Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Davis, James

Committee Member

Stonecypher, Wayne

Committee Member

Ayers, Bruce, William

Committee Member

Wiseman, Marty William

Date of Degree

8-7-2010

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Community College Leadership

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D)

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Leadership and Foundations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate—by utilizing data obtained from the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) PeopleSoft database—whether the American College Testing (ACT) assessment was a predictor of student success for students who had graduated from respiratory, radiography, and nursing programs at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College (SKCTC). In addition, the study sought to determine whether the pre-program grade point average was a predictor of student success. The analysis was based on existing data for three random samples of 100 students each drawn from graduates of respiratory, radiography, and nursing programs for the years 2000 to 2005 for a total of 300 participants. ACT composite scores and pre-program grade point averages (GPAs) at the time of entrance along with the students’ final GPAs at the end of the program of study were obtained from the college’s database. A multiple regression analysis was performed, with final GPAs as the response variable and ACT scores and pre-program GPAs as predictors. Also, in terms of evaluating the individual contribution of each predictor, the part correlations were analyzed. The analyses were performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 16. The findings of the study indicate that the pre-program grade point averages were a stronger predictor of the final GPAs than the ACT scores. In addition, the ACT scores were not shown to be a significant predictor of the final grade point averages, after controlling for the pre-program GPAs that were recorded at the time of entry into the programs of study.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/15356

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