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Prediction of First Year Grades at Whitman College

Author(s):
Schultz, Douglas G.
Publication Year:
1949
Report Number:
RB-49-08
Source:
ETS Research Bulletin
Document Type:
Report
Page Count:
12
Subject/Key Words:
College Entrance Examinations, Cooperative Achievement Tests, Cooperative Reading Comprehension Test, Grade Prediction, Predictive Validity, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), Whitman College

Abstract

This project was undertaken in order to study the prediction of first year grades at Whitman College by means of the College Entrance Examination Board Scholastic Aptitude Test, the Cooperative Reading Comprehension Test, the Cooperative General Achievement Tests, and the high school record. The results of this investigation indicate that the Verbal Section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the Cooperative Reading Comprehension Test (Higher Level), and the High School Grade Point Average each have satisfactory validity as predictors of success at Whitman College. The Mathematical Section of the Scholastic Aptitude Test and the Cooperative General Achievement Tests in Social Studies and Mathematics also were found to have satisfactory, although slightly lower, validity. The Cooperative General Achievement Test in the Natural Sciences was related to general college achievement in the case of the women but not in the case of the men. In general, the correlations of the various predictors with over-all college grades were higher and more similar to each other for the women than for the men. Higher average scores for the female students than for the male students appeared on SAT-V, the Cooperative Reading Comprehension Test, High School Grade Point Average, and on all the measures of college achievement which were included in the study. On the other hand, the means for the male students were higher than the means for the female students on the two mathematics tests and the Cooperative Social Studies and Natural Sciences Tests. The relationships among SAT-V and the Cooperative Reading Comprehension and Social Studies Tests were all high. SAT-M showed very substantial correlations with Cooperative Mathematics; the Cooperative Test gave somewhat higher correlations with High School Grade Point Average than did SAT-M. The Cooperative Social Studies Test was found to be correlated with both Cooperative Natural Sciences and Mathematics to a relatively high degree.

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