In British Columbia, the issue of low graduation rates among Aboriginal students has been addressed often. Some researchers have claimed that racism is a factor that impedes the progress of Aboriginal students. Since teachers' decisions potentially have a profound impact upon students, this study investigated whether teachers discriminate when they make decisions about students. Fifty pre-service teachers recommended 24 fictional students for remedial, average or advanced programs based upon the program eligibility criteria. Results indicated that students whom teachers were led to believe were of Aboriginal ancestry and students whom they were led to believe were students for whom English was a second language were consistently under-rated in comparison to their non-Aboriginal counterparts regardless of the students' prior academic record. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

At the beginning of the 21st century, few challenges for educators compared to that of meeting the academic needs of the growing number of limited English proficient (LEP) students. Divergent views on whether those needs were best met through instruction in the student's first language and English, known as bilingual education, or instruction solely in English, compounded the challenge and led to varied language support programs. The present study looked at the prekindergarten (preK) language support program as a predictor of 3rd grade reading achievement of students with the intention of helping educators understand how best to serve LEP students. The study included an analysis of 3rd grade reading achievement for four groups of students with a primary home language of Spanish who attended bilingual or ESL prekindergarten. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) followed by descriptive discriminant analysis (DDA) was used to analyze scores from the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) reading test and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) reading test. No statistically significant difference in 3rd grade reading achievement was found among the four groups at the .05 level. There was, however, a small-to-medium effect size. The MANOVA indicated that the group to which the students belonged accounted for 5.5% of the variance in their scores. The DDA revealed the ITBS explained most of the difference in the group performance. The findings suggest that ESL instruction is a viable option to bilingual instruction for LEP preK students.

The problem of this study was an analysis of the relationships between performance on certain admissions measures and academic achievement of students in master's degree programs in music education. The purposes of the study were (1) to determine the strength of relationships between scores on each measure included in an admission battery and the academic achievement of master's degree music education students; (2) to determine the strength of the relationship between the final grades in Admission Seminar and the academic achievement of master's degree music education students; and (3) to determine which combination of admissions measures best predict the academic achievement of master's degree music education students.

The purpose of this study is to investigate family mealtime dynamics from the adolescent's perspective and explore what topics are discussed compared to what topics they would like to discuss, and to examine the association among mealtimes and the adolescent's academic status and self-esteem.

The purpose of this research is to find additional predictor variables specifically with regard to graduate student success in the Master of Science (M.S.) Industrial/Organizational Psychology program.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is that of determining the academic as well as psychological differences between the McKinney Texas Job Corps graduates and non-graduates. The purpose of the study is to gain knowledge that will be useful in the guidance of Job Corps students. Nine hypotheses were formulated to investigate the relationship between academic achievement and certain selected academic and psychological variables. It was concluded that significant personality differences do exist among the McKinney Job Corps graduates and non-graduates. Chronological age is a significant variable with respect to success at the Job Corps Center. Academic variables are not useful indicators of success at the Job Corps training program.

The purpose of the study was to determine whether age, ethnicity, gender, full-time/ part-time status, and the community college academic variables of cumulative GPA, total transferable hours, and number of completed core courses predicted students' persistence or GPA at a four-year university.

The purpose of this study is to examine the . relationship and effects of New Jersey College Basic Skills Placement Test (NJCBSPT) scores and grades in basic skills reading, elementary algebra, and English/ writing courses with the students' success in selected college-level general education courses in an attempt to establish predictor variables. In addition, the study examines the possibility that predictions of success in general education courses can be made more accurately by using multiple prediction variables. The population for the study consisted of seven years of successful basic skill course grades, New Jersey College Basic Skill Placement Test (NJCBSPT) scores and successful general education course grades for students at one small, rural community college. Coefficients of determination, correlation coefficients, t-tests, and linear and multiple regression were some of the analysis techniques used. / Ed. D.

One of the most compelling questions in higher education is why some students achieve and others do not. In this study, 1323 Virginia Tech students who completed the 1985 Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) freshman survey were followed up over a four-year period in order to identify characteristics that explain differences in grades. Three major categories of characteristics were studied: institutional characteristics, student demographic characteristics, and student nontraditional characteristics. Forty characteristics were regressed on the final quality credit average (QCA) for each of the four undergraduate years. Separate regression analyses were run for the university as a whole, each of the seven undergraduate colleges, and three subject-area clusters within the College of Arts & Sciences. The outcome was a set of 44 profiles of significant characteristics related to grades. These profiles were intended as a useful reference for both faculty members and administrators. The multivariate regression analyses identified a number of institutional and student characteristics that explained approximately 25 percent of the variance in student grades at Virginia Tech. Institutional characteristics accounted for about 6 percent of the total variance in student grades. The strongest and most consistent characteristics were selectivity and weighted student credit hours productivity. Student demographic characteristics accounted for about 12 percent of the total variance in student grades. The strongest and most consistent demographic variables were high school rank and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. Five other demographic characteristics -- gender, age, parent income, parent education, and race -- were also significant factors in isolated cases. Student nontraditional factors accounted for about 7 percent of the variance in student grades. Generally, student behaviors exhibited a stronger relationship with student grades than student attitudes, values, or personality traits. Study behavior and writing skills seemed to have the strongest and most consistent relationship with grades. Other nontraditional factors, including athletic interest, fraternal interest, self-efficacy, help-seeking behavior, extrinsic motivation, intrinsic motivation, locus of control, and leadership were also significantly related to grades in isolated cases. / Ed. D.

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the Q-scores and the L-scores made on the American Council on Education Psychological Examination and the scores made on Aptitudes "N" and "V" of the General Aptitude Test Battery by the same students, and to compare the academic grades of these same students with the aforementioned test scores in order to determine what relationship exists, if any, between academic grades made in certain selected courses and scores made on each of the aforementioned tests.