive of the
potentially scholastically deficient student then are high
school grades. It is generally felt by those who have
studied the ACEPE that the Total Score (T-score) is somewhat
more predictive of general college performance than either
the Quantitative Score (Q-score) or the Linguistic Score
(L-score). This conclusion was reached by Bolton (15),
Berdie, Dressel and Kelso (9), Osborne, Sanders and Greene

(7k) and Wallace (108).

Studies relating college performance to previous

 

academic progress. The best single predictor of college

 

grades after a student has completed at least one enroll-

ment period of college work has been found to be the college

grades earned. Studies which support this finding were

completed by Potthof (81) in 1931, Byrns (19) in 1932, Rogers

(8h) in 1937, Read (82) in 1938, Feder (h2) and Harris (51)

in 19h0, Smith (92) in 19h5, Bolton (15) in 1952 and Sanders

and others (88) in 1955. No studies were found that reported

contrary findings. Correlations were commonly as high as .80.
A few studies considered the relationship between the

time on which HPA's were based and the relationship of those

HPA's to subsequent college performance. In 1931 Pothoff (81)

22
found an r of .81 between first term grades and the scholastic
record for the first two years; in 19h0 Feder (hZ) found an
r of .30 between the HPA's for the first year of college at-
tendance and the HPA's for the second year of attendance;
Lehman (6h) reported in 19h3 that HPA's for the freshman year
were superior to HPA's for the first term only as predictors
of subsequent college performance and that they were almost
as effective as were HPA's for the sophomore year; in 1952
Bolton (15) found that HPA's for the freshman year predicted
scholarship in later years better than did HPA‘s for any one
term of attendance; and Jackson (5h) found in 1955 that
students who entered Michigan State University during a
summer session on a trial basis and who were permitted to
reenroll for the fall term indicated in that first regular
term whether they were able to do college work.

Academic progress in high school usually has been
found to be the best single predictor of the first college
grades. The degree of relationship has varied from study
to study and there is a difference of opinion as to whether
the cumulative EPA for all high school courses completed is
more predictive than is the percentile rank in the high
school graduating class. Rank in class is generally regarded
as being somewhat the better predictor, but both reflect the
quality of work performed in high school. Douglass (32) in
1931 reported an average r of .5h between high school
average and college achievement; Segel (90) in 193D found

an average r of .55; Harris (51) in l9h0 reported somewhat

23
higher r's, most of them falling between .60 and .70;
Durflinger (35) in 19h3 and Borow (16) in l9h6 reported a
median r of about .55; while Garrett (ho) in 19kg reported
average r's of approximately .59. P032 (79) in 1952, re-
ported a median r of .55 for the studies he reviewed; Cosand
(25) in 1953 found most r's falling between .50 and .60,
with a median of .52; Farwell (hi) in 195k reported varia-
tions from .h5 to .65, without establishing a median r.
Carey (20) in 1955, found in his study an r of .69 between

high school HPA and university cumulative HPA.

Studies relating college performance to specific

 

subjects completed in high school. For many years educators

 

 

believed that completion of the "college preparatory" and
"mind training" subjects prepared students for college more
effectively than did courses of other types. Studies have
usually shown, however, that college performance is not
closely related to specific subjects taken in high school.
Harris (50) in his 1931 summary of prediction studies found
this to be true and in his 19h0 review (51) he stated that
the evidence was even less in favor of the "mind training"
subjects. The question has not been debated much since the
findings of the Eight Year Study of the Progressive Education
Association were published in 19h2. Aiken (l), in summariz-
ing the results of this study, demonstrated that students
admitted to college from the experimental schools without
regard to the pattern of subjects taken in high school

achieved as well and in some cases slightly higher than their

2h
counterparts in the controlled study, whose preparation was
in the old program. Travers (102) stated in 19h9:
The practice of college admissions officers of
requiring certain high school courses or certain

prescribed sequences lacks support of any kind
from systematic investigation.

Studies relating college performance to various other

 

 

factors concerning the high school backgrounds of students.

 

Evidence pertaining to the relationship between the size of
the high school attended and college performance is con-
flicting. Harris (51) and Dwyer (36) reported that studies
made prior to 1938 were conflicting or showed little re-
lationship. Studies during the decade following continued
to show conflicting results. Feder (h2) in 19h0 and Saupe
(89) in l9h1 found no significant difference in performance,
and studies since 1950 by Bertrand (11) and Dowd (33) found
no significant relationship; Bledsoe (13) and Lins (65) in
195h, however, reported that students of large graduating
classes were found to make significantly higher average
marks during the first year of college than students who
attended small and middle-sized high schools. Usually,
when scholastic aptitude has been taken into consideration,
size of high school does not seem to be related to college
achievement.

Graduates of public high schools usually have been
found to perform better in college than have graduates of
non-public high schools. Studies supporting this point of

view were completed by Potter (80) in 1913, Beatley (8) in

25
1922, Koos (61) in 1931, Chamberlain (23) in 1933, Feder (hz)
in 1980, and Seltzer (91) in 19h8. Contrary findings were
reported by Blakeslee (12) in 1929 and by Blum (15) in 1936.

Studies of the relationship between college performance

and the recommendation of the high school principal are con—
flicting. Brown and Nemzek (17) reported in 19hh a study of
freshman grades of 3&2 students from one Detroit high school
who entered Michigan colleges from 1930 to 1939. No sig-
nificant differences were found between the recommended and
the non-recommended groups in terms of achieving a "C"
average, but there was a significant difference in the over-
all HPA of the two groups, the recommended group being the
better achievers. Sullivan (9h) found the principals'
estimates of scholastic promise to be very effective in
differentiating between the broad groupings of successful
and unsuccessful students and in identifying the high
achieving students. On the other hand, Farwell (hi) in 195R
found the correlation between high school recommendations
and college EPA at Michigan State University to be so small
that he questioned the value of the recommendations, es-
pecially with those students who were of "borderline"

ability.

Studies relating college performance to differences

 

 

.12 socio-economic status. Although different factors may be
involved in determining the "socio-economio" status of
students, most studies have used the occupation of the father

as the criterion of such status. Neff (72) expressed the

26
opinion in 1938, after presenting an extensive discussion of
socio-economic status and intelligence:

...an occupational hierarchy, of the type suggested
by the U. 8. Census Classification, would afford the
most objective means of indicating social level...
the danger of the sources of error involved in all
rating methods would be avoided if occupation were
taken as the sole criterion.

Some of the earlier studies of the relationship be-
tween college performance and the occupation of the father
seemed to suggest that there might be some signiiicant dif-
ferences. These included studies by Bear (7) in 1928,
Crawford (27) in 1929, Cuff (29) in 1933, and Robinson (83)
in 19h0. The preponderance of evidence, however, seems to
agree with Mueller and Mueller (70) who summarized their
study in 1953:

Insofar as these data are reliable, it would seem

that the fact of socio-eccnomic status exerts a very

limited direct influence on grades, since students
with high scores receive high grades, irrespective

of social status.

Studies which substantiated this point of view were completed

by Harris (50) in 1931, Miller (70) in 1936, Arnold (3) in

19h1, Hoskins (53) in 1950 and Osyood (75) in 1955.

Studies relating college performance to the age of

 

 

 

the student. In his review of 5 studies in 1931, Harris (50)

 

reported that it was found rather consistently that younger
students did better work than older students but superior
intelligence was felt to be the main causal factor; the
results of his own study indicated that age had no appreciable

or consistent bearing on college performance when intelligence

27

was held constant. In his review of 9 studies in 19h0 (51)
the same author reported that findings were overwhelmingly
to the effect that the younger students get the better grades.
In most cases either no account was taken of intelligence or,
where it was mentioned, the younger students had the advan-
tage. In 3 of the studies no relationship was found between
age and grade; in another study, in which groups were
equated for Regents' averages, both the underage and the
overage students did better than the middle group. In 1930
Dwyer (3?) reviewed 29 studies completed from 1912 to 1935,
which indicated that the younger students usually did better
work than the older students. There was a significant ten-
dency, however, for grades to decrease until the age of 21
or 22 and to increase thereafter. Dwyer referred to the
"now familiar pattern" of low averages for those aged 19 to
21, while those aged 17 and 22 had higher averages; the
results of his own study conformed to the pattern. In
summary, he wrote:

There is a negative trend from ages 16 to 21 and a

positive trend from age 22 up...In no case is the

absolute value of the coefficient large enough so

it can be used for individual prediction, but it

is frequently large enough to predict by age groups.
In studying 600 students at Michigan State University in 19h8,
Pierson (78) concluded that the age of a student upon enter-
ing the university had little significance as far as his

academic success was concerned.

Studies relating college performance to veteran status.

 

 

A total of 19 studies (5, 6, 2h, 26, 30, 31, 39, ho, ha, hs.

28
EB, 62, 7h, 76, 87, 97, 99, 100, 109) concerning the progress
of veterans was reviewed. Veterans were usually found to
have a slight EPA superiority over non-veterans. Only two
studies reported findings to the contrary. Grant (RS) found
that veterans attained essentially the same level of success
as average college students and Sanders, Osborne and Greene
(87) found no significant differences between veterans and
non-veterans when they were equated as to scholastic aptitude.

There was a strong suggestion that age, rather than

experiences peculiar to veterans, may have been the under-
lying cause of the superior performance by veterans. Tepping
(97) found in his study at the University of Colorado
Extension Center that non-veterans had a median average .hl
credit point higher than veterans at both the graduate and
undergraduate levels of instruction; non—veterans at the
center were older than veterans. Owens and Owens (76) found
that the age of a veteran was almost as good a predictor of
scholastic success as was the scholastic aptitude test
score. Frederiksen and Schrader (h3) found that veterans
did better work relative to their ability than did non-
veterans, but that a group of older veterans was the im-
portant element in raising the average for the veteran group.
When they were removed from the groups, the difference in

grades between veterans and non-veterans became insignificant.

Studies relating college performance to determination

 

_2£'2 vocational goal. Studies of the relationship between

college performance and certainty of vocational choice are

29
not in agreement. In 1931 Harris (51) reported that the
findings of two studies indicated a relationship while the
findings of two studies did not; in his own study he found
no appreciable relationship when intelligence was held con-
stant. A similar pattern was reported in the 19h0 review of
the literature by Harris (51). In 19h3 Marshall and Simpson
(66) found that students with tentative vocational choices
performed better than either those with definite choices or
those who were undecided about their vocational choice.
Carter and McGinnis (21) in 1952 found that definiteness of
vocational choice was significantly related to HPA's. The
situation was well-stated by Borow (16) in 19h6:

Despite the reasonableness of the belief that def—
initeness of occupational choice should be related to

college achievement, research has failed to furnish
clear-cut evidence to support it.

Studies relating college performance to the specific

 

 

 

curriculum entered. Little information was found in the

 

literature concerning the relationship between college per-
formance and the curriculum entered. Harris (50) reported
in 1931 that the findings of 5 studies reviewed indicated

that results vary markedly in different institutions. The
only item that was found repeatedly was the poor showing of
business students. In 19ho be reviewed 5 studies (51) that
had been completed in the interim and concluded that they

shed no particular light on the subject, either; there was

no recurrence of the poor showing by the business students,

however.

Studies relating college performance to changes in

 

 

 

curriculum. Again, the findings were meagre. After comparing

 

the mean EPA for the first two years of students who changed
their major during that period with those who remained in the
same major (including students who entered college with no
stated major), Matteson (67) concluded that indecision does
not affect grades adversely, when scholastic aptitude is con-
trolled. Williamson (111) also found that certainty of
choice does not appear to be diagnostic of seriousness of

educational purpose.

 

 

Studies relating college performance to the credit-

 

hour load of studies. Lehman and Stoke (63) reported in 1930

 

that students who increased their credit-hour load of studies
did better than formerly, while those whose loads remained
the same improved more often than those who lightened their
loads. Bolts and Trice (52) found in 193k that students who
increased 3: decreased their loads did better than those who
made no change. Neel and Matthews (71) reported in 1935 that
"achievers" (students with HPA percentiles in excess of their
intelligence percentiles) carried fewer courses than did non-
achievers. Both Glatfelter (h?) and Karraker (59), in 1936
found no relationship between these two factors. Berg,
Larson and Gilbert (10) found in l9hh that students who had
been in the lowest quarter of their high school classes
earned lower grades than other students, even though they
carried fewer hours of work. Jackson (55) reported in 1955

that at Michigan State University the mean HPA increased

31
regularly with an increased credit load, concluding that
students taking heavier credit loads are generally more able
students and continue to perform at the expected higher level
despite the heavier load. Andrew (2) in 1956, reported
findings of a study involving a group of students who were
expected to have difficulty with college work; their pre—
dicted HPA was 1.75. The results tended to show that both
the greater the number of semester hours of credit carried
and the greater the number of hours spent in class each week,
the greater the HPA. The differences were not of statistical
significance, however.

Care must be taken to prevent concluding that carrying
a heavier load of studies is a major causal factor in get-
ting good grades; such reasoning could soon reach a point of
absurdity. The evidence available, however, seems to support
the point of view that lightening a student's load does not

necessarily cause him to obtain better grades.

III. Summary and Implications for the Present Study

 

Few studies were found which had as their major pur-
pose analysis of the progress of students whose previous
scholastic averages were low. Available evidence suggests
that as many as one—third of those students who could not
have been admitted to college on the basis of their previous
grades under the provisions of selective admissions policies
have succeeded in college.

Studies of college populations, which measured the

32
relationship of various factors to academic progress, seem to
have established rather clear relationships between college
performance and both ability and the quality of previous
academic performance. Four other factors were generally
found to be related to college performance--the type of high
school attended, veteran status, the length of college train-
ing completed, and the credit-load of studies carried.
Graduates of public high schools seem to have an advantage
over graduates of non-public high schools; veterans showed a
superiority in performance over non-veterans (but the evidence

suggests that the age of veterans may have been the major

 

factor); college HPA's based on more than one enrollment
period predicted subsequent college performance more effective-
ly than did HPA's based on one enrollment period only; and
students carrying heavier loads of credit tended to receive
higher grades than students carrying lighter loads of credit.

Usually the younger and the older students were found
to do better in college than do students between 18 and 21
years of age, but there was indication that superior intel-
ligence may be the primary reason for the better progress of
the younger students. Students who are 21 years of age or
older seem to have an advantage over younger students of
similar intelligence.

The evidence suggests that there is little or no re-
lationship between college performance and the Specific sub-
jects completed in high school, socio-economic status, the

college curriculum entered and the changing of curriculums.

33

Evidence is inconclusive or conflicting concerning the
relationship between college performance and the recommenda-
tions of the high school principals, the size of the high
school attended and certainty of a vocational goal.

The review of literature concerning prediction studies
proved helpful in establishing the pattern of previous ex-
perience. Of special significance to this study is the fact
that little has been published that bears directly on the

type of student population that is used in the present study.

CHAPTER III

PROCEDURES USED TO SELECT, ORGANIZE AND ANALYZE THE DATA

The problem of the present study has been defined and
literatlre pertaining to the problem has been reviewed. This
chapter will describe the procedures that were used to
select the population to be studied and to select, organize

and analyze the data of the study.

 

 

I. Selecting the Population to be Studied

Identifying the students. The first procedure was to

 

determine which students would be used in this study. A
study of those students who entered the college recently
seemed desirable, yet it was necessary to have enough cases
to make the study worthwhile; furthermore, the population
should consist of a group of students for whom a maximum
amount of information could be obtained.

A testing program was inaugurated at the college in
the fall of l95h which made available for the first time
scholastic aptitude test scores (scores on the ACEPE) for
most of the entering students; this seemed to be a logical
starting point for the study. Since only preliminary work
on the study was to be completed prior to the fall of 1957.

the progress of the group could be observed through the

35
summer session which ended in August, 1957.2 Since a period
of more than one quarter seemed desirable for observing the
progress of the studentsB, the last entrance date for students
included in the study was March, 1957.

Two classifications of students with below-average
grades for previous schooling——women students and students
who transferred to Ferris from other colleges~~were excluded
from the study. Women students would most appropriately be
studied as a separate population because other studies (9,
18, 22, 35, 50, 51, 7h, 86, 93, 95) indicated significant
differences in the academic performance of men and women
students. Students who transferred to Ferris from other
colleges would most appropriately be studied as a separate
population because the pilot study completed by the writer
(113) indicated marked differences in performance by students
who had attended another college before entering Ferris and
those who had not. The relatively small number of both
women students and transfer students indicated that excluding

them from the present study altogether was more advisable than

 

2The regular academic year at Ferris is divided into
three quarters of approximately 12 weeks each. During
the summer two five-week sessions are offered, which
together provide instructional time equivalent to a
12-week quarter. In those few instances in which a
student attended only one 5-week session, this period
was not used in computations.

3The findings of other studies seemed to suggest

that HPA's based on a period of time in excess of

one enrollment period predicted later progress better
than did HPA's for one enrollment period only.

36
including them in this study as separate populations.

The population of this study, then, was to consist of
all unsuccessful male high school graduates who entered the
college without first attending another college during the
period September, 195k through March, 1957. The records com-
pleted by the students from September, 195k through August,
1957 were to be used in the analysis.

The records of all male students who entered the
college following graduation from high school during the
period covered by the study, without first attending another
college, were examined to determine which of them had been
unsuccessful in high school. Grades for all high school
credit courses were used to make this determination. The
393 students thus identified became the initial population
of the study. Subsequent investigation showed that 23
students failed to complete a full quarter of study before
leaving the college. Since no college grades were available
for these students, their records were excluded from further
consideration. College grades for at least one quarter of
attendance were available for 370 students; this group became

the working population of the study.

Determining whether the students could be treated as

 

 

a single group. These 370 students graduated from many

 

different high schools in different years and they entered
the college during three different academic years. In order
to justify treating them as one group it was necessary to

establish that they were alike in basic characteristics.

37
That this were true would seem reasonable if it could be
demonstrated that there were no significant differences among
them in academic ability and in academic performance. The
chi square (X2) test was used to determine whether the groups
could be considered to have come from a single distribution
with respect to ability and performance or whether differences
existed among the groups that were great enough to be of
statistical significance.

The students were divided into three groups, based on
the academic year during which they entered the college. A
statistical table was prepared comparing the three year-
groups in relation to the ACEPE raw T-score as the measure
of ability; separate tables were prepared comparing the
three year-groups with respect to each of three measures
of performancea-HPA‘S for all high school subjects, HPA‘s
for courses completed during the first quarter of attendance
at the otllcge, and cumulative HPA's for courses completed
at the college during the first three quarters of continuous
attendance or the only completed portion thereof. Xz's were
computed for each of the four tables.

The "Distribution of £2" table from Johnson (57) was
used to determine whether the Xz's were large enough to
indicate that statistically significant differences existed
among the groups. Xz's found to be at or beyond the .05

level of confidence were accepted as being significant.

38

Table 1 reports the results of the X2 computations.”

TABLE l.--Relationship between year of entering the college
and selected factors based on academic ability and academic

 

 

 

performance
Significant
at the .05 Table Number
level of in

Factors X2 confidence? Appendix__
Raw T-scores on the ACEPE 1.05 No A1
High School HPA's 1.97 No A2
College HPA's, first
quarter only 10.36 No A3
College HPA's cumulative
for the first three
quarters of continuous
attendance or the only
completed portion thereof 9.62 No Ah

f

No significant relationship was found between the year of
entering the college and any of the four criteria. This
means that differences that may have existed among the three
year—groups of students in ability or in academic performance
were not significantly greater than those which would have
been expected as the result of chance. Thus it would appear
that the three groups tended to be alike in academic ability
and in academic performance and could, therefore, be treated

as a single group for the purposes of this study.

 

”The basic tables are in the Appendix. This procedure
of reporting the statistical results in summary tables

and placing the basic tables in the Appendix will be
used in Chapter IV, also.

39

II. Selecting, Organizing and Analyzing the Data

Determining the progress of the students at the college.

 

 

 

HPA's earned at the college were computed to obtain information
needed to describe the academic progress of the students. Six
different bases of computation were used-~the academic record
for each of the first three quarters of attendance and the
cumulative records for two quarters, three quarters, and all
quarters attended. The results of the computations are pre-

sented in Chapter IV.

Selecting the factors to be investigated for their

 

 

relationship to success at the college. Professional litera-

 

 

ture was reviewed to learn what factors have been studied to
determine their relationship to college performance. One of
the functions of the present study was to compare factors
found to be predictive of college success for the students

in this study with factors found by other investigators to

be effective predictors of achievement for typical college
populations. Factors included in other studies were included
in this study if the needed information was available for a
major part of the students of the study. A review of student
records showed that sufficient data were available for
studying the following variables: ability (as measured by
the T-score, the L-score and the Q-score of the ACEPE);

high school HPA's based on all subjects taken, on "college
PTGDBrBtOPY" subjects alone (English, foreign language,

science and social studies); on commercial subjects alone

ho
(typing, shorthand, bookkeeping, business training, coopera-
tive training, etc.), and on vocational subjects other than
commercial subjects (shop, agriculture, drawing, etc.); the
rank of the student in his high school graduating class; the
type of recommendation given the student by the high school
principal; the size of the high school attended; the socio-
economic status of the student as indicated by the occupation
of the father; certainty of vocational choice, age and veteran
status at the time of entering the college; the type of
curriculum entered at the college; whether a change in cur-
ricular goal was made after completing one quarter or more
at the college; the number of quarters of training completed
at the college, with the number of hours of credit completed
and the grades earned for each quarter.

Data were also available for some variables concerning
which no studies were found in professional literature. Many
educators have felt that students are handicapped when they
move from school to school. Since evidence was at hand to
indicate the number of high schools attended, this variable
was included in the study to determine whether it affected
performance at the college.

The percentage of married students attending college
has increased steadily since the close of World War II, but
no studies of the relationship between marital status and
cohlege performance were found. Consequently, this seemed
to be a worthwhile variable for study.

A complete file of actions taken by the college

hi
Committee on Discipline was available in the office of the
Dean of Students. This made possible comparison of the
academic progress of students against whom action had been
taken by the disciplinary committee with the progress of
students against whom no action had been taken. No studies
involving the relationship of this factor to college perform-
ance were found. The characteristics that cause a student
to receive formal disciplinary action might affect his
academic performance, as well as his personal behavior. This
factor seemed to be worthy of investigation.

The nature of most of the variables selected for this
study is probably clear, but a few explanatory remarks are
required. Recommendations of high school principals were
classified in one of three categories--"Recommended", "Not
recommended", and "Recommended with qualifications".5

Type of high school attended pertained to public or
non-public schools.

The occupation of the father was used as the criterion
of socio-economic status. Occupations were classified in
accordance with the system prepared by Edwards (38) for the
United States Bureau of the Census. Six categories were
established--professional; proprietors, managers, and

officials; clerks and kindred workers; skilled workers and

 

5Qualifications included such statements as "with
testing"; "might not make it, but should have a
chance"; "is older now; may succeed"; "not much of
a student, but a fine person", etc.

hZ

foremen; semiskilled workers; and unskilled workers.

Certainty of vocational choice was based on the
presence or absence of a specific vocational choice in a
student's application for admission to the college.

For most of the factors the records of the entire 370
students could be used. For other factors, however, this was
not possible. ACEPE scores were available for about 90 per-
cent of the students; grades in commerce subjects were avail-
able for about 85 percent of the students; fethers' occu-
pations were indicated by about 80 percent of the students;
grades for vocational subjects other than commerce subjects
were available for about 75 percent of the students; and
high school principal recommendations were given for about

58 percent of the students.

Classifying students as "successful" or "unsuccessful."

* “

 

 

 

In order to determine which factors seemed to differentiate
between those students who were successful at the college
and those who were not, each student was classified as
"successful" or "unsuccessful." The criterion of success
was indicated earlier to be a 2.0 ("C") average, but the
basis to use for classifying each student remained to be
determined. As indicated earlier, the literature suggests
that HPA's based on reCords for longer periods of time may
be better predictors of later college performance than are
HPA's based on one enrollment period only. Since 255 of the
370 students completed at least three consecutive quarters of

training at the college but only 82 students completed more

h3
than three quarters of continuous training,6 three quarters
seemed to be a reasonable maximum period of attendance to
use. Cumulative HPA's for three quarters of attendance,
therefore, were used to classify 255 of the students. For
the remaining 115 students, the longest enrollment period
they completed was used; this was one quarter for 7h students
and two quarters for hi students. Table 2 presents the

results of this classification of students, showing that 131

Table 2.--C1assification of students as to success in college*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Successful Unsuccessful
students students Total
Period of training
completed ,, No. % No. % No. %
One quarter only 20 27 5h 73 7b 100
Two quarters only 13 32 28 68 hi 100

Three or more
quarters 98 38 157 62 255 100

Total 131 35 239 65 370 100

A

 

*The criterion of success was an HPA of at least 2.0 ("C"),
based on cumulative HPA's for the enrollment period indicated.
students were successful and 239 students were unsuccessful.
On this basis, exactly one-third of the original group of 393

students were successful at the college and 35 percent of

 

6Many of the students in this study entered the college
for the primary purpose of proving their ability so
they could transfer to other colleges. This accounts

in part for the small number of students who remained
after three quarters.

an
those students who completed at least one quarter were

successful.

Testing the relationship between success and the

 

 

selected factors. The relationship between success and each

 

of the selected factors was tested by X2. Statistical tables
were prepared and X2 was computed for each table. xz's that
were found to be at or beyond the .05 level of confidence
were accepted as evidence that a statistically significant
relationship existed between the factors tested.

Literature reviewed in Chapter II suggests that some
variables appear to be independently related to success and
that the relationship to success of other variables appears
to be influenced strongly by the independent variables.7
The factors found in this study to be significantly related
to success were examined further, therefore, to determine
which of them seemed to be independently related to success.
The following procedures were used:

1. These factors were analyzed in pairs to determine
what interrelationships existed among them. X2 was again
used as the test of the statistical significance of

relationships.

 

7Other investigators have suggested that age, rather
than experiences peculiar to veterans may account for
the superiority in performance of veterans over non-
veterans and that ability may account primarily for
the superiority in performance of students carrying
heavier loads of credit over students carrying lighter
loads.

145

2. If two of these factors were not significantly re-
lated to each other, this was accepted as evidence that they
were independent of each other in their relationship to
success.

3. If two of these factors were significantly related
to each other, the relationship of each to success was measured,
with the other factor held constant.

R. If one factor was no longer significantly related
to success when a second factor was held constant, this was
accepted as evidence that the factor held constant was a
major cause of the other factor's relationship to success.

5. If, with one factor held constant, a second
factor still here a significant relationship to success,
this was accepted as evidence that each factor was indepen-

dent of the other in its relationship to success.

Comparing the findings concerning the relationship

 

between success and the selected factors with the findings

 

of other investigators. The findings of this study concern-

 

ing the relationship between success at the college and the
selected factors were compared with the findings of other
investigators, reported in Chapter II, who have studied the

relationship between selected factors and college achievement.

Examining the data for information that might be used

 

 

:2 improve institutional procedures. Finally, the data were
examined for information that might be used to improve

procedures of the college in admitting students such as those

as
used in this study and for meeting better their needs and the
needs of the college and of society, once the students are

admitted.
III. Summary

All unsuccessful male high school graduates who
entered the college, without first attending another college,
during the period from September, 195k through March, 1957
were selected as the population of this study. Records made
by them from September, 195k through August, 1957 were used
in the analysis. Students were classified according to the
school year during which they entered the college. To de-
termine whether the three groups thus formed could be treated,
as one population for the purposes of the study, they were
compared on the basis of academic ability and academic achieve-
ment; the X2 test was used to determine whether statistically
significant differences among the groups existed. Since no
significant differences in either academic ability or
academic performance were found, it seemed reasonable to
combine the students into one group for this study.

To describe the prejress of the students at the
college, separate HPA's were computed on the basis of the
performance of the students during each of the first three
quarters and cumulative HPA's were computed on the basis of
two quarters, three quarters, and all quarters of continuous

attendance.

Twenty-four factors were chosen to be measured for

w
their relationship to success at the college. Students were
classified as successful or unsuccessful on the basis of
their cumulative HPA's for the first three quarters of con-
tinuous attendance at the college or the only completed
portion thereof; the criterion of success was an HPA of at
least 2.0 ("C").

The relationship between success and each of the 2h
selected factors and interrelationships between these
variables significantly related to success will be dis-
cussed in the next chapter. Information that might be used

to improve institutional procedures will be indicated, also.

CHAPTER IV

THE FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

This chapter will present the findings of the study.
The progress of the students at the college will be described;
the results of the investigation to determine the relation-
ship to success of the selected factors discussed in Chapter
III will be reported; the relationships found in this study
between success and the selected variables will be compared
with the findings of other investigators; and the data of
the study will be examined for information that might be used
to improve the procedures of the college in caring for
students such as those constituting the population of the

study.

I. The Academic Achievement of the Students

 

 

To describe the academic achievement of these students
at the college, HPA's were computed on six different bases-
-separate HPA's for each of the first three quarters of at-
tendance and cumulative HPA's for two quarters, three quarters
and all quarters of continuous attendance. All students who
completed the period of training in each instance were in-
cluded in the statistics in Table 3, which summarizes the
achievement of the students.

The percentage of students who made 2.0 averages or

better ranged from a minimum of 37 percent (on the basis of

”9

 

 

OOH Nm mm on NH aH NN ma am ON mhvukmsv «Hm
.meomum esauoasaou

mm mmN mm mm wa Na ma ma wm ww skewness

oops» assay
.noomum e>apeasasu

ooa can an Has me as ma ms mm mm oncogene o3» «mung
.mebmhm o>fipmHsaso

ooa mum ms was ma an ad mm mm mm doomed
, newness phase

ooa omw ma mus ma as on on mm mm mooonm
sounded psooom

mm can an emu Na we «a on em esa oceans
. newness vmufim

 

 

 

 

 

8 .02 g .02 N. .02 N. .c? m .02 souveusqaoo
no madam

 

 

 

 

Hence o.~ ma.aumn.a an.uum.a ma.ano.o

 

momeho>< peach hedom

 

 

saucepan one we usoao>ownom easemeo<ll.m mam<8

50
first quarter grades and cumulative grades for two quarters
and for all quarters of attendance) to a maximum of R5 per-
cent (based on third quarter grades). In addition, from 12
percent (first and third quarter computations) to 17 percent
of the students (computation based on all quarters of atten-
dance) approached success, as they earned HPA's between 1.75
and 1.99. Thus from R9 percent (first quarter computation).
to 57 percent of the students (second quarter and third
quarter computations) were either successful or approached
success.

As indicated in Chapter III, when each student was
classified as successful or unsuccessful on the basis of
cumulative HPA's for the first three quarters of continuous
attendance or the only completed portion thereof, 131 (35
percent) of the students who completed at least one quarter
were successful. An additional hh (12 percent) of the 370
students approached success with HPA's between 1.75 and
1.99. Examination of the records of the students who were
classified as unsuccessful showed that 79 (33 percent) of
them were successful in at least one quarter of attendance.
Therefore, 210 (57 percent) of the 370 students who com-
pleted one or more quarters at the college were successful
at least one quarter.

Obviously, students were not in the same success
status each quarter. In fact, further inspection of the
records revealed that 6 (20 percent) of the students classi-

fied as successful for the purposes of the study who remained

51
at the college for more than 3 quarters became unsuccessful
on the basis of their cumulative averages for their full
period of attendance. Also, 6 (11 percent) of the students
classified as unsuccessful became successful on the basis of
their full period of attendance at the college.

The review of literature indicated that few studies
were found with which to compare these findings. The results
are about the same as those reported by the writer (113) in
a study of a similar group of students who entered Ferris
during the 1952-1953 school year, one-third of whom were
successful and about 18 percent of whom approached success.
The results are not as favbrable as those reported by
Trebilcoch (103) in his study of students from the lowest
third of the graduating classes of one high school, hh per-
cent of whom were successful in college and 28 percent of

whom approached success.

II. The Relati>nship Between Success and the Selected Factors

 

Determining the relationship to success of each

 

 

 

 

seleoted factor. The results of the statistical computations

 

made to determine which of the 2h selected factors were

 

dAbout 60 percent of all college students who entered
Ferris for the first me in the fall quarter, 195b,
were successful on the basis of first quarter grades,
according to a study completed at the Counseling
Center of the college. A similar finding was reported
for students who entered in the fall quarter, 1956, 59
percent of whom were successful.

52
significantly related to success at the college are presented
in Table h. significant relationships were found between
success and 11 of the factors--ACEPE T-scores, L-scores, and
Q-scores; high school HPA's based on all subjects, on college
preparatory subjects, and on commercial subjects; the recom—
mendation of the high school principal; age and veteran
status at the time of entering the college; and the hours
of credit completed during the second and third quarters of
attendance. No significant relationship was found to exist
betweei success and the remaining 13 factors—-high school
HPA'S based on vocational subjects other than commercial
subjects; rank in the high school graduating class; the
size and the type of the high school attended; the number
of high schools attended; the socio-economic status of the
student; certainty of vocational choice, marital status at
the time of entering the college; the type of curriculum
entered at the college; change of curricular goal while at
the college; the number of quarters of training completed;
the hours of credit completed during the first quarter of
attendance; and disciplinary action taken by the college.

The 13 factors that were not significantly related to
success at the college would appear to have little value as
predictors of achievement by students such as those used in

this study.

Interrelationships among the significant factors. The
next step was to investigate further the factors which were

found to be significantly related to success at the college

TABLE h.--Relationship between success and selected factors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Significant Table
Degrees at the .05 Number
Factor with which of level of in
success was compared X2 freedom confidence? Appendix
Ability
T-score I 30.88 3 Yes A5
L-score 23.2h h Yes A6
Q-score 20.92 h Yes A7
High school achievement
HPA's all subjects 18.13 2 Yes A8
HPA's, college pre-
paratory subjects 22.2 3 Yes A9
HPA's, commercial
subjects 9.02 2 Yes A10
HPA's, vocational
subjects 2.2a 2 No All
Rank in graduating
class _ h.95 3 No A12
Other high school
information -
Recommendation by the
principal 9.37 2 Yes A13
Size of high school 2.96 3 No Alb
Type of high school
(public or non-public) .99 1 No A15
Number of high schools
attended .h5 1 No A16
Other information from ap-
plication for admission——
Socio~economic status
(Father's occupation) h.5 5 No A17
Certainty of
vocational choice .25 1 No A18
Age at entry 28.h9 5 Yes A19
Marital status at
entry 3.26 1 No A20
Veteran status at
entry 21.8h 1 Yes A21
College information
Type of curriculum
entered 1.11 2 No A22
Change of curriculum 1.53 1 No A23

Number of quarters
completed b.07 3 No Azh

5h

TABLE b.--Continued

 

 

 

 

Significant Table
Degrees at the .05 Number
Factor with which of level of in
success was compared X2 Freedom confidence? Appendix
College information
Hrs. credit, first
quarter 0.0 2 No A25
Hrs. credit, second
quarter zo.h2 2 Yes A26
hrs. credit, third
quarter 21.h2 2 .Yes A27
Disciplinary action
taken .2h 1 No A28

 

 

in an effort to determine which of them seemed to be indepen-
dently related to success and which of them may have been re-
lated to success primarily because of the influence of the
independently-related factors. These 11 significant factors
embraced 6 different types of information--ability, high
school achievement, opinions of high school principals, age,
veteran status, and the load of studies completed. Use of
all of the measures of ability and all of the measures of
high school achievement for the purpose of cross-analysis
seemed to be unnecessary. The ACEPE T—score was selected as
the most appropriate single measure of ability because it

has generally been found to relate more closely to college
performance than have the L-score and the Q-score. The HPA's
for all high school subjects was selected as the most ap—
propriate single measure of high school achievement because
it was more generally applicable to all students than were
HPA's based on only certain portions of the high school work

completed.

55

Factors to be cross—analyzed, then, were ability (as

represented by the ACEPE T-score), high school achievement

(as represented by HPA's for all high school subjects), age,

recommendation of the high school principal, veteran status,

hours of credit completed the second quarter and hours of

credit completed the third quarter.

Among those variables that were usually found by other

investigators to be independently related to college perform-

ance were ability, high school achievement, and age. There-

fore, the cross analysis was begun by comparing each of these

factors with all of the others.

Table 5 reports the statistical

TABLE 5.--Relationship between ability
selected factors

results of the

(ACEPE T-score) and

 

 

 

Degrees

Factor with which of
ability is compared X2 freedom
High school HPA's,

for all subjects 7.97 h
Recommendation by the
high school principal 10.67 6
Age at entry 11.95 h
Veteran status at

entry .996 2
Hours of credit com-
pleted second quarter 1h.69 h
Hours of credit com-
pleted third quarter 13.69 h

Significant Table
at the .05 Number
level of in

confidence? Appendix

 

No A29
No A30
Yes A31
No A32
Yes A33

Yes Aah

 

56
comparison of ability with each of the other factors found to
be related significantly to success at the college. No
relationship of statistical importance was found to exist
between ability and high school achievement, recommendation
of the high school principal, or veteran status; therefore,
ability appears to have been related to success independently
of each of these factors. A significant relationship, inverse
in nature, was found between ability and age. Table A31 shows
that the youngest students (17-year-olds) possessed the most
ability and the oldest students (20 years of age or older)
possessed the least ability. The fact has already been
established that the older students were superior in per-
formance to the younger students. Since, despite less
ability, more of the older students were successful, age
and ability apparently were independent of each other in
their relationship to success. To determine further the
accuracy of this conclusion, the relationship of each of
these factors to success, with the other held constant was
tested. The findings, presented in Tables 6 and 7, show

TABLE 6.--Relationship between success and age, with ability
held constant '

 

 

 

 

Significant Table

Degree at the .05 Number
ACEPE of level of in

T-scores X2 freedom confidence? .Appendix
100+ 5.1 1 Yes A35
80-99 10.51 1 Yes A36
0-79 5.8 1 Yes A37

 

 

3'1w

TABLE 7.--Relationship between success and ability, with age
held constant

 

 

 

 

Significant Table
Degrees at the .05 Number
of level of in
Age Groups X2 freedom confidence? Appendix
20+ 111.59 2 Yes A38
17-19 17.66 2 Yes A39

 

 

that the relationship of each factor to success was still
statistically significant. This evidence supports the con-
clusion that ability and age were independent of each other
in their relationship to success.

Hours of credit completed both the second quarter and
the third quarter were significantly related to ability:
Tables A33 and A3h show that the more capable students tended
to complete heavier loads of study and the less capable
students tended to complete lighter loads of study. Hours
of credit completed the first quarter was not significantly
related to success and ability was found to be independent
of the other significant factors in its relationship to
success. The conclusion that ability was a major cause
of the significant relationship between success and load of
studies completed seems reasonable. Ability, therefore,
appears to have operated independently of load of studies

carried in its relationship to success.9

 

9The relationship between ability and the hours of
credit completed during the second and third quarters
could have been investigated further by examining the

58

The evidence presented seems to indicate that ability
was independently related to success.

Table 8 presents the statistical results of the com—
parison of high school achievement with the other factors

TABLE 8.--Relationship between high school achievement (HPA's
for all subjects) and selected factors

 

 

 

 

Factors with Significant Table
which high school Degrees at the .05 Number
achievement of level of in
was compared X2 freedom confidence? Appendix
Ability (ACEPE T-score) 7.97 a No A29
Recommendation of the

high school principal 20.87 h Yes Aho
Age 7.h b No Ah1
Veteran Status 1.85 2 No Ahz

Hours of credit com-
pleted second quarter 1.h8 R No Ah3

Hours of credit com-
pleted third quarter 9.18 R No Ahh

 

 

that were found to be significantly related to success at the
college. The only factor with which a significant relation—
ship was found was the recommendation of the high school
principal; as Table Ahl demonstrates, the principals seemed

more inclined to recommend students whose HPA's approached

 

relationship between success and the load of studies,
with ability held constant. However, the number of
cases was too small to make possible a fine enough
breakdown to make the conclusions valid.

59

2.0 than they were to recommend students with lower HPA's.

The conclusion that the recommendations of the principals

were affected by the high school achievement of the students
is supported by the data reported in Table 9; when high school
TABLE 9.--Relationship between success and the recommendation

of the high school principal, with high school achievement
held constant

 

 

 

 

Significant Table
HPA's for all high Degrees at the .05 Number
school . of level of in
subjects _§i freedom confidence? Appendix
1.75-1.99 1.2 2 No Ah5
1.5—1.7h .55 2 No Ah6
0.0-1.h9 h.05 2 No Ah7

 

achievement was held constant, there was no significant re-
lationship between success and the recommendation of the high
school principal.10

The evidence seems to indicate that high school
achievement was independently related to success.

The statistical results of the comparison of age with

the other factors that were significantly related to success

 

10The relationship of high school achievement to

success, with the recommendation of the high school
principal held constant was not measured. It was
most unlikely that the recommendations of the
principals would have affected achievement because
the recommendations were not made until all or
nearly all of the high school work was completed.

are presented in Table 10.

The fact has already been

60

TABLE 10.--Relationship between age and selected factors

 

 

Factors with which
age is compared

 

Ability (ACEPE T-
score)

High school HPA's
for all subjects

Recommendation by the
high school principal

Veteran status

Hours of credit com-
pleted second quarter

Hours of credit com-
pleted third quarter

 

Significant Table
Degrees at the .05 Number
of level of in

X2 freedom confidence? Appendix
11.95 A Yes A31
7.1 a No Ahi
19.38 2 Yes Ah8
297085 2 Yes Ah9
16.87 a Yes A50
19.6h A Yes A51

 

 

established that age apparently was independent of ability

and high school achievement in its relationship to success.

A significant relationship was found to exist between age

and each of the remaining factors—-recommendations of the

high school principal, veteran status, hours of credit com—

pleted during the second quarter and hours of credit com-

pleted the third quarter. Therefore,

were examined further.

these relationships

First to be investigated was the relationship between

success and the recommendation of the high school principal,

with age held constant.

61

The findings, reported in Table 11, show that there was no

TABAE 11.--Relationship between success and the recommendation
of the high school principal, with age held constant

 

 

 

 

Significant Table
Degrees at the .05 Number
, of level of in
Age group .E: freedom confidence? Appendix
20+ 3.h5 2 No A52
17-19 2.62 2 No A53

 

 

significant relationship, suggesting that the recommendations
of the high school principals may have been influenced
strongly by the ages of the students.11 This suggests that
age was related to success independently of the recommendation
of the high school principal.

When the relationship between success and veteran
status was investigated with age held constant, no significant
relationship was found. The results are reported in Table
A5h in the Appendix; only students 20 years of age or older
were used in this computation because there were only 2

veterans younger than 20.12

The evidence suggests that the
superiority of veterans over non-veterans may have been caused

primarily by age, rather than other characteristics of veteran

 

11The relationship between success and age, with the
recommendation of the high school principal held con-
stant, was not measured. It is obvious that the
recommendation of the principal would not have af-
fected the age of a student.

12The relationship between success and age, with veteran
status held constant was not measured because there were
only two veterans younger than 20.

62

status. The conclusion that age was related to success in-
dependently of veteran status seems justified.

Finally, the relationship between age and the load of
studies was considered. Tables A50 and A51 show that a
greater proportion of older students than of younger students
completed heavier loads of study both the second quarter and
the third quarter. Hours of credit completed the first
quarter was not significantly related to success, and age
has been established as seeming to be independent of the
other significant factors in its relationship to success.
The conclusion that age may have been a major cause of the
significant relationship between success and load of studies
completed the second and third quarters seems to be justi-
fied. Age, therefore, appears to have been related to
success independently of the load of studies completed.13

The evidence available suggests that age was inde-
pendently related to success.

Further examination of the interrelationships of the
factors significantly related to success was not necessary.
Ability, high school achievement and age seem to be clearly
established as being independently related to success. Each
of the other significant factors appeared to be dependent

upon ability, high school achievement and/or age in its

 

13
The relationship between age and the load of studies

completed during the second and third quarters could
have been investigated further by examining the re-
lationship between success and the load of studies,
with age held constant. However, the number of cases
was too small to make as fine a breakdown as would
have been needed to make the conclusions valid.

63
relationship to success. The recommendations of the high
school principals and the load of studies completed the
second and third quarters seemed to have been dependent upon
age and high school achievement for relationship to success;
the superiority in performance of veterans over non-veterans
may be attributed primarily to the fact that the veterans

were older.

Summary. Eleven of the selected factors were found

 

 

to be significantly related to success at the college and 13
were not. When the factors significantly related to success
were tested for interrelationships, only ability, high school
achievement and age emerged as factors that seemed to be

independently related to success.

Ill. Comparison of the Relationships Between Success and

 

 

1.,—

the Selected Factors with the Findings of Other Investigators

 

 

Literature in the field of prediction studies was re-
viewed in Chapter II, most of the studies reported having
been based on general college populations. One of the pur-
poses of this study was to determine whether measures of
prediction of academic success that seem to be effective
with general college pepulations would also be useful in
predicting success for students who had below-average high

school HPA's.

Factors significantly related to success. The findings
of the present study concerning factors significantly related

to success are in general agreement with the findings of

61:
other investigators. The preponderance of evidence reported
by other investigators found significant relationships be-
tween college performance and ability, high school HPA's,
age, veteran status and load of studies. The literature
concerning the recommendations of high school principals
was conflicting; the present study serves to support those
investigations which indicated a relationship between college
performance and recommendations of high school principals.
The literature reviewed suggested, as did the findings of
this study, that age might be the causal factor for veterans
being more successful than non—veterans and that ability may
be a primary reason for students carrying heavier loads of
study Leing more successful than students carrying lighter
loads of study. No studies were found that measured the
effect of high school achievement and age on the recom-
mendations of high school principals; no were studies found

that measured the effect of age on the load of studies completed.

Factors not significantly related to success. For the

 

factors found in this study to bear no significant relation-
ship to success, general agreement with conclusions of other
studies existed with respect to socio-economic status, cer-
tainty of vocational choice, size of the high school attended,
the type of curriculum entered, the number of quarters com-
pleted at the college and the effect of changes in curricular
goal. No previous studies were found concerning the relation-
ship between success and achievement in high school vo-

cational courses only, marital status, the number of high

65
schools attended, or disciplinary action taken by the college.
The findings of the present study differed from the
findings of other studies concerning some factors. The per-
centile rank in the high school graduating class was usually
found by other investigators to be significantly related to
college performance. In the present study the data pointed

in the direction of a positive relationship between success

 

in college and rank in class but the X2 was notllarge enough
to indicate the relationship was statistically significant.
The most reasonable explanation for rank in class having
not been found significantly related to success in this
study seems to be the limited variation in rank caused by
the fact that all of the students were below the 50th per-
centile of their classes. Rank in class appears to be a
less appropriate measure of academic achievement than is
the HPA for students all of whom were in the lower half of
their high school graduating classes.

A second factor for which the findings of this study
differed from the usual findings of other investigators was

the type of high school attended. Again, the direction of

 

the relationship between success and attendance at public
or non-public high schools favored the graduates of public
high schools-~the usual findings of other investigators--
but the relationship was not found in the present study to
be statistically significant. Possibly the small number of
non-public high school graduates was partly responsible for

this, since only slightly more than 10 percent of the students

66
in this study graduated from non-public high schools.

The fact that load of studies completed during the
first quarter was not significantly related to success dif-
fers from the more predominant findings of other investi-
gators, but it is in keeping with the findings of some
studies reported. The most plausible explanation for this
difference in findings may be that students such as those
used in this study would be less likely to be realistic
about the loads of studies they undertook their first quarter
than would students who had proved themselves capable of
earning at least average high school grades. Although
the personnel of the college now are limiting the credit
hours carried by students such as these during their first
quarter of attendance, during most of the period covered
by this study no consistent and thoroughgoing procedure was
used to control loads.

It is interesting to note that, although no signifi-
cant relationship was found between success and the credit
hours completed the first quarter, there was a significant
relationship between these two factors during the second
quarter and the third quarter. Perhaps other factors operated
to make the experience of the second and third quarters less
representative of the relationship between success and the
credit hours completed per se. With each succeeding quarter
students may have been influenced by their previous ex-
perience as they prepared their schedules; or the academic

advisers may have influenced students to adjust their loads

67
in accordance with their experience during preceding quarters;
possibly, also, teachers may have had a tendency to "peg"
students grades in relation to performance during the previous
quarters. 'The assumption that the experience of the first
quarter, which included the records of all the students in
the study, is more representative of the relationship be-
tween success and the credit hours completed than is the
experience of the second and third quarters seems to be

justified.

Summary. The findings of the present study were in
general agreement with the findings of other investigators
With respect to factors that were significantly related to
success and with respect to most of the factors in the
present study that were not significantly related to success.
The findings of the present study were in disagreement with
the findings of other investigators with respect to per-
centile rank in the high school graduating class, the type
of high school attended, and the load of studies completed
the first quarter. That the findings of this study are in
substantial agreement with the findings of others who have
investigated the relationship between college performance

and selected factors seems to be a justifiable conclusion.

IV. Examination of the Data of the Study for Information

 

 

 

 

that Might be Used to Improve Institutional Procedures

m“_*~

 

 

Admissions procedures. As indicated in Chapter I,

Ferris will in all probability continue to administer a

68
liberal admissions policy, but if the data of this study were
to indicate almost certain failure for students with specified
characteristics, denying admission to some students might be
justified.

Records were examined to determine how many students
succeeded in spite of an unfavorable prognosis in terms of
factors significantly related to success at the college.

Table 12 shows the number and percent of students in the

TABLE lZ.--Success status of students in the least favorable
group reported for factors significantly related to success

 

 

 

 

 

 

Successful Unsuccessful
students students Total

Factor No. % No. % No. %
Ability (ACEPE T-

score of 0-69) 12 13 78 87 90 100
High school

achievement

(HPA's for all

subjects, 0-1.h9) 20 21 75 79 95 100
Recommendation of

the high school

principal (not

recommended) 15 2h h7 76 62 100
Age (19 years) 1h 23 RB 77 62 100
Veteran status (non-

veteran) 72 28 187 72 259 100

 

 

least favorable category reported in the statistical tables
for all types of factors significantly related to success
except load of studies completed, which was excluded because

it is inappropriate for use in determining whether to admit a

69
student to the college. About one-fourth of the students
succeeded who were in the least favorable grouping with
respect to the recommendation of the high school principal,
age, and veteran status; one-fifth of the students with
high school HPA's below 1.5 succeeded and about one-seventh
of the students with ACEPE T-scores below 70 succeeded.

Since ability, high school achievement and age were
the only factors found to be independently related to success
at the college, data concerning these variables were examined
further to determine whether criteria could be established
which would tend to indicate almost certain failure at the
college.

With age held constant, the success status of the
students in relation to the combination of ability and high
school achievement was reviewed. Table 13 presents the data
for students 20 years of age or older; Table 1h presents the
data for students under 20 years of age. The following in-
formation is pertinent when examining the data to determine
whether any of the levels of ability and high school achieve-
ment--separately or in combination--seem to predict almost
certain failure.

For students 20 years of age or older:

1. or the at students with ACEPE T-scores below 60,
two succeeded.

2. One of the 7 students with high school HPA's
below 1.25 succeeded.

3. None of the 8 students with ACEPE T-scores below

7O

 

 

mu NH
ma ma
ma m
ma m
mm m
ma m

*9 D
Hopok

 

mm

OH

ma

OH

m

we m~

I H

s m
mm.aImn.H

 

.HmuouIB “asymmeoosmGSID

 

 

Hm ma as w w a
m I s I H I
a I m H I I
m N m a N I
N m I m I a
N ~ N I N I
w m I H I I
a m I I a I
I a I I I I
D m a m *3 *m
an.anm.a ms.HIm~.q a~.«Io.H

 

.msednnsm access has: add new ww<dm

 

 

”HaueneooseIm*
Hosea
mNIo
mmcom
msIos
mmIom
meow
mnIon
mmIom
mmIom
aoanoa
asqusH

+ONH

 

moaoonIB
mmm0<

 

 

usoSODmHnum Hoosom Swan one

hasawnm on soapsaea Ga hocao no can no name» ON masoUSHm mo mavens mnooosmII.MH mqm<h

71

 

 

 

wNN sea
A H
m a
n w
ma ma
ON ha
ma mm
mm mN
as mN
mm ma
NH 5
m N
*9 D
HapOB

OH

Ha

ma

Hmpohlfi “Hawmmeoosmsblb

 

 

 

ms mm NN mN an N Ne N
I I N I I I I I
N N N I I I I I
N I m H H I I I
N I n I m I N I
m N m N s I N I
as m me a e N N I
m s m m m N N I
m a ma m m N N I
m m m m a N N N
a m m N N I a I
I s N I I I I I
a m a m a m s m

mm.HImn.H ss.NIm.m. ms

 

avoofihsm Hooswm new: Haw how m.<mm

HImN.N sN.NIo.N

m '

 

“HaummoeosmIm*
swede
mNIo
mmIom
mans
amIom
meow
mNIom
mmIow
mmIom
moNIooa
mNHIoNH

+ONH

mmuoomle
mmmo<

 

 

ucoao>ownom Hoonom snag mam

heaafina 0p sowamama a“ ems no name» cm can» mmoa menopaum Ho msumum ammoosmll.aa mqn<9

72
50 and high school HPA's below 1.75 succeeded.

h. None of the 3 students with ACEPE T-scores below
70 and high school HPA's below 1.25 succeeded.

5. One of the two students with ACEPE T-scores below
to and high school HPA's from 1.75 to 1.99 succeeded.

For students under 20 years of age:

1. or the h9 students with ACEPE T-scores below 70,
five succeeded.

2. Two of the 17 students with high school HPA's
below 1.25 succeeded.

3. None of the 13 students with ACEPE T-scores below
70 and high school HPA's below 1.5 succeeded.

h. Three of the 35 students with ACEPE T-scores be-
low 90 and high school HPA's below 1.5 succeeded.

This examination of data suggests that no combination
of ability, high school achievement and age could have been
used to deny admission to very many students without having
barred from college some students who succeeded. The data
do suggest, however, that combinations of ability, high
school achievement and age could have been used to deny
admission to some groups of students without having barred

from college very many students who succeeded.

Probation and dismissal procedures. The data of the
study were examined, next, for information that might be
helpful in establishing procedures for probation and dis-
missal from the college. The fact that 65 percent of the

students were unsuccessful suggested that such procedures

73

might be advisable.

First, the records of the unsuccessful students were
reviewed to determine whether performance during the first
quarter or two of attendance would indicate the likelihood
of a student being successful at the college. Table 15

TABLE 15.--Students who were unsuccessful the first quarter
but who became successful by the end of the third quarter

 

 

Number of Students

 

 

 

First quarter unsuccessful, first Those who became
HPA's quarter grades only successful
Number Percent
1.75-1.99 R6 13 28
1.50-1.7h ho 7 18
1.25-1.h9 hi 2 5
1.0-1.2h he 1 3
.75-.99 26 1 h
0.0-.7h 39 o 0
Total 232 2b 10

 

 

shows that of the students who were unsuccessful on the basis
of the first quarter HPA's, 2h (about 10 percent) became
successful on the basis of cumulative HPA's for the first
three quarters of continuous attendance or the only completed
portion thereof. Table 16 indicates that 19 students (about
11 percent) who were unsuccessful on the basis of HPA's for
the second quarter only became successful, and Table 17

shows that 1h students (about 8 percent) who were unsuccess-
ful on the basis of cumulative HPA's for the first two

quarters became successful.

7h

TABLE l6.--Students who were unsuccessful the second quarter
but who became successful by the end of the third quarter

 

 

Number of students

 

 

 

 

Second quarter unsuccessful, second Those who became
HPA's quarter grades only successful
Number Percent
1075-1-99 Rh 1” 32
105-107” 30 5 17
o.o-1.h9 99 o 0
Total 173 19 ll

 

 

TABLE l7.--Students who were unsuccessful on the basis of
cumulative HPA's for the first two quarters but who became
successful by the end of the third quarter

 

 

Number of unsuccessful
students, cumulative

 

 

 

 

Cumulative HPA's HPA's, first two Those who became
first two quarters quarters successful
Number Percent
1.75-1.99 an 10 23
0.0-1.h9 98 o 0
Total 185 1b 8

 

 

Further examination of Table 15 reveals that only h
students (about 1 percent of the students who completed the
first quarter) with first-quarter HPA's below 1.5 became
successful. Tables 16 and 17 show that no students with
second-quarter HPA's below 1.5 or with cumulative HPA's for
the first two quarters below 1.5 became successful. Students

who did not earn an HPA greater than 1.5 during the first two

75

quarters were not likely to succeed at the college.

Second, since so few students who started out poorly
subsequently succeeded at the college, the relationship
between success and withdrawal from the college merited
investigation. Table 18 summarizes the results of the
TABLE 18.--Re1ationship between lack of success and withdrawal

from the college at the end of the period on which the HPA’s
were based

 

 

 

 

Significant Table
Degrees at the .05 Number
Basis of computation of level of in
of HPA's X2 freedom confidence? Appendix
First quarter grades h.17 1 Yes A55
Cumulative grades,
first two quarters .68 1 No A56
Cumulative grades,
first three quarters .17 1 No A57

 

 

statistical computations made to determine the relationship
between lack of success and withdrawal from the college.
At the end of the first quarter of attendance a signifi-
cantly greater proportion of unsuccessful than of success-
ful students withdrew. No significant relationship was
found between lack of success (based on cumulative HPA's)
and withdrawal after completing two quarters or three
quarters, however.

The records of students who did not earn HPA's above
1.5 during the first two quarters were examined to see how
many of them withdrew from the college. The findings are

reported in Table 19. Of 136 students who received first-

76

TABLE l9.—-Withdrawal from the college by students with HPA's

 

 

 

 

 

below 1.5
Number of Number of students

Basis of students who who did not with-
computation withdrew at draw at end of
of HPA's end of quarter quarter Total
First quarter

grades hz 10h 1H6
Second quarter

grades 22 77 99
Cumulative grades,

first two quarters 22 76 98

 

 

quarter HPA's below 1.5, hz (29 percent) withdrew at the end
of the first quarter; of 99 students who had second-quarter
HPA's below 1.5, 22 (22 percent) withdrew at the end of the
second quarter; of 98 students who had cumulative HPA's for
the first two quarters below 1.5, 22 (22 percent) withdrew
at the end of the second quarter. Table 1h shows that only
h students with first-quarter HPA's below 1.5 became success-
ful. Thus, although the majority of students with HPA's
below 1.5 for the first and/or second quarter of attendance
remained in college, very few of them improved their grades
sufficiently to become successful.

The foregoing evidence suggests that the data of the

study would be helpful in establishing a policy of probation

and dismissal.

V. Summary

From 37 to #5 percent of the students were success-

ful at the college, depending on the basis of the HPA

77

computations. On the basis of cumulative HPA's for the first
three quarters of continuous attendance or the only completed
portion thereof, 35 percent of the students succeeded. A
student was not necessarily in the same success status during
each quarter of attendance.

Of the 2k selected factors that were tested for their
relationship to success at the college, 11 were found to be
significantly related and 13 were not. Cross-analysis of
the significant factors indicated that ability, high school
achievement and age were independently related to success but
that the other significant factors were not.

The findings of the study agree substantially with
the findings of other investigators with respect to the
factors that were significantly related to success and with
respect to most of the factors not related significantly to
success.

Prediction of almost certain failure for very many
students would have been difficult because some students
least favorably endowed with the factors significantly
related to success were successful at the college. Very few
students who earned HPA's below 1.5 during the first quarter
or two of attendance at the college became successful but
many of them remained at the college for three or more

quarters.

CHAPTER V
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY;

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

I. Summary and Conclusions

 

Higher education today is faced with a dual chal-
lenge, the challenge of caring for the ever-increasing num-
bers of students who wish to enter college and the necessity
for helping society to gain the maximum contribution from
each citizen. Colleges differ in their policies for ad-
mitting students. .Some colleges maintain highly selective
admissions procedures, some colleges accept all students
who apply, and the admissions procedures of other colleges
fall between these two extremes.

Ferris Institute has traditionally maintained a
liberal policy of admission; students are not denied entrance
because of their previous academic performance. However, no
detailed, critical investigation of the results of this
policy has been completed.

A review of the literature in the field of prediction
studies revealed that, although many studies have been
carried on with general college populations, few studies
have been made of students who entered college after re-
ceiving poor high school grades. Yet it is important to
know how well such students perform in college and what

factors may differentiate between those who succeed in

79

college and those who do not; otherwise, it is difficult to
know whether retention of liberal policies of admission is
Justified.

A study of students who entered Ferris Institute after
receiving below-average high school grades would provide edu-
cators information that would make possible more effective
counseling and training for such students. Furthermore, the
findings of such a study should help society decide whether
the retention of liberal college admissions policies is
Justified.

All male high school graduates with less than "C"
averages for their high school work who entered Ferris with-
out first attending another college, during the period
September, 195k through March, 1957 were selected for the
study. There were 393 students in this group. Since no
significant differences in academic ability or academic
achievement were found among these students when the X2
test was used, they were treated as one group for the pur-
poses of the study. Records made by them from September,
l95h through August, 1957, were used in the analysis. Twenty-
three students were excluded from consideration because they
did not complete a full quarter of work at the college and
therefore, received no grades.

The general purpose of this study was to help answer
the question "Who should go to college?" The specific pur-
pose of the study was to evaluate critically the performance
at Ferris of students who entered the collegiate divisions

after graduating from high school with below—average grades.

80
Conclusions of the study will be presented as answers to four

questions that were posed in Chapter I.

What proportion of students with below-average high

 

 

 

school grades earned at least average grades at the college?

 

1. On the basis of cumulative HPA's for the first
three quarters of continuous attendance or the only completed
portion thereof, 35 percent of the students who completed at
least one quarter at the college attained 2.0 ("C") averages
or better;1h 57 percent of them had 2.0 averages for at least
one of the three quarters.

2. Ln other bases of computation, the percentage of
students who made 2.0 averages or better ranged from a
minimum of 37 percent (on the basis of first quarter grades,
cumulative grades for two quarters and cumulative grades for
all quarters attended) to a maximum of R5 percent (based on
third quarter grades). The success status of a given student

was not necessarily the same for each quarter of attendance.

What factors seemed to differentiate between those

 

 

students who earned at least average grades at the college

 

 

 

and those who did not?

 

1. Of 2h factors tested by X2 for their relationship
to success at the college, 11 were found to be significantly
related to success at or beyond the .05 level of confidence.

These were: ACEPE T-scores, L-scores, and Q-scores; high

 

1“Exactly one-third of the original group of 393

students were successful on this basis.

81
school HPA's based on all subjects, on college preparatory
subjects, and on commercial subjects; the recommendation of
the high school principal; age and veteran status at the time
of entering the college; and the hours of credit completed
during the second and third quarters of attendance.

2. The remaining 13 factors tested were not sig-
nificantly related to success at the college. These were:
high school HPA's based on vocational subjects other than
commercial subjects; rank in the high school graduating
class; the size and the type of the high school attended;
the number of high schools attended; the socio-economic
status of the student; certainty of vocational choice,
marital status at the time of entering the college; the
type of curriculum entered at the college; change of cur-
ricular goal while at the college; the number of quarters
of training completed; the hours of credit completed during
the first quarter of attendance; and disciplinary action
taken by the college.

3. When the factors significantly related to success
were examined for interrelationships, ability (as measured by
the ACEPE T-score), high school achievement (as measured by
HPA's for all high school subjects) and age at the time of
entering the college were the only factors which were found
to be independently related to success. Recommendations of
high school principals seemed to have been affected by the
age and the high school achievement of the students. Ap-
parently age accounted for the superiority of veterans over

non—veterans. Ability and age seemed to be largely responsible

82
for the relationship between success and the load of studies

completed the second and third quarters.

How do these factors compare with factors that have

 

been found to predict college performance effectively with

 

general college populations?

 

1. The findings of this study were in general agree-
ment with the findings of other investigators with respect to
the factors that were significantly related to success. The
preponderance of evidence reported by other investigators
found significant relationships between college performance
and ability, high school HPA's age, veteran status, and load
of studies. Literature pertaining to recommendations of
high school principals was conflicting; the findings of this
study support those investigations which indicated a relation-
ship between college performance and principals' recommenda-
tions. Other studies found, also, that age seemed to be
largely responsible for the superior performance of veterans
and that ability may be the primary reason for the success
of students carrying relatively heavy academic loads.

2. For the factors found in this study to bear no
significant relationship to success, general agreement with
conclusions of other studies existed with respect to socio-
economic status, certainty of vocational choice, size of the
high school attended, the type of curriculum entered, the
number of quarters completed at the college and the effect
of changes in curricular goal.

3. The findings of this study differed with the

83
findings of other investigators with respect to some factors.
Rank in the high school graduating class has usually been
found to be significantly related to college performance; it
was demonstrated to be an inappropriate measure of high school
achievement for use with students such as those studied.

Other studies usually have found graduates of public high
schools to be more successful in college than are graduates

of non-public schools; the direction of the evidence of the

 

present study was the same but the X2 was not great enough

for the relationship to be statistically significant, perhaps
because of the small percentage of students who graduated

from non-public high schools. The fact that the load of

studies completed during the first quarter was not significantly
related to success differs from the findings of most studies,
but the load of studies completed during both the second and

the third quarters was significantly related to success.

3. No other studies were found which measured the
relationship between success and achievement in high school
vocational courses other than commercial subjects, marital
status, the number of high schools attended, or disciplinary
action taken by the college. Likewise, no studies were
found that measured the effect of high school achievement
and age on the recommendations of the high school principals;
nor were other studies found that measured the effect of age

on the load of studies completed.

How might the information obtained from the study be

used to improve institutional procedures?

8h

1. Examination of the data to determine whether a
combination of the independent predictors of success at the
college could have been used to indicate almost certain
failure for some groups of students revealed that only a few
students could have been denied admission to the college
without denying admission to some who succeeded. Combinations
of ability, high school achievement and age could have been
used to deny admission to some groups of students without
having barred from college an appreciable number of students
who succeeded.

2. The data of the study do seem to be useful for
establishing probation and dismissal procedures. No more than
11 percent of the students who were not successful the first
or second quarter became successful later. Only h students
(1 percent of the total group) became successful after
having HPA's below 1.5 the first quarter and no students
with HPA's below 1.5 the second quarter or on the basis of
cumulative HPA's for the first two quarters became success-
ful. Furthermore, unsuccessful students seemed to be re-
luctant to withdraw from the college. Only 29 percent of
those who were unsuccessful the first quarter withdrew at
the end of that quarter and only 22 percent of those who
were unsuccessful the second quarter or who were unsuccess-
ful on the basis of cumulative HPA's for the first two

quarters withdrew at the end of the second quarter.

85

II. Implications of the Findings of the Study

 

 

 

Meeting the present challenge to higher education.

 

 

If we accept the proposition that a citizen capable of suc-
ceeding in college is likely to contribute more to society
with college training than without college training, the
results of this study appear to support retention of liberal
admissions policies. The writer regards the incidence of
success among these students as being great enough to justify
having given them all a chance to attend college, since it
was not possible to determine in advance which of them would
succeed and which of them would not succeed. The challenge
of more and more people wishing college training should not
be met by making admissions procedures more highly selective;
to do so would rob society of the maximum contribution of
many of its citizens. Rather, society should provide for
the college personnel and facilities needed to meet the
demand for college training, and liberal admissions policies
should be retained at least until such time as more ef-
fective methods of predicting college performance are avail-
able. This does not mean that every college should adopt
liberal admissions practices, nor does it mean that college
admission should be denied to no one. Valid reasons exist
for different colleges using different procedures, and de-
nying admission to those who seem to have no chance of
succeeding in college is justifiable. Usually, however,
admission to some college should be granted to students who

wish to attempt college training.

86

Provision for dismissal from college of students such
as those in this study who do not succeed is perhaps of even
greater importance than is retention of liberal admissions
policies. Two-thirds of the original group of students did
not succeed in college. Just as the welfare of society de-
mands that students capable of college training should have
an opportunity to go to college, so likewise does it demand
that students who are not succeeding should be directed into
more appropriate training programs or employment situations.
Effective probation and dismissal procedures reduce the
extent to which college facilities are used ineffectively;
they also reduce the amount of expansion of facilities which
would otherwise be necessary to care for the increased numbers
of students who wish college training. Furthermore, they
benefit society by helping to channel unsuccessful students
into areas of training or work experience for which they are
better suited. This is not to suggest that students should
be treated coldly or impersonally; they should receive the
best counseling that can be provided, so that any action
taken is in the best interest of all concerned. The point
to be made is that it is wasteful to permit students to
continue long in programs in which they are not likely to
succeed. Evidence from this study can be used to formulate
effective procedures at Ferris for placing students on pro-
bation and for denying further attendance to the less suc-

cessful students, without serious damage to society in the

form of wasted talent.

87
The findings of this study suggest that the present
challenge to higher education will be met most effectively
by retaining liberal admissions policies in the American
system of higher education and by carrying out effective
probation and dismissal procedures for those students who do
not succeed in college. Implications of the findings of the
study for admission and probation procedures at Ferris will

be considered next.

Admissions procedures at Ferris Institute. Four major

 

 

implications for admissions procedures at the college are sug-
gested by the findings of this study. Though younger stu—
dents with low high school HPA's and low ACEPE T-scores are
least likely to succeed at the college, the findings of this
study indicate that some of them do succeed. Furthermore, so
few students in this category apply for sdmission15 that it
might be wiser to accept them all and to dismiss from the
college at the end of one or two quarters those who are not
successful than to deny admission to a designated group.
Enough students succeeded at the college despite deficiencies
in characteristics most commonly associated with success to
support the conclusion that the only effective way of learn-
ing who will succeed and who will not succeed at the college
is to admit all who wish to enter.

A second implication of the findings of this study

 

15For example, only 6 of the 370 students were under
20 years of age and had high school HPA's below 1.5
and ACEPE T-scores below 60.

88
is that students whose high school records were below—average
should be encouraged to come to the college for pre-
admissions testing and counseling.16 The ACEPE should be
given, along with other tests selected to determine the
strengths and the weaknesses of the students. The results
of the tests and the data of the present study could be used
in counseling these students. Such counseling should help
the prospective student to decide whether he should enter
the college by indicating the likelihood of his being suc-
cessful and by providing information as to alternative
courses of action that might be appropriate for him. Those
who decide to enter the college should be well-motivated as
the result of the pre-admissions testing and counseling.
Assuming that the decisions of those who decide not to enter
the college are based on valid reasons, both the individuals
and society would benefit from their seeking more appropriate
training or employment, instead of attending college.

A third implication of the findings of this study is
that some students should be placed on academic probation as
a condition of their admission to the college. Permitting

unsuccessful students to remain in college very long is

 

16

Since the admissions philosOphy of the college pre-
vents denial of admission because of previous academic
records, Dre-admissions counseling should not be re-
quired; it should, however, be strongly encouraged,
for it is advantageous for prospective students to ob-
tain this type of information and assistance as soon
as possible. Pre—admissicns testing and counseling is
not needed for the purpose of providing test data for
preparing class schedules for students, because tests
for this purpose are given regularly as part of the
orientation and registration procedures.

89
wasteful. Academic probation as a condition of admission to
the college would serve not only to motivate students to do
their best from the beginning, but would serve also to hasten
the time when the unsuccessful students would seek more ap-
propriate training or employment. Society would benefit in
either case.

Appropriate personnel of the college should determine
which students should be admitted in a probationary status.
The writer suggests that all students with high school HPA's
below 1.5 2: with ACEPE T-scores below 60 should be granted
probationary admission only.17 Also, all who do not report
for preuadmissions testing and counseling should be given
probationary admission, because classifying them in ac-
cordance with the criteria suggested above would not be pos-
sible without the ACEPE score.

The fourth implication of the findings of this study
concerns the time during the school year when students with
below-average high school records should be permitted to
enter the college. The fact is clearly established that the
college is obligated, under present policies, to not deny

admission to students because of their previous academic

 

l7sxamination of Tables 13 and in shows that such action
would have placed on probation 8 of 55 successful stu-
dents 20 years of age or older and 11 of 57 successful
students who were under 20 years of age. Thirty-two of
59 unsuccessful students 20 years of age or older and

65 of 161 unsuccessful students under 20 years of age
would also have entered in a probationary status. No
need seems to exist for using different cut-off points
for the different age groups.

90
performance.18 This does not necessarily require, however,
that such students must be accepted for the Specific enroll-
ment period for which they apply. As long as there is room
at the college for all students who wish to enter, the
present procedure of accepting applications in the order in
which they are received may be practical. If, however, the
time comes when it is known that some students must be
turned away from the college at a given enrollment period,
the procedure of postponing the entrance date of some stu-
dents whose high school records were below—average seems
justified. In the first place, facilities for remedial and
tutorial services and for extensive counseling are limited.
Furthermore, the data of this study have indicated that a
greater proportion of these students than of the total stu-
dent bcdy were unsuccessful at the college. With a probation
and dismissal policy functioning, a greater attrition rate
from quarter to quarter would be expected among these stu-
dents than for the student body as a whole. Therefore, it
would seem wise to adopt a policy of limiting the proportion
of students with below-average high school records who would
be accepted at any one enrollment period and to defer until

later enrollment periods those who apply after the established

 

18The college is not obligated, however, to permit a
student to enter the specific curriculum he requests
if he does not seem to be qualified for that training.
In such instances, a student is given the option of
taking training designed to help him develop the
skills needed for the curriculum of his choice or
entering a curriculum for which he seems to be
qualified.

91
quota has been reached. Such a procedure would work no real
hardship on anyone and would have the advantage of tending to
keep the enrollment at the college more constant from quarter
to quarter than would be true if a larger proportion of these
students were admitted at any one enrollment period. A
corollary of this implication is that the summer sessions
might be an ideal time for the college to admit a heavy pro-
portion of these students, since enrollments during the
summer are usually considerably lower than during the regular

quarters of the school year.

Probation and dismissal procedures at Ferris Institute.

 

 

Two findings of the present study emphasize the need for pro-
bation and dismissal procedures--the fact that 65 percent of
the students who completed at least one quarter of training
at the college were unsuccessful and the fact that a majority
of the unsuccessful students did not withdraw from the college
voluntarily.

A realistic probation and dismissal program is in the
interest of both the student and society. Probation should
serve as a motivating factor for those students who need
motivation and should, as a result, enhance their chances for
success. Furthermore, such a program would facilitate at-
tainment of success in an appropriate area of training or
work experience for those who are not successful in college
by redirecting them sooner than the findings of this study
suggest they would redirect themselves. Certainly denial of

admission to prospective students because of lack of room

92
would not be justifiable if unsuccessful students were allowed
to remain at the college indefinitely; nor can indefinite at-
tendance by unsuccessful students be justified for any other
sound reason.

The probation and dismissal policy to be adopted by
the college must be formulated by the use of the appropriate
policy-making procedures of the institution. The writer has
certain suggestions to offer, however.

In the first place, the goal of such a policy should
be the salvage of the student, both for his own good and for
the good of society. The probation policy, therefore, should
not be regarded primarily as a device for dismissing students
from the institution. Rather, the total resources of the
institution should be utilized to help students to succeed.
Adequate counseling should be provided and standard con-
siderations should include remedial and tutorial instruction,
repetition of some courses, lighter loads of study, and
changes of curriculum. The specific problems of a given
student may suggest other approaches that would be helpful
for him.

Students should be dismissed from the institution
after reasonable efforts to enable them to succeed in an
appropriate course of study have failed. Students who are
dismissed should receive counseling regarding more suitable
vocational goals. In the final analysis, "salvage" of a
student may be achieved by success at the college or by
dismissal from college accompanied by realistic plans for

other training or employment.

93

Secondly, within the present framework of college
procedures, responsibility for marshalling institutional
resources to help students to succeed rests with the academic
deans. This should continue.

A third suggestion is that students in the following
categories should be placed on probation:

1. As already suggested, students with high school
HPA's below 1.5 or ACEPE T-scores below 60, as well as those
who do not report for pre-admissions testing and counseling,
should enter the college in a probationary status.

2. All students whose first quarter college HPA's fall
below 1.75 should be placed on probation.

3. All students whose cumulative HPA's for two or
more quarters fall below 2.0 should be placed on probation.

The fourth matter for consideration concerns the
length of time during which a student can remain in at-
tendance in the same curriculum while in a probationary
status. The following suggestions are offered:

1. A student who enters the college on probation
should not be permitted to reenroll in the same curriculum
if he fails to earn an HPA of at least 1.75 the first
quarter. 1

2. A student should not be allowed to reenroll in
the same curriculum for more than two quarters after being
placed on probation unless he attains a cumulative HPA of
at least 2.0.

3. A student should be removed from probation status

when he attains a cumulative HPA of at least 2.0.

9h

Two final suggestions are offered. First, no policy
should be adhered to without exception; in individual cases
extenuating circumstances might alter the action taken.
Second, the foregoing suggestions are intended primarily for
use when the college is able to accept all, or nearly all,
of its applicants for admission. Should the time come when
this is no longer possible, a stricter probation policy,
providing for earlier dismissal from the college would be
justified. Denying admission to students who have not yet
entered a college, while permitting unsuccessful students

to remain long in college cannot be justified.

Other implications of the study. Three additional

 

 

implications of the present study have general application.
First, the findings of this study suggest that colleges that
have room for additional students should consider seriously
accepting students who failed to earn "C" averages in high

school. If colleges are reluctant to accept all students

 

who wish to enter, they might consider accepting at least
those with higher scores on college aptitude tests and
those who are older.

A second implication of the present study worthy of
note arises from the fact that the findings of this study
are in substantial agreement with the findings of others
who have investigated the relationship between college
performance and selected factors. This suggests that factors
that are predictive of college performance for general stu-

dent populations may also be effective predictors for

\O
U \

students who had below-average high school grades. This
finding has value for counselors of high school and college
students.

Finally, the present study included an analysis of
the relationship between college performance and some factors
that were not found to have been reported on by other in-
vestigators. These include high school HPA's based on
vocational courses other than commercial courses, marital
status, the number of high schools attended, disciplinary
action taken by the college, the effect of high school
achievement and age on the recommendations of high school
principals, and the effect of age on the load of studies
completed. The findings concerning these relationships
constitute additions to the existing professional literature

in the area of prediction of college performance.

III. Suggestions for Further Research

 

The scope of the present study has, of necessity,
been limited. A number of suggestions for further research
have come to mind from time to time as the present study
has progressed.

Some variables that have been studied by other in-
vestigators for their relationship to college performance
were not included in this study because needed information
was not awailable. Among such factors are achievement test
scores, study habits, affective factors such as interest,
motivation and personality, and activities while in college

such as fraternity membership, participation in athletics,

96
musical and forensic organizations and other Special interest
groups, outside employment and miscellaneous recreational
activities. Study of factors such as these with student
populations similar to the population of the present study
might produce additional information of value in meeting the
needs of students.

Three suggestions are offered with reference to the
variables that were examined in the present study. First,
no other studies were found that measured the relationship
between marital status and college performance. Although,
in the present study, the relationship was not found to be
significant at the .05 level of confidence, the X2 was
large enough that the relationship approached significance.
Possibly with larger samples than the sample of the present
study (fewer than 10 percent of the students were married)
different findings would result. The writer suspects that
if a significant relationship between marital status and
college performance were found, the relationship might reg
sult primarily from the effect of age, rather than from
other characteristics of marital status, but in view of the
lack of information in this area and since the number of
married students attending college is increasing steadily,
this factor warrants further investigation.
5‘ Secondly, further research concerning the effect of
thefload of studies on college performance is needed, but
not research of the type usually reported. Sufficient at-

tention seems to have been given to the relationship between
E. .1.

l

97
load of studies and performance in general, with the usual
conclusion that ability and/or other factors cause students
who are capable of earning good grades to carry heavier
schedules than do other students. Research is needed, how-
ever, to determine whether the practice of lightening the
loads of students who have encountered academic difficulty
is justified in terms of better performance as a result of
the lighter load. This is a common practice in colleges,
but to the writer's knowledge, it has not been proved to be
successful.

The third suggestion with reference to factors in-
cluded in the present study is that the effect on college
performance of changes in curricular goal warrants further
investigation. Very little information concerning this
variable was found in the literature. The present study
did not provide an analysis of whether students were more
successful after making changes than before making them.

Additional research might also include a study of the
progress of women students who had less than "C" high school
averages and a study of students who transfer from other
colleges after failing to maintain at least "C" averages at
the colleges previously attended.

Instructional units of colleges could profitably seek
methods for improving instructional procedures for students
such as those composing the population of the present study.
Course placement, Special courses, instructional methods and

academic counseling might all be considered.

98

A very important study that should be carried out is
an analysis of the progress of Ferris students at other
colleges attended subsequent to their attendance at Ferris.
An underlying assumption of the present study was that
success at Ferris is synonomous with "success in college".
Insufficient data were found in the literature to establish
whether other colleges with liberal admissions policies
have an incidence of success with students such as those
used in this study that is similar to the incidence of
success in the present study. Also, no follow-up studies
of the experience of Ferris students at other colleges seem
to have been completed. The writer contacted colleges to
which transcripts of credits earned by students used in this
study had been sent, in the hope that information that could
be used in this study could be obtained. The information
gathered seemed to be insufficient for use other than for
informational purposes, however. Only to students (slightly
more than 10 percent of the students in this study) had
completed at least one enrollment period at other colleges.
Furthermore, 16 different colleges were attended, including
3 Junior Colleges. Of these to students, 27 had been suc-
cessful at Ferris and 13 had not. At the colleges attended
subsequently, 15 of the students were successful and 25 were
not. This suggests that these students found it more dif—
ficult to succeed at other colleges than at Ferris. However,
the data are too meagre to justify any basic conclusions. A

well-planned study to investigate this matter is needed.

99
Finally, though the findings of this study should have
implications for other colleges as well as for Ferris, it
would be well for other colleges with liberal admissions
policies to gather similar information concerning their
students, as few studies of this type are available. This
action would be of value even if the findings of such

studies served only to echo the findings of the present

study.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

10.

11.

101"

Aiken, W. M., Adventures in American Education, Volume I:
The Story of the Eight-Year Study. ‘new York: Harper
and Brothers, 19h2.

 

 

 

 

Andrew, D. 0., "Relationship Between Academic Load and
Scholastic Success of Deficient Students." Personnel
and Guidance Journal, 1956, BR: 268-270.

 

 

Arnold, D. L., "Socio-economic Background as Related to
University Achievement of 1625 Women at Indiana
University, 1939-19h0." Unpublished Master's Thesis,
Indiana University, 19h1.

Association of American Universities, "Nature and Needs
of Higher Education." Report of the Commission on
Financing Higher Education. New York: Columbia
University Press, 1952.

Atkinson, B. H., "Veteran vs. Non-veteran Performance at
the U. C. L. A." Journal of Educational Research,
19h9. ha: 299-302. “‘

 

. and R. w. Webb, "Academic Success of Rehabili-

tation Veterans." School and Society, 19h6, 6h:

87-880

Bear, R. 1., "Factors Affecting the Success of College

Freshmen." Journal of Applied PsychologyL 1928, 12:
517-5230

 

Beatley, B., "The Relative Standing of Students in
Secondary School, On Comprehensive Examinations and
in College." school Review, 1922, so: lhl-lh7.

 

Berdie, R. F., P. Dressel, and P. Kelso, "The Relative
Validity of Quantitative and Linguistic Scores of
the American Council on Education Psychological
Examination." Educational and Psychological Measure-

ment, 1951, 11{_833:8T27—_

 

 

 

Berg, I. A., R. P. Larson, and w. M. Gilbert, "Scholastic
Achievement of Students Entering College from the
Lowest Quarter of Their High School Graduating Classes."
Journal of the American Association of Collegiate

RegistraFF, I§BE,7257_53-59.

 

 

 

Bertrand, J. R., "Relation of Selected Social and Psycho-
logical Factors to Academic Achievement of Students in
the School of Agriculture, Agricultural and Mechanical
College of Texas." Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, Cornell
University, 1950.

12.

13.

1h.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

102

Blakeslee, C; 8., "A Comparative Study of the College
Achievement of Public, Private, and Public and Private
School Entrants." Unpublished Master's thesis,
University of Chicago, 1929.

Bledsoe, J. C., "Analysis of the Relation of Size of
High School to Marks Received by Graduates in the
First Year of College." Journal of Educational

Sociology, 195R, 27: alt-E18. '7—

 

 

Blum, M. L., "An Investigation of the Relation Existing
Between Students' Grades and the Ratings of the In-
structor's Ability to Teach." Journal of Educational
psychology, 1936, 27: 217-221.“""“"’

 

Bolton, E. B., "Predictive Value for Academic Achieve-
ment of American Council on Education Psychological
Examination Scores." Peabody Journal of Education,
1952, 29: 315-360. "““"“"“""‘"

 

Borow, H., "Current Problems in the Prediction of College
Performance." Journal of the American Association of

Collegiate Registrars, T936, 22: 15-26.

 

 

Brown, A. H., and C. L. Nemzek, "Comparative Study of the
College Success of Recommended and Non-recommended
Students From One Detroit High School." Journal of
Social psychology, l9ht, 20: 277-281. ' ' "’

 

Brown, M. H., and G. E. Bryan, "Sex Differences in

Intelligence." Journal of Clinical Psychology,
1955. 11: 303-305.

 

Byrns, R., "Concerning College Grades." School and
Society, 1930, 31: 68h—686.

 

Carey, M. C., "The Relationship Between Selected Variables
and the Cumulative Grade Averages of Students Enrolled
at the University of Wyoming." Unpublished Ed. D
thesis, University of flyoming, 1955.

Carter, H. L. J., and D. McGinnis, "Some Factors Which
Differentiate College Freshmen Having Lowest and
Highest Point-Hour Ratios." Journal of Educational
Research, 1952, to: 219-226,

 

Carter. R. S., "Non-intellectual Variables in Teachers

 

Marks." Journal of Educational Research, 1953, A7:
81-950 __ -
Chamberlain, L. M., "Comparisons of Achievement." Journal

.33 Higher Education, 1933, A: 15-18.

2h.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

35.

36.

37.

103

Clark, E. L., "The Veteran As a College Freshman."
School and Society, 19h7, 66: 205-207.

 

Cosand, J. P., Jr., "Admissions Criteria: A Review of
the Literature." California Journal of Secondary

Education. 1953, 28: 12-2 .

 

 

Cozan, L. H., "A Study of the Veteran in College."
Journal of Educational Research, 1955, R9: 65.

 

Crawford, A. B., Incentives to Study. New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1929.

 

 

. and P. S. Burnham, Forecasting College Achieve-

 

ment. New Haven, Yale University Press, 19R6.

Cuff, N. 8., "Relationship of Socio-economic Status to
Intelligence and Achievement." Peabody Journal of
Education, 1.933. 113 106-110e

 

 

Day, E. E., "Academic Achievement of Veterans at
Cornell University." School and Society. 19R7, 65:
101.

 

DeRidder, L. M., "Selected Factors Relating to Academic
Achievement of Probation Students Graduating in 19R8
from the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
at the University of Michigan." Unpublished Ph. D.
thesis, University of Michigan, 1950.

Douglass, H. R., The Relation of High School Preparation
and Certain Other Factorsfito.Kcademic Success atithe
UniverSlty of Oregon. UniVErsity of Oregon—PuFI£:—_
cations, Educational Series 3, No. 1, 1931.

 

 

 

 

Dowd, R. J., "Underachieving Students of High Capacity."
Journal of Higher Education, 1952, 23: 327-330.

 

hressel, P., and J. Schmid, An Evaluation of the Tests
_3£ General Educational Development. NaSHIngton, D. C.:
American Council on Education, 1951.

 

 

 

Durflinger, G. w., "Prediction of College Success."
Journal of the American Association of Collegiate
Registrars, 19R3, 19:‘687 78.

 

 

 

 

Dwyer, P. 8., "Some Suggestions Concerning the Relation-
ship Existing Between Size of High School Attended and

Success in College." Journal of Educational Research,
1938, 32: 271-281. “'

 

 

. "The Correlation Between Age at Entrance and

Success in College." Journal of Educational Psychology,

 

1939, 30: 251-26R.

38.

39.

R0.

R1.

R2.

R3.

RR.

R5.

R6.

R7.

R8.

’49.

10h

Edwards, A. N., Comparative Occupational Statistics for
the United States, 1870—19R0. Washington, D. C.:
U. S. Government Printing Office, 19R3.

 

 

Epler, Stephen E., "Do Veterans Make Better Grades than
Non-veterans?" School and Society, 19R7, 66: 270.

 

Farber, R. H., and L. Riggs, "Veterans in a Privately
Endowed Liberal Arts College--19R6-1950." School and
Society, 1950, 72: 105-106.

 

Farwell, G. F., "An Analysis of Factors and Criteria
Related to the Admission of Borderline Cases at
Michigan State College, Fall Quarter, 1952." Un-
published Ed. D. thesis, Michigan State University,
195R.

Feder, D. D., "Factors which Affect Achievement and Its
Prediction at the College Level." Journal of the
American Association of Collegiate RegistraF3{-T§R0,
15: 107-118. ‘7'

 

Frederiksen, H. and w. B. Schrader, Adjustment to
College. Princeton: Educational Teeting Ser?Ice, 1951.

 

Froelich, G. J., "Academic Prediction at the University
of Nisconsin." Journal of the American Association
of Collegiate Registrar57‘19FI, 17: 65-76.

 

 

Garmezy, N., and J. M. Cross, "A Comparison of the
Academic Achievement of Matched Groups of Veteran
and Non-veteran Freshmen at the University of Iowa."
Journal of Educational Research, 19R8, R1: 5R7-550.

Garrett, H. F., "Review and Interpretation of Investi-
gations of Factors Related to Scholastic Success in
Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Teachers Colleges."
Journal of Experimental Education, 19R9, 18: 91-138.

 

Glatfelter, M. E., "The Value of the Cooperative English
Test in Prediction for Success in College." School
and Society, 1936, RR: 383-38R.

 

 

Grant, C. W., "A Follow-up Study of Veterans Training
Under Public Law 16 at the University of Utah."
Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Utah, 19R7.

Grater, H. and w. A. Thalman, "Statistical Analysis of
the Relationship Between the American Council on
Education Psychological Examination Ratings and Grade-
Point-Averages." Journal of Educational Research,
1955. “9: 307-310.‘““““""

 

51.

52.

53.

5R.

55-

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

105

Harris, D., "The Relation to College Grades of Some
Factors other Than Intelligence." Archives of
Psychology, 1931, Volume XX, No. 131.

 

. "Review of the Literature on Factors Affecting

College Grades." Psychological Bulletin, 19R0, 37:

125-166.

Holtz, H. G. and J. A. Trice, "The Relationship of an
Abnormal Weekly Schedule to Grade Point Average."
School and Society, 193R, 39: hzz-th.

 

Hoskins, J. W., "Differential Achievement of the Socio-
economic Male Undergraduates of Indiana University
Classes, 19R8-19R9." Unpublished Ph. D. thesis,
Indiana University, 1950.

Jackson, R. A., "Admission by Examination." College and
University, 1955, 30: 182-185.

 

. "Prediction of the Academic Success of College

 

FreSHmen." Journal of Educational Psychology, 1955.
A6: 296-301. '7'

 

Johnson, M. C. and A. J. Fenton, "1957 Opening (Fall)
College Enrollment." Higher Education, 1958, Volume
XIV, No. 5, p 73.

 

Johnson, P. 0., Statistical Methods in Research, New
York: Prentice—Hall, Inc., 19R9._—

Johnson, w. P., "A Study of the Efficiency of Certain
Factors for Predicting Achievement of Veterans at the
Junior College Level in the College of Science,
Literature, and the Arts at the University of
Minnesota." Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, University
of Minnesota, 1950.

Karraker, W. J., "The Effect of Student Load on Scholar-
ship." Kentucky Personnel Bulletin, 1936, No. 17: 2-3.

Kirkpatrick, F. H., "Four Mental Tests and Freshman
Marks." Journal of Higher Education, 19R0, 11: 38-39.

 

 

Koos, L. V., Private and Public Secondary Education.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1931.

Lauro, L. and J. D. Perry, "Academic Achievement of
Veterans and Non-veterans at the City College of New

York." Journal of Educational Psychology, 1951, R2:
31-R2. "'

 

63.
6R.
65.
66.

67.
68.

69.
70.
71.
72.

73.

7h.

75.

106

Lehman, H. C., and S. M. Stoke, "Is the Heavy Schedule
an Incentive to Greater Effort?" School and Society,
1930, 32: 767-771.

 

Lehman, R. T., "The Significance of First Year College
Marks." Educational Research Bulletin, 19R3, 22:
217-218. +7

 

Lina, L. J., "Effect of Various Factors Upon University
Success." Personnel and Guidance Journal, 195R, 33:
157-158.

 

Marshall, M. V. and E. W. Simpson, "Vocational Choice
and College Grades." Journal of Educational Research,
19h3, 376 303-3050

 

 

Matteson, R., "Concomitants of Changing Curriculum
Preference." College and University, 1953, 28: 223-235.

 

Michigan State Legislature, Public Act No. 11R (Regular
Session), 19R9.

Miller, A. J., "The College Success of High School gradu-
ates of Exceptional Ability." Pittsburg Schools, 1936
11: 13-350

 

Mueller, K. H. and J. G. Mueller, "Class Structure and
Academic and Social Success." Educational and
Psychological Measurement, 1953, 13: R86:R96.

 

 

Neel, M. O. and C. O. Mathews, "Needs of Superior
Students." Journal of Higher Education., 1935, 6:
29-3h. """"“

 

Neff, W. S., "Socio-economic Status and Intelligence: A
Critical Survey." Psychological Bulletin, 1938, 35:
727‘7570 +*—

 

Nelson, Leona 0., "Student Personnel Point of View as
Applied to the Field of Admissions." Journal of the
American Association of Collegiate Registrars{—T9RZ,

377—1982232.

Osborne, R. T., W. B. Sanders, and J. E. Green, "The
Differential Prediction of College Marks by ACE

Scores." Journal of Educational Research, 1950, RR:
107-115. ‘"'

 

 

 

Osgood, H. B., "A Study of the Relationship of Family
Socio-economic Factors to the Performance of Uni-
versity Students." Unpublished Ph. D. thesis,
University of Denver, 1955.

76.

77.

78.

79.

80.

81.

82.

83.

BR.

85.

86.

87.

88.

107

Owens, W. A. and W. A. Owens, Jr., "Some Factors in the
Academic Superiority of Veteran Students." Journal of
Educational psychology, 19R9, ho: h99-502.

 

Peiser, N. G., "The Prognostic Value of the American
Council on Education Psychological Examination."
Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, Louisiana State University,
1937.

Pierson, R. R., "Age versus Academic Success in College
Students." School and Society, 19R8, 68: 9R-95.

 

Posz, A. C., "The Academic Backgrounds of Agricultural
Extension Workers as Related to Selected Aspects of
dork Adjustment." Unpublished Ed. D. thesis, Michigan
State University, 1952.

Potter, G. M., "Relative Efficiency of Public and Private
Secondary Institutions." School Review, 1913, 21:
523-537.

 

Potthof, E. F., "Predicting the Ultimate Failure of
College Students on the Basis of Their First Quarter's
Records." School and Society, 1931, 33: 203-20R.

 

Read, C. 8., "Prediction of Scholastic Success in a
Municipal University." School and Society, 1938,
R8: 187-188.

 

Robinson, D., "College Scholarship and Economic Factors."
_Socio1ogy and Social Research, 19R0, 2R: 53R-5h0.

 

Rogers, H. N., "The Reliability of College Grades."
School and Society, 1937, R5: 758-760.

 

Roznik, H., "An Investigation of Prediction of Success
in Achievement of a Below Average Freshman Group."
Unpublished Master's thesis, University of Denver,
1952.

Rundquist, E. A., "Sex, Intelligence, and School Marks."
School and Society, 19R1. 53: R52-h56.

 

Sanders, W. E., R. T. Osborne, and J. E. Greene, "Course
Difficulty: A Neglected Factor in the Registration of
Students and in the Prediction of Academic Success."
College and University, 1951, 26: BRO-3R8.

. and others, "Intelligence and Academic Per-

formance of College Students of Urban, Rural and

Mixed Backgrounds." Journal of Educational Research,
1955, R9: 185-193. V ‘7

 

 

108

89. Saupe, M. w., "Size of High School As a Factor in the
College Success of Average and Superior Graduates."
Journal of the American Association of Collegiate

RegistraFE, 19R1, 17: 55-57. ..-

90. Segel, D., "Prediction of Success in College." Washington,
D. C.,: U. S. Department of the Interior, U. S. Office
of Education Bulletin, 193R, No. 15.

 

 

91. Seltzer, C. C., "Academic Success in College of Public
and Private School Students: Freshman Year at Harvard."
Journal of Psychology, 19R8, 25: R19-R31.

 

92. Smith, F. F., "The Use of Previous Records in Estimating
College Success." Journal of Educational Psychology,
19R5, 36: 167-178. '7‘

 

93. Sorenson, A. G., "Non—Intellectual Factors Related to
Success in College." Unpublished Ph. D. thesis,
University of Utah, 1950.

9R. Sullivan, B. A., "A Study to Determine the Characteris-
tics of the Potentially Successful and Unsuccessful
Freshman Students at the University of Wisconsin
Extension Division in the School Year, 195h-5h."
Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, Northwestern University,
1955.

95. Summerskill, J. and C. D. Darling, "Sex Differences in'
Adjustment to College." Journal of Educational
PsycholosyI 1955, R6: 355-3 1.

 

 

96. Super, D. E., Appraising Vocational Fitness. New York:
Harper and §?others, 19E9.

 

97. Tapping, N., "Scholastic Achievements of Veterans and
Non-veterans at the University of Colorado Extension
Center in Denver." School and Society, 19R8, 68:
390-39h.

 

98. Thompson, R. E., T. Crane and M. Bean, "The Impending
Tidal dave of Students." A Report of the Committee
on Special Projects of the American Association of
Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, 195R.

99. . and M. A. Fletcher, "Comparative Academic ,
'-._R€33?ds of Veterans and Civilian Students." Journal
of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars,
'T9h7, 22:7I76-179. '7“

 

 

100. . and s. L. Pressey, "An Analysis of the Academic
Records of 2,1RR Veterans." College and University,
19R8, 23: 2&2-252.

 

101.

102.

103.

10h.

105.

106.

107.

108.

109.

110.

111.

112.

113.

109

Tollefson, A. L., "A Study of a Three-Variable Coding
System as a Method for Predicting Academic Achieve-
ment." Unpublished Ph. D. thesis, University of
Minnesota, 1956.

Travers, R. M. N., "Significant Research on the Pre-
diction of Academic Success." In Donahue: The
Measurement of Student Adjustment and Achievemsnt.
Ann Arbor: 'fiHiVEFEIt§ 6? Michigan Press, I9597__

 

 

Trebilcock, w. E., "Many of the 'Lowest Third' of our
Graduates are College Material." Clearing House,

1938, 12: 5th-5h6.

 

Tuttle, G. P., "The Predictive Value of Rank in High
School Graduating Class." Journal of the American

Association of Collegiate Regis€¥arFT'T§§9I'f§?‘§rzz.

U. S. President's Commission on Higher Education,
Higher Education for American Democracy, Volume I:
"Establishing‘the Goals." A report of’the Commission.
Washington, D. C.: U. S. Government Printing Office,
19h7.

Vaughan, W. H., "Are Academic Subjects in High School the
Most Desirable Preparation for College Entrance?"
Peabody Journal of Education, 19R7, 25: 9h-99.

 

Wagner, H. E., Prediction of College Performance.
Buffalo: University of Buffalo, l93h.

 

 

Wallace, w. L., "Differential Predictive Value of the
ACEPE." School and Society, l9h9, 70: 23-25.

Welborn, E. L., "The Scholarship of Veterans Attending
a Teachers College." Journal of Educational Research,

19h6, ho: 209-21h.

 

dhite, R. C., "Estimating Future Demand for Admission
to College." Educational Record, 1953, 3k: 17-2h.

Williamson, E. G., "Scholastic Motivation and the Choice

of a Vocation." School and Society, 1937, h6: 353-357.

 

 

Williamson, E. G. and E. Bordin, University of Minnesota
Studies in Predicting Scholastic Achievement, Part I.
University of Minnesota Press,‘l952.

 

 

Wiener, H. E., "A Study of Students Entering the
Collegiate Divisions of Ferris Institute During the
School Year, 1952-1953, with Honor Point Deficiencies
for their Previous Scholastic Training." Unpublished
Term Paper, Michigan State University, 1955.

APPEND IX

TABLE A1.--Relationship

111

between ability and year of entry

 

Ability as measured
by ACEPE T-score

 

loo-lho
80- 9O
60- 79
20- 59

Total

X2-1.05; df-6; not significant

195k

 

17
25
12
1h
68

Year of Entry

 

5252
22
28
35
19

lot

£153
32
69
5a
23

178

Total

71
122
101

56

350

 

 

TABLE A2.--Relationship between high school achievement and

year of entry

W

Achievement as measured
by HPA for all high
school subjects

 

1.75-1.99
1.5 -1.7h
0.0 -l.h9
Total

X .1097;

195k

36
3a
2h
9h

df-h; not significant

Year of Entry

 

1955

as
as
29

118

 

1956

 

56
72
53

181

Total

135
152
106

393

 

112

TABLE A3.--Relationship between HPA’s for the first quarter
of attendance at the college and year of entry

 

 

Year of Entry

 

 

First Quarter HPA's 195A ‘12:: .1222 112121
2.5+ 15 17 20 52
2.0-2.h9 16 25 an 85
1.5-1.99 2h 20 ha 87
1.0-1.h9 18 33 30 81
0.0- .99 1h 17 3h 65
Total 87 112 171 370

X2-10.36; df-8; not significant

_:
4—‘

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE Ah.--Relationship between cumulative HPA's for the first
three quarters of continuous attendance at the college or the
only completed portion thereof and year of entry

 

 

 

Cumulative HPA's for first .XE§£.3£.EEE£Z

three quarters or com-

pleted portion thereof l95h 11222 $228. ‘Tgtgl
2.5+ 9 15 18 hz
2.0-1.h9 19 31 39 89
1.5-1-h9 33 26 51 110
1.0-1.h9 16 27 31 7h
0.0- .99 10 13 32 55
Total 87 112 171 370

X2-9.62; df-B: not significant

 

— W

113

TABLE A5.--Re1ationship between success and ACEPE T-score

 

W

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of

successful unsuccessful
ACEPE T-scores students students Total
110-137 11 9 20
90-109 5h 59 113
70— 89 35 7b 109
0- 69 12 78 90
Total 112 220 332

X2-30.88; df—B; significant

 

 

TABLE A6.--Relationship between success and ACEPE L-score

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of

successful unsuccessful
ACEPE L-scorcs students students Total
60+ 29 28 57
50-59 h6 60 106
ho-h9 22 69 91
30-39 11 Al 52

0-29 h 22 26

Total 112 220 332

X2-23.Zh; df-h; significant

__.__-:
f

11h

TABLE A7.--Relationship between success and ACEPE Q-scores

—_‘
i4

 

 

 

Number of Number of

successful unsuccessful
ACEPE u-scores students - students ‘Egtgl
50+ 5 12 17
ho-h9 he 39 79
30-39 RB 86 13h
20.29 11 A5 56

0-19 8 38 A6

Total 112 ' 220 332

x2-2o.92; di-u; significant

TABLE A8.--Relationship between success and HPA's for all
high school subjects

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
HPA's for all high successful unsuccessful
school subjects students students Total
1.75-1.99 62 66 128
1.5 -107h “9 98 1h?
Total 131 239 370

X2-18.13; df-Z; significant

 

 

115

TABLE A9.--Relationship between success and HPA's for college

preparatory subjects

 

 

Number of Number of
HPA's for college successful unsuccessful
preparatiry subjects students students
1.75+ 2h 22
1.5 -1.7h 6o 76
1.25-1.h9 33 75
0.0 -1.2h 1h 66
Total 131 239

 

 

X2-22.2; df-3; significant

 

Total

h6
136
108
80

370

 

 

TABLE A10.--Relationship between success and HPA's for high

school commercial subjects

 

 

 

Number of Number of
HPA's for commerce successful unsuccessful
subjects students students
2.0+ 58 73
1.5-1.99 2h 63
0.0-1.h9 26 67
Total 108 203

 

 

x2—9.02; df-Z; significant

Total

131
87

93

311

 

 

116

TABLE A11.--Relationship between success and HPA's for high
school vocational subjects other than commercial

 

 

 

 

 

HPA's for

vocational subjects Number of Number of

other than successful unsuccessful
commercial students students Total
2.0+ 57 ‘ 118 175
1.5-1.99 29 he 69
o.o-1.h9 12 2h 36
Total . 98 182 280

X2-2.2h: dfg-Z; not significant

 

 

TABLE A12.--Relationship between success and rank in the high
school graduating class

 

 

 

 

 

Percentile rank in Number of Number of
high school successful unsuccessful
graduating class students students Total
3o-h9 18 21 39
20-29 26 no 66
10-19 he 79 119
0- 9 30 76 106
Total 11A 216 330

x2-h.95: df-B; not significant

 

 

117

TABLE A13.--Relutionship between success and the recommendation
of the high school principal

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of

Type of successful unsuccessful
recommendation students students Total
Recommended 26 2h 50
Recommended, with

qualifications 37 6b 101
Not recommended 15 h? 62
Total 78 135 213

x -9.37; dI-Z; signifiCant

 

TABLE Alh.—-Relationship between success and the size of the
high school attended

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of

Size of successful unsuccessful
high school students students Total
900 students + 61 11k 175
hoe-899 students 37 69 106
200-399 students 22 27 A9

1-199 students 11 29 to
Total ‘ 131 239 370

x2-2.96; df-B; not significant

 

 

118

TABLE A15.--Re1ationship between success and the_type of high
school attended

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
Type of successful unsuccessful
high school students students Total
Public 120 211 331
Non-public 11 28 39
Total 131 239 370

K2-.99; df-l; not significant

 

TABLE A16.--Relationship between success and the number of
high schools attended

 

 

 

 

 

- Number of Number of
Number of high successful unsuccessful
schools attended students students Total
One 125 22a 3&9
More than one 6 15 21
Total 131 239 370

XZ-.b5; df-l; not significant

 

 

119

TABLE A17.--Relationship between success and socio-economic

status

 

 

Father's
occupation

 

Professional

PrOprietors, managers
ans officials

Clerks and
kindred workers

Skilled workers and
foreman

Semi-skilled workers
Unskilled workers

Total

Number of
successful
students

 

19

23

13

30
3

11

99

Number of

 

unsuccessful

students Total
36 55
6h 87
2h 37
#9 79
12 15
16 27
201 300

XZ-h.5; df-S; not significant

 

 

TABLE A18.--Relationship between success and certainty of
vocational choice

 

 

Certainty of
vocational
choice

 

Choice indicated

No choice indicated

Total
2

X -025;

Number of
successful
students

 

91
to
131

df—l; not

Number of

 

unsuccessful
students Total
160 251
79 119
239 370

significant

 

120

TABLE A19.--Relationship between success and age at entry

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
successful unsuccessful
Age group students students Total
2h+ 19 1h 33
22-23 29 30 59
20-21 20 21 hl
19 1h ' he 62
18 35 109 1th
17 1h 17 31
Total 131 239 370

x2-28.h9; df-5; significant

TABLE AZO.--Re1ationship between success and marital status

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

at entry
Number of Number of
successful unsuccessful
Marital status students students Total
Married 16 16 32
Single 115 223 338
Total 131 239 370

X2-3.26; df-l; not significant

 

 

 

121

TABLE A21.--Relationship between success and veteran status

 

 

 

 

 

at entry
Number of Number of
successful unsuccessful
Veteran status students students Total
Veteran . 59 52 111
Non-veteran 72 187 259
Total 131 239 370

X2-21.8h; df-l; significant

 

TABLE A22.--Relationship between success and the type of
curriculum entered

 

A _- -
-:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
Curriculum successful unsuccessful
entered students students Total
Science R6 72 118
Commerce to 8h 128
Other non-science as 83 128
Total 131 239 370

X2-1.11: df-Z; not significant

 

 

TABLE A23.--Relationship between success and change in
curricular goal

 

 

 

r if
r— t

 

h

 

 

 

Number of Number of
Curricular successful unsuccessful
goal status students students Total
Changed goal 10 28 38
Did not change goal 121 211 332
Total 131 239 370

x2-1.53: df-l; not significant
#3

 

122

TABLE A2h.--Relationship between success and the number of
quarters completed

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of Number of

quarters successful unsuccessful
Agompleted students students Total
1 20 5h 7h
2 13 28 hl
3 68 105 173
More than 3 30 52 82
Total 131 239 370

x2-h.o7; df-3; not significant

 

 

TABLE A25.--Relationship between success and the hours of
credit completed during the first quarter

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
Hours of credit successful unsuccessful
completed ' students students Total
17+ 3 7 10
1h-17 9o 1&8 238
Below 1h #5 77 122
Total 138 232 370

XZ-O.O; df-Z; not significant

 

 

123

TABLE A26.--Re1ationship between success and the hours of
credit completed during the second quarter

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
Hours of credit successful unsuccessful
completed students students Total
17+ 32 20 52
11-17 75 93 168
Below 11 17 59 76
Total 12h 172 296

x2-2o.u2; df-Z; significant

 

I!

 

TABLE A27.-—Relationship between success and the hours of
credit completed during the third quarter

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
Hours of credit successful unsuccessful
completed students students Total
17+ 39 19 58
1h-17 6o 71 131
Below 1h 17 A9 66
Total 116 139 255

XZ-21.h2; df-Z; significant

 

 

12h

TABLE A28.--Relationship between success and disciplinary
action taken by the college

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
Disciplinary successful unsuccessful
action status status students Total
Action taken 3 11 1h
No action taken 128 228 356
Total 131 239 370

x2-1.2h; df-l; not significant

 

 

TABLE A29.--Relationship between ability and HPA's for all
high school subjects

W

ACEPE”T-scores

 

HPA's for all high

 

 

school subjects 0-69 .1223? .22: .22331
1.75-1.99 25 39 50 11h
1.5 -1.7h 36 to 60 136
0.0 -1.h9 29 30 23 82
Total 90 109 133 332

x2-7.97: df-h; not significant

 

125

TABLE A30.--Relationship between ability and the recommendation

of the high school principal

 

 

 

 

Type of
recommendation 0-79 80-89
Recommended 9 12

Recommended with

qualifications RR 22
Not recommended 20 12
Total 73 #6

ACEPE T-scores

 

90-99

12

11
11

3h

 

100+

 

8

20
13
A1

XZ-10.67; df-6; not significant

Total

R1

97
56
19h

 

 

TABLE A31.--Relationship between ability and age at entry

 

 

 

Age group 0-69
20+ hz
13-19 kt
17 b
Total 90

 

ACEPE T-scores

 

12:32
28
70
11

109

x2—11.95; df-h; significant

 

2.0.“.
M:

73
16

133

Total

111
187
31

332

TABLE A32.——Relationship between ability and veteran status

 

ACEPE T-scores

 

 

 

Veteran status 0-79 .22122 100+ .32331
Veteran 38 3h 21 93
Non-veteran 111 81 A7 239
Total 1A9 115 68 332

X2-.996: df-Z; not significant

 

TABLE A33.--Relationship between ability and hours of credit
completed the second quarter

 

 

 

 

- ' ACEPE T-scores
Hours of credit '-

 

 

completed 0-69 .12182 .22: 23:31
17+ 6 15 26 A7
1A-17 3A 50 6A 1A8
Below 1A 28 25 19 72
Total 68 90 109 267

x2-1A.69; df-A; significant

 

 

127

TABLE A3A.--Relationship between ability and hours of credit
completed the third quarter

 

 

ACEPE T-scores
Hours of credit

 

 

completed 0-69 19:32 29: 3211-
17+ 7 13 31 51
1A-17 30 A2 A7 119
Below 1A 20 25 17 62
Total 57 80 95 232

XZ-13.69; df-h: significant

 

 

TABLE A35.—-Relationship between success and age, with ability
held constant, ACEPE T-scores of 100+

 

 

 

Number of Number of

successful unsuccessful
Age group students students Total
20+ 16 5 21
17-19 23 26 A9
Total 39 31 70

x2-5.1; df—l; significant

 

 

123

TABLE A36.--Re1ationship between success and age, with ability
held constant, ACEPE T-scores of 80-99

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of ‘
successful unsuccessful
Age group students students Total
20+ 22 16 38
17-19 21 57 78
Total A3 73 116

x2-10.51; df-l; significant

TABLE A37.--Relationship between success and age, with ability
held constant, ACEPE T-scores of 0-79

 

t‘ Z“ __“

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of

successful unsuccessful
Age group students students . Total
20+ 17 38 55
17-19 13 78 91
Total 30 116 1A6

X2-5.8; df-l; significant

 

TABLE A38.--Relationship between success and ability, with age
held constant, age 20+ -

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
successful unsuccessful
ACEPE T-score students students Total
100+ 16 5 21
80-99 22 16 38
0-79 17 38 55
Total 55 59 11A

x2

-1h.593 df—Z; significant

 

H

129

TABLE A39.--Relationship between success and ability, with
age held constant, age 17-19

4‘

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
successful unsuccessful
ACEPE T-scorc students students Total
100+ 23 26 1‘9
80-99 21 57 78
0-79 13 78 91
Total 57 161 218

X2-17066; df-2; significant

 

 

TABLE Ah0.--Relation between high school achievement and the
recommendation of the high school principal

 

HPA's for all high school subjects

 

 

 

 

 

 

Type of
recommendation O-l.h9 i15'1'7h 1.75+ Total
Recommended 8 12 30 50
Recommended, with

qualifications 23 ho 38 101
Not recommended 23 27 12 62
Total 5h 79 80 213

X2-20.87; df-h; significant

 

 

130

TABLE Ah1.--Relationship between high school achievement and
age at entry

 

 

 

 

if

 

 

 

 

HPA's for all high school subjects

 

 

 

 

 

Age group 0-1.h9 1.5-1.7h 1.75+ Total
20+ 33 ”5 55 133
18-19 57 85 GA 206
17 5 17 9 31
Total 95 lb? 128 370

X2-7.h; df—h; not significant

#4

TABLE Ah2.--Re1ationship between high school achievement and
veteran status

 

 

HPA's for all high school subjects

 

 

 

 

Veteran status o-1.h9 1.5-1.7u 1.75+ Total

Veteran 29 39 h3 111

Non-veteran 66 108 85 259

Total 95 1&7 128 370
Xz-1.85; df-Z; not significant

 

 

131

TABLE Ah3.--Re1ationship between high school achievement and
the hours of credit completed the second quarter

 

J

HPA's for all high school subjects

 

 

Hours of credit

 

 

completed 0-1.h9 1.5-1.7h 1.75+ Total
17+ 10 22 20 52
1h-17 ' bl 65' 62 168
Below 1h 18 33 25 76
Total 69 120 107 296

X2-1.h8; df-h; not significant

 

 

TABLE Akb.--Relationship between high school achievement and
the hours of credit completed the third quarter

 

 

HPA's for all high school subjects
Hours of credit

 

 

 

completed O-l.h9 1.5-1.7“ 1.75+ Total
17+ 7 2h 27 58
1h-17 37 50 an 131
Below 13 1h 33 19 66
Total 58 107 90 255

X2-9.18; df-h; not significant

 

 

132

TABLE Ah5.--Re1ationship between success and the recommenda-
tion of the high school principal with high school achieve-
ment held constant, with HPA's for all high school subjects

 

 

 

 

 

01 1075+
Number of . Number of

Type of successful unsuccessful
recommendation _ students students Total
Recommended 18 12 30
Recommended, with

qualifications 21 17 38
Not recommended ‘ 5 7 12
Total hh 36 80

X2-1.2; df-Z; not significant

 

TABLE Ah6.--Relationship between success and the recommenda-

tion of the high school principal with high school achieve-

ment held constant, with HPA's for all high school subjects
or 1.05-107”

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of

Type of successful unsuccessful
recommendation students students Total
Recommended 5 7 12
Recommended, with

qualifications 13 27 “0
Not recommended 8 19 27
Total 26 53 79

xz-g55; df-Z; not significant

 

 

133

TABLE Ah7.--Relationship between success and the recommenda-

tion of the high school principal with high school achieve-

ment held constant, with HPA's for all high school subjects
of 0.0-1.h9

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of

Type of successful unsuccessful
recommendation students students Total
Recommended 3 5 8
Recommended, with

qualifications 3 20 23'
Not recommended 2 21 23
Total 8 us 5h

x2-h.05; df—Z; not significant

 

TABLE Ah8.--Relationship between age and the recommendation
of the high school principal

 

 

Age group

 

 

Type of

recommendation 17-19 20+ Total
Recommended 22 28 50
Recommended, with

qualifications 6h 37 101
Not recommended 52 10 62
Total 138 75 213

2

X -19.38; df-Z; significant

 

 

13h

TABLE Ah9.--Relationship between age and veteran status

 

 

Age group

 

 

Veteran status 17-19 20-21 22+ Total
Veteran 2 20 89 111
Non-veteran 235 21 3 259
Total 237 hi 92 370

xZ-297.85; df-Z; significant

 

 

TABLE A50.--Relationship between age and hours of credit
completed the second quarter

W

 

 

Age group
Hours of credit
completed _1Z 18-19 20+ Total
17+ h 21 27 52
1h-17 1h 87 67 168
Below 1h 8 5b 1b 76
Total 26 162 108 296

x2-16.87; dfah; significant

 

 

135

TABLE A51.--Relationship between age and hours of credit
completed the third quarter

 

 

 

 

 

Age group
Hours of credit
completed .11 18-19 20+ Total
17+ 7 2h 27 58
1h-17 13 68 50 131
Below 1h 6 51 9 66
Total 26 1&3 86 255

x2-19.6h; 82-1; significant

 

 

TABLE A52.--Relationship between success and the recommenda-
tion of the high school principal, with held constant, age 20+

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of

Type of successful unsuccessful
recommendation students students Total
Recommended ,7 17 11 28
Recommended, with -

qualifications 16 21 37
Not recommended 3 . 7 10
Total 36 ’ 39 75

X2-3.h5; df-Z; not significant

 

 

136

TABLE A53.--Relationship between success and the recommenda-
tion of the high school principal, with age held constant,

899 17-19

 

 

 

Number of

 

Type of successful
recommendation students
Recommended 9
Recommended, with

qualifications 21
Not recommended 12
Total hZ

Number of

 

unsuccessful
students ‘33351
13 22
h3 6b
to 52
96 138

x2-2.62; df-Z; not significant

 

 

TABLE A5h.--Relationship between success and veteran status
with age held constant, age 20+

Veteran status

 

Veteran

Non-veteran

Total

Number of
successful
students

 

59
9
68

X2-2.813 df-l; not

Number of

 

unsuccessful
students 32231
50 109
15 2h
65 133

significant

 

 

‘~.fl4€',l_ 11’ .

137

TABLE A55.--Relationship between lack of success the first
quarter and withdrawal at the end of the first quarter

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
Withdrawal successful unsuccessful
status students students Total
Withdraw 20 5k 7k
Did not withdraw 118 178 296

Total 138 232 370

x2-h.l7; df-l; significant

 

TABLE A56.--Relationship between lack of success on the basis
of cumulative HPA's for the first two quarters and withdrawal
at the end of the second quarter

 

 

 

 

 

Number of Number of
Withdrawal successful unsuccessful
status students students Total
Withdrew . 13 28 hi
Did not withdraw 98 157 255
Total 111 185 296

XZ-.68; df-l; not significant

 

138

TABLE A57.--Relationship between lack of success on the basis
of cumulative HPA's for the first three quarters and withdrawal
at the end of the third quarter

 

 

Number of

 

 

Withdrawal successful
status students
Withdraw 68
Did not withdraw 30
Total 98

x2-.17; df-l; not

 

Number of
unsuccessful
students

 

105
52
157

significant

Total

 

173
82

255

 

‘-

“~fi ‘—-—. ‘fl- *7‘-«—~.‘-—_ d...‘_- -

(if \

JAN“T““130U 6'

 

5--

.3. '7: ‘

'5"-

3”.

~ -l~‘s. rig 1 .._.,
:3.th

v'-"'. -‘i

'3:
a

 

"llllllllllllll