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Descriptors:
Student Evaluation; Evaluation Methods; Educational Testing; Testing Programs; Educational Change; Foreign Countries; College Bound Students; College Entrance Examinations; Secondary School Students

Abstract:
It is time to replace the examination regime at 16 and 18 by something more appropriate. The coalition government has been solidifying its place by its Baccalaureate reforms at both ages, but this is a move in quite the wrong direction. Whatever the wider purposes that the examination system may serve, its core aim is to find out how well students are faring in their learning. The author argues that the examination regime has many faults, among them financial, psychological, sociological and ethical. It also has epistemological deficiencies. These are more serious in that they strike at the heart of what examining is supposed to be. As the people have seen, a fundamental problem with public examinations is that candidates are only numbers. If the basic reason for assessing students is to find out how well they are doing, for all but more rule-bound achievements assessors have to know something about examinees' wider intellectual and perhaps ethical or aesthetic horizons. And for that, assuming, rightly, that they lack extensive written evidence of this, they need personal contact with those being tested. This all points to school-based, rather than nation-wide, assessments. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Talent; Majors (Students); Self Efficacy; Engineering; Biology; Computer Science; Women Scientists; Gender Differences; Comparative Analysis; STEM Education; Academic Achievement; Science Careers; Cohort Analysis; Graduate Surveys; Student Interests; Family Work Relationship; Likert Scales; College Entrance Examinations; Graduate Study; Females

Abstract:
In previous decades, researchers have identified a gender gap in the careers and academic achievement of men and women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Recently, it has been suggested that some of these gender gaps no longer exist; however, the picture is more nuanced, for women are represented well in some STEM fields (such as biology) and not in others (such as computer science). The current research employed survey methodology to explore the perceptions of 360 finalists and semifinalists of the prestigious Science Talent Search. Two cohorts of participants who were either in their late 30s (Cohort 2) or late 20s (Cohort 1) were contacted to investigate factors that influenced them to select or not select STEM college majors and occupations. Comparisons between men and women revealed that women recalled having lower self-efficacy in STEM in college than men, and fewer women selected STEM majors as undergraduates. Interest was cited as a major influence for occupational selection for both men and women. Proportionally, more women than men entered fields such as biology and fewer women entered fields such as engineering and physics/astronomy. A greater proportion of older women mentioned leaving STEM because of a lack of flexible hours and needing to attend to family responsibilities. Implications for education and future research are discussed. (Contains 9 tables and 2 figures.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; Tutoring; Foreign Countries; Probability; Private Schools; Family Characteristics; Family Income; College Entrance Examinations; Parent Background; Educational Attainment; Regression (Statistics); Equal Education; Social Mobility; Scores; College Preparation

Abstract:
This paper examines the determinants of students' performance on the entrance test at Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Brazil. Particular attention is paid to the importance of family background variables, such as parents' education and family income, on students' performance and how they relate to the probability of attending public schools and private tutoring classes. Results suggest that parents' education and study environment are key determinants of students' achievements. Also, they are positively related to the probability of attending private schools and private tutoring classes, which are both estimated to have a positive effect on test scores. Finally, the quantile regression estimation shows that the effect of parents' education and family income varies across the conditional score distribution. These results highlight the need for developing policies that seek to improve the equality of opportunities in access to higher education. They are of special importance for a developing country like Brazil, in which not only the level of inequality is among the highest in the world but also the level of social intergenerational mobility is among the lowest compared to international standards. (Contains 4 tables, 2 figures and 17 notes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Student Costs; Socioeconomic Status; Social Class; College Students; College Admission; Student Diversity; Affirmative Action; Economically Disadvantaged; College Entrance Examinations; Scores; Student Organizations; Court Litigation

Abstract:
At Middlebury College--and on campuses throughout the country--class is coming out of the closet. Long hidden from view, economic status is emerging from the shadows, as once-taboo discussions are taking shape. The growing economic divide in America, and on American campuses, has given rise to new student organizations, and new dialogues, focused on raising awareness of class issues--and proposing solutions. With the U.S. Supreme Court likely to curtail the consideration of race in college admissions this year, the role of economic disadvantage as a basis for preferences could further raise the salience of class. Today's young people have grown up in a world unlike that of their parents. Class inequality has taken on much greater salience than racial inequality. Today's youth didn't grow up seeing fire hoses being trained on peaceful civil-rights demonstrators. Instead they have grown up in a country where racism continues to exist, but where voters elected and then re-elected a black president, and where Latinos are a rising political power. And they have come of age at a time of growing economic inequality, when the advantages of economic privilege are greater than ever before. Wealthy families have always had more resources to invest in their children, but the gap in that spending between wealthy and poor families has tripled since the 1970s. For 50 years, higher education has managed to avoid questions of class. But gaping economic disparity, changing student sentiment, and the U.S. Supreme Court seem likely to bring class back, once again, to the forefront. Having taken some modestly successful steps to include women and racial minorities, will the colleges accept the challenge? Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
College Admission; College Applicants; Graduates; Essays; Scores; College Entrance Examinations; Admission Criteria; Educational Trends; Trend Analysis; High Achievement; Competition; Student Recruitment; Foreign Students

Abstract:
Boston College saw a 26-percent decrease in applications this year, a drop officials largely attribute to a new essay requirement. Last year the private Jesuit institution received a record 34,051 applications for 2,250 spots in its freshman class. This year approximately 25,000 students applied, and all of them had to do one thing their predecessors did not: write a supplemental essay, of up to 400 words, in response to one of four prompts. Although some enrollment officials have nightmares about big one-year declines, John L. Mahoney, director of undergraduate admissions at Boston College, described the numbers as good news. After all, the quality of this year's applicants--as measured by their ACT and SAT scores--did not go down, compared with last year. In an era when many colleges are asking applicants to do less, some institutions have asked them to do more, purposely thinning the ranks of prospective students. If nothing else, Boston College's move reveals the slipperiness of application tallies, widely viewed as a meaningful metric. If the addition of one short essay can drain a quarter of a college's pool in one year, how much did those numbers say in the first place? For the last decade, selective colleges have operated according to their own laws of nature: Each year, applications rise, acceptance rates fall, and the trends seem as inevitable as gravity. In the competition for high-achieving students, bigger applicant pools have long been understood as better. And "more, more, more" is often the mantra of recruitment. The boom has brought plenty of challenges, too. A deluge of applications has made the admissions process less predictable, for applicants and colleges alike. More students applying to more colleges means more questions about who's a serious applicant and who's not. Some of the forces that have long driven application increases were beyond any college's control. The long-term surge in high-school graduates. The rise in foreign applicants. The growth of Web-based communications. Yet colleges do control the content of their applications, and how quickly a student can apply. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Academic Achievement; College Admission; Admissions Officers; College Freshmen; Expertise; Admission Criteria; Standardized Tests; Scores; Grade Point Average; Academic Persistence; Measures (Individuals); Learning Processes; College Entrance Examinations; Essays; Self Evaluation (Individuals)

Abstract:
The handyman has a tool for everything, but the admissions dean is not so lucky: He must make do with just a few. Every year, presidents and professors expect freshmen who are curious, determined, and hungry for challenges. The traditional metrics of merit, however, can't reveal such qualities. Standardized-test scores may or may not predict a given student's long-term potential. Grade-point averages present only a partial view of an applicant's talents and work habits. And so, some admissions officers say, it's time for a new set of tools. Over the last decade, a handful of colleges have designed "noncognitive" assessments to measure attributes--like leadership and the ability to meet goals--that content-based tests do not. Succeeding in college often requires initiative and persistence, or what some researchers call "grit." Noncognitive measures are an attempt to gauge such qualities. If the SAT asks what a student has learned, these assessments try to get at how she learned it. Long an afterthought in academe, alternative indicators of student potential have captured the interest of instructors, testing companies, and enrollment chiefs. As science unspools the secrets of how one learns, it inspires new approaches to assessment. The way most colleges have long evaluated applicants reflects beliefs about what counts most. If those beliefs evolve, it follows, so, too, should the admissions process. Imagining a new system, however, is easier than building one. What should the 21st-century college consider? How much can noncognitive assessments--typically in the form of self-evaluations and short essays--really tell a college? And are they reliable? Admissions officials plan to weigh those questions this week at a national conference sponsored by the University of Southern California's Center for Enrollment Research, Policy, and Practice. The conference, "Attributes That Matter: Beyond the Usual in College Admission and Success," will include experts in noncognitive aspects of learning, which represent the next frontier in holistic admissions. Jerome A. Lucido, the center's executive director, predicts that new measures of student potential will eventually become fixtures in higher education, allowing admissions officers to conduct more-robust reviews of applicants, while giving colleges valuable data on those who enroll. Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
School Holding Power; Experimental Groups; Higher Education; Introductory Courses; Persistence; Graduation; Graduation Rate; Teacher Student Relationship; College Entrance Examinations; Values; Multivariate Analysis; Scores; Academic Achievement; Self Efficacy; Learner Engagement; Regression (Statistics)

Abstract:
The researchers examined the effect of a course, Introduction to Life Calling (LDR150), on retention and persistence to graduation at a private, Midwestern university. The course emphasizes self-assessment, student-faculty engagement, personal values, and the student's developing sense of Life Calling. The subjects consisted of 3338 students who entered the university between fall 2001 and fall 2005, including 638 course participants who composed the experimental group. A significant relationship was observed between course participation and graduating status. Multivariate analysis suggests that the relationship between the course and graduation is small, relative to the effect of SAT and ACT scores. The findings are discussed in light of the many factors that commingle with student retention and graduation in higher education. A well-rounded introductory course such as LDR150 may represent another valuable resource for students and universities in the pursuit of student success. (Contains 3 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Grants; Private Colleges; Institutional Characteristics; Universities; Graduation; Scores; Full Time Equivalency; Predictor Variables; School Size; College Entrance Examinations; Expenditure per Student; Correlation; Graduation Rate; Probability; Undergraduate Students; Academic Persistence; Student Characteristics; Personality Theories; Regression (Statistics); Models

Abstract:
Graduation outcomes are analyzed at public and private baccalaureate colleges and universities in the United States. The purpose is to determine the effect of institutional characteristics on a binary indicator of college graduation. The effect of the percentage of Pell grant recipients on graduation outcomes is of primary interest, controlling for other covariates. Institutional characteristics have a major effect on college graduation outcomes. Key institutional variables that appear to have the largest effect on graduation outcomes include percent Pell recipients, private college status, and institutional average SAT scores. College size and expenditures per FTE student have a direct but more moderate relationship to graduation outcomes. Implications for baccalaureate education are discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 9 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Equations (Mathematics); Mathematics Curriculum; College Entrance Examinations; College Students; Academic Ability; Student Placement; Mathematics; College Freshmen; College Mathematics; Scores; Algebra; Probability; Prediction; Higher Education

Abstract:
This article describes how a Brier score analysis can be used as an evaluative tool to estimate the predictive accuracy of a course placement policy that was established based on professional or subjective judgment. The policy being evaluated uses the score received on the mathematics portion of the SAT examination as the primary mechanism to place incoming freshmen into the appropriate college mathematics courses best matched to their ability. This placement policy was established based on the idea that the mathematics portion of the SAT examination and a commercially available computerized mathematics placement examination may be placing the majority of students at a similar level in the hierarchy of mathematics courses. The findings of this study indicate that the mathematics portion of the SAT examination can be an effective mechanism for initially placing students in their first mathematics course which is appropriate for their academic ability, and thus can increase their chance of succeeding in their first college mathematics course. Furthermore, a Brier score analysis allowed for comparing and contrasting different scenarios when the placement policy is effective versus when it is not. Implementing this policy allowed for a simpler placement process as well as a substantial financial savings for the institution. (Contains 4 tables and 5 footnotes.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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Descriptors:
Liberal Arts; Grade Point Average; Enrollment; Predictor Variables; College Entrance Examinations; Undergraduate Students; Prediction; Academic Persistence; School Holding Power; College Preparation; School Size; Small Schools; Regression (Statistics); Engineering Education; Mathematics Education; STEM Education; Science Education; Technology Education; Business Administration Education; Correlation

Abstract:
This study examined the relationship between various admissions selection criteria utilized by a small, Liberal Arts College in Indiana. More specifically, the study examined if a higher college preparatory GPA and a higher aggregate score on the SAT helped predict the retention of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and business students. Data was gathered using historical enrollment data of 803 students. A logistic regression analysis was utilized to examine the impact of the two variables on retention of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and business students. College preparatory GPA and the aggregate SAT score were predictors of retention of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and business students. For every point increase in GPA, the odds were more than twice as much that the student would be retained. For every point increase in SAT, there was 0.3% increase in retention. (Contains 6 tables.) Note:The following two links are not-applicable for text-based browsers or screen-reading software. Show Hide Full Abstract

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