In 2008, the excitement to teach the class, Introduction to College to new students who are beginning college, was greatly accepted with much reservation. Numerous memories reflected back to that special period when the writer was faced with those daunting decisions of where to attend college. Those memories of excitement and fear of being away from home the very first time, starting college life, meeting new friends, and what career path to choose, were difficult decisions during that transitional time. Orientation class back then consisted mainly of a half day spent touring the college campus and listening to various speakers; if you could stay awake. The scope of this study will be to assess the effectiveness of Introduction to College (GE-100), on student GPAs and “persistence-to-graduation” rates as measures of success. In the course, the student will learn about the variety of support services available at the college, the behaviors necessary to be successful in college, and issues that relate to choice of major and/or careers. This study used a quantitative approach utilizing an ex-post facto longitudinal design that measures student grade point averages (GPA) and persistence-to-graduation rates for the five- year period from the Fall Semester of 2003 through the Spring Semester of 2008. Overall, at the conclusion, the results indicated that GE-100 students had significantly higher GPAs and significantly greater persistence- to-graduation rates over a five year period when compared with student who did not take or complete (GE- 100).

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There are numerous ways to measure or estimate parental attachment, from which can be deduced a positive, neutral, or negative relationship between adult child and parent. A standardized measure of parental attachment was administered to participants in this study, in order to determine a rating scale that can be worked with statistically to determine possible connections between the attachment measure and GP A. To that end, this study used the Revised Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, (IPPA-R). The relationship between parent and child has profound effects on an individual throughout their life. Even in adulthood, the attachment of adult children to their parents affects their attitudes and achievement. It is a relationship common to all. Even if the person is orphaned or abandoned, if this relationship between parental attachment and adult achievement can be demonstrated statistically, it may lead the way in learning to focus the positive power of parental attachment into measurable achievement for the adult child. It is hoped that this research may lead to further study about parental attachment and the impact it may have on academic achievement, and perhaps extrapolated to increasing achievement in other areas. The goal of this study was to measure the influence of parental attachment upon the academic achievement of adult children, measured by the Revised Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA-R) developed by Amsden and Greenberg (2009). The IPPAR is a revision to the original Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment, first developed by Amsden and Greenberg in 1987. The original version had questions that were directed toward both parents together, such as "My parents respect my feelings ... " (Amsden & Greenberg, 1987). In the IPPA-R, the same question was broken down into questions for both father and mother. The same question in the IPPA-R would be, "My mother respects my feelings ... " and "My father respects my feelings ... " (Amsden & Greenberg, 1987). Participants for this study were recruited from a junior level Psychology class at the University of Central Florida. Extra credit was awarded for participation. A total of 106 students participated in this study. Of the total 106 surveys submitted, 3 surveys were incomplete, thereby reducing the number of participants to 103. Informed consent was provided by participants at the beginning of the survey. Along with the mother and father sections of the IPPA-R, the questionnaire included demographic inquiries, such as race, age and gender. Along with these questions, the request for grade point average (GPA) was included. Academic achievement was measured by GPA at the university level. GPA was recorded on a 1-4 scale, using 2 decimal points. The independent variable in this study was parental attachment with seven levels. GPA served as the dependent measure. Data were analyzed using a one way between subject Analysis of Variance, (ANOV A). GPA did not significantly differ as a function of parental attachment, F(6,97)= 1.758, p=0.116. Previous research using the IPPA-R as a psychometric tool has shown significant effects when parental attachment is compared to psychological well-being (Gullone & Robinson, 2005), as well as other, more diverse variables, such as tendencies toward drug abuse among female teenagers (Renes & Strange, 2009) and commitment to career choices (Ward, 2003). This study made use of the IPPA-R measure, as the above mentioned research did, but the dependent variable of GPA was different than other research using the IPPAR. Most research with the IPPA-R seeks to measure psychological well being, or some aspect of it. The present research differed from previous studies in that this project used academic achievement as the dependent variable. Academic achievement at the university level can be extremely important to life and career directions adult children may choose. Despite the lack of statistical evidence, several interesting issues were raised. These issues, as well as possible directions for future research, are discussed.

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Målet med den här uppsatsen är att undersöka sambandet mellan grundskolans arbete med studie- och yrkesvägledning och elevernas genomströmningsgrad (examensgrad). Grundskolan har inte på enhetsnivå systematisk kännedom eller statistiska uppgifter om hur det går för eleverna när de lämnat skolan trots att de har ansvaret för studie- och yrkesvägledningen, elevernas valkompetens samt överlämnande och övergångar.  Datainsamlingen består av två delar som bygger på varandra. En del är ett nytt statistiskt deskriptivt underlag över ungdomars genomströmningsgrad i kommunal skola i Helsingborg som har tagits fram och bearbetats. Den andra delen är intervjuer som genomförts med skolledare och studie- och yrkesvägledare på fyra grundskoleenheter utifrån det statistiska materialet. Mixed methods har använts som metod och intervjuerna är analyserade tematiskt. z Det går i detta specifika sammanhang att konstatera att de grundskolor som har högre resultat i genomströmning också har ett arbete som ligger i linje med tidigare forskning kring framgångsfaktorer inom studie- och yrkesvägledning. Genomströmning följs inte upp på grundskolorna trots att examen kan vara avgörande för långsiktig etablering på arbetsmarknaden. Detta grundas i att ingen av respondenterna har kännedom om elevernas genomströmningsresultat. Grundskolorna har inte heller kopplat sitt studie- och yrkesvägledande arbete specifikt mot elever med låga meritpoäng trots att det är en avgörande parameter för att klara en gymnasieutbildning. Samtliga undersökta grundskolor arbetar dock kompensatoriskt på olika sätt. De kompensatoriska insatserna riktas främst mot elever med hög frånvaro, elever med låg studiemotivation eller till elever med utlandsfödda föräldrar. Studie- och yrkesvägledningen beskrivs delvis som personberoende och icke likvärdig. De grundskolor med höga genomströmningsresultat har en ansvarsfördelning, ett arbete och förhållningssätt som genomsyrar hela skolan. Grundskolorna har vidare samordnat och organiserat för studie- och yrkesvägledning med stabilitet i lärarkåren och skolledning och har ett relationsskapande förhållningssätt gentemot elever i behov av kompensatoriska insatser. / The aim of this thesis is to examine the relationship between primary school career guidance practices and student graduation rates. Primary schools lack systematic knowledge and statistical data at the unit level regarding students' outcomes after they leave school, despite being responsible for career guidance, students' decision-making competencies, and transitions. The data collection consists of two parts. The second part uses findins of the first part. The first part is a new descriptive statistical findings on the graduation rates of youths in municipal schools in Helsingborg, which has been developed and processed. The second part involves interviews conducted with school leaders and career counselors at four units based on the statistical material. Mixed methods were used as the methodology, and the interviews were analyzed thematically. In this specific context, it can be observed that those units with higher graduation rates also have practices aligned with previous research on success factors in career guidance.Graduation results are not tracked at the school units, even though graduation can be crucial for long-term labor market participation. This is based on the fact that none of the respondents have awareness of the students' graduation results. Furthermore, the schools have not specifically linked their career guidance efforts to students with low grade point averages, despite it being a crucial parameter for completing upper secondary education. However, all the investigated schools work compensatory education in various ways. These compensatory measures are primarily directed towards students with high absenteeism, low academic motivation, or students with foreign-born parents. Career guidance is described as partly dependent on individuals and thus unequal. Schools with high graduation rates have an effective division of responsibility, as well as practices and an approach that permeates the entire school. These schools have also coordinated and organized career guidance with stability among the teaching staff and school leadership, and they adopt a relationship-building approach towards students in need of compensatory measures.

This study reviewed the literature on the struggle for equal educational opportunity of the 1960s and 1970s, the reform movement of the 1990s, the public/private school debate of the 1980s and 1990s, the issue of school choice in the 1990s, and a brief history of private schools. The literature revealed that since the Supreme court's ruling, in 1954, on the unconstitutionality of separate-but-equal public schools and decisions on the separation of church and state, during the 1960s and 1970s, the number of and enrollment in private and parochial schools have grown steadily. This study was conducted on a sample of 14,242 students attending 17 colleges (15 private colleges and 2 public universities) to determine if there was a difference in their academic performance (GPA) at the end of their freshman year. The independent variables of the study were the size of the student's secondary school graduating class, the religious affiliation of the secondary school, the gender enrollment pattern of the secondary school, and the residential pattern of the secondary school. In addition, using the student's SAT score, an analysis was conducted to determine whether or not the student's first-year college GPA exceeded their GPA predicted by the SAT.

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