Each year shows an Increased enrollment in the universities and colleges of California. The compulsory education law has served to keep more students in high school a longer time and upon graduation many of these pupils desire to attend an institution of higher learning. This fact, together with the influx of people into California from all parts of the United States and abroad to make their homes, has added materially to the numbers of prospective college students. It has been the policy of the colleges and universities in the State of California to admit graduates from accredited high schools without examination if the applicant hag the unqualified recommendation of the principal of the high school from which he graduates. This group Is designated as recommended students, a group which in most high schools comprises not more than twenty to fifty per cent of the graduating classes. The majority of the higher institutions of California have allowed the decision as to who should he recommended to remain with the secondary school principal. The College of the Pacific has followed the policy of accepting recommended graduates of accredited high schools who present fifteen entrance units, at least twelve of which must be of recommended grade.

The purpose of this study was to improve the mean scores on the COMPASS college placement test after guiding students through a PowerPoint presentation referred to as COMPASS orientation. Scores obtained from college placement tests indicated a large number of entering college students were not prepared for college-level classes. During the 2006–2007 academic year, 1,427 COMPASS placement tests were administered to students enrolling in the Big Sandy Community and Technical College (BSCTC). Of that number, over 70% produced scores at or below the level requiring developmental education. Data showed that only 28% of the students taking the COMPASS placement tests required no developmental course work and could enter college-level general education classes and receive college credit. This study proposed that a short orientation immediately preceding the COMPASS placement test would increase COMPASS placement test scores. Findings from the study showed that a 5-minute pre-test orientation did not significantly improve the mean test scores in reading, writing, or pre-algebra on the COMPASS placement tests. The study showed that algebra scores had a significantly improved mean score on the exam after intervention with the COMPASS orientation tutorial PowerPoint presentation. Recommendations from this study suggest that orientations and workshops should be mandatory for all college applicants. Online web sources should contain materials and web links for COMPASS study questions, COMPASS Web site addresses, and college pre-test workshops and orientation dates. Stakeholders such as local advisory committees, community businesses, and high schools should be involved with college application requirements. How underprepared college students impact the available workforce pool and the local economy should be discussed, and these businesses should be enlisted to suggest avenues for improving testing outcomes and college success.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the problem of early school entry as it affects the criteria of achievement, self-concept, and social maturity. The research design was a comparative associational design. The statistical procedure used was the two-way analysis of variance. The level of statistical significance was noted at .05. The subjects in this study were sixty-two kindergarten children in six schools in the.school system. The six schools were chosen as representative of the racial make-up of the school population. There was stratified random sampling to include children with early and not early birthdates. Race, sex and birthdates were the independent variables. Several instruments were used to measure achievement, social maturity, and self-concept. The Wide Range Achievement Test R-1, Level 1, The Standards of Learning Objectives, and the Metropolitan Reading Test, Level II, were used to measure achievement. The Burks' Behavior Rating Scales, Preschool and Kindergarten edition, were used to measure social maturity, and the Self-Concept and Motivation Inventory Pre-School/Kindergarten Form (SCAMIN) assessed self-concept. The following conclusions were formulated based upon critical analysis of the data. There was a statistically significant difference (p<.05) in achievement and age, race and sex in a few of the variables studied such as the following: 1. the WRAT math across age and race. The not early groups scored higher than the early groups and the white groups scored higher than the black group. 2. the Metropolitan Readiness test and race. The white children scored higher than the black children and the not early children scored higher than the early children. 3. the SOL reading objectives, age and sex. The not early group scored higher than the early group. The white children scored higher than the black children. The girls in the early group scored higher than the boys, and the boys in the not early group scored higher than the girls. 4. the SOL math objectives across age and race. The early groups scored lower than the not early group and the white children scored higher than the black children. There was also a statistically significant difference (p<.05) in poor ego strength and race. The white children had higher ego strength than the black children. / Ed. D.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

RESEARCH REPORT SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF EDUCATION, UNlVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND IN PART FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUlREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF EDUCATION (EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY) / The pressing need in South Africa to discern on a fair basis the merits of disadvantaged students from deprived educational backg- ounds has been documented dynamic measures of testing which are designed to assess potential and learning processes rather than manifest ability, show much promise in this regard. The present study proposed that a learning processing paradigm which incorporates learning potential would best facilitate the inquiry Into alternative selection measures, This dynamic approach to selection accounts for the modifiability of students' cognitive processes and consequent performance. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of both traditional and learning process selection measures among a group of both advantaged and disadvantaged students. A sample of advantaged and disadvantaged students in the Faculty of Commerce were assessed near the beginning of the academic year on nine different predictors of academic success. The traditional predictors were school marks, intelligence, home background, motivation and inductive reasoning. Learning processing measures were study processes, learning and study skills, learning processes and learning potential. The findings of the present study clearly demonstrated that the traditional measures were invalid predictors of future academic success for the disadvantaged students. Matric results and the test of intellectual functioning were however found to be significantly related to academic performance of advantaged students. The assumption of modifiability of students was supported through a moderator effect by enhancing predictability of disadvantaged students on the basis of the traditional inductive reasoning test. The single best predictor of academic success for the group of students as a whole was the learning process measure. The results suggest that it is wrong to admit disadvantaged students to the university on the basis of manifest functioning. The findings provide support for extending the learning potential and learning processing paradigm into academic prediction and to move more firmly into the educational-modifiable approach. / Andrew Chakane 2019

The VSB/UBC Transition Program is a Ministry of Education Provincial Resource Program for highly academically gifted young adolescents. Unique to British Columbia and Canada since its inception in 1993, the two-year program is currently housed on the UBC campus and affiliated with University Hill Secondary School. Despite an extraordinary range of hurdles - which are fully discussed and analyzed in this study - the eventual establishment of an early entrance to university program is seen as a remarkable accomplishment of educational leadership and organizational learning involving institutional partnerships, flexible governance and a shared commitment to academically gifted young people. The study examined the complexities of implementing a unique educational innovation for academically highly gifted young students in a university setting and in a provincial context which has not traditionally favored support for the highly gifted. The study had two phases. An historical narrative traced the development of this innovation and described how the current program model evolved in response to student needs. Documentary evidence based on original documents and interviews with program developers, implementers, and participants provided a multi-faceted perspective of the program's complex history and highlighted factors contributing to program success for students, as well as problems encountered along the way. Building upon this narrative, the second phase surveyed and then analyzed the views and expectations of students, parents, and staff as well as program planners at different stages of the program. These various perspectives were used to advance an understanding of how and why this unique program developed as it did, and how its participants variously responded to a wide range of expectations and needs to arrive at the current delivery model. The study concludes with a discussion of critical issues and documents the strengths and unmet needs of academically gifted students that have emerged over the course of the program's development. It culminates by providing an understanding of key elements related to program success for gifted youth together with recommendations for future program development and a broader array of programs and services for academically gifted students in secondary schools and post-secondary institutions in BC. The study ends by encouraging more support for educational innovations that respond to the developmentally unique needs of all students, and a commitment to on-going short term as well as longitudinal research on the Transition Program and its graduates.

As part of the transformation agenda of education and training policy, the main thrust of Recognition and Prior Learning (RPL) in the South African policy context was to contribute to addressing social justice issues such as equity, redress and access of the majority of adult learners, who were historically denied access to formal learning. The study focuses on the following critical questions: What are the official policy claims of the assessment and recognition of prior learning at the national and sectoral level? How do assessors mediate official policy in recognising and assessing prior learning of adult learners in an institutional context? What are the experiences and engagements of adult learners in having their prior learning assessed? This research responds to the conceptual gaps in the study of RPL policy and practice and the National Qualifications Framework. The study examines epistemological issues such as: what and whose knowledge is considered as valid; the relationship between knowledge and experience; the relationship between different types of knowledge and learning; and the relationship between knowledge and access to power. The study also addresses a contextual gap: very limited research exists on the RPL experiences of societies in transition with similar transformational agendas as South Africa. The present research study also examines the implementation process in a transitional context, exploring the gap that develops between intended policies and actual practice. This is a qualitative study using the case study approach to examine the complexities of the assessment and recognition of prior learning process in a Technical College Institution located in the Further Education and Training Band. The analysis of selected international case studies of RPL contributed to identifying and exploring conceptual gaps in RPL policy and practice. These conceptual issues provided the first set of preliminary lens for the production, description and analysis of data in the research study. The preliminary lens were then re-interpreted and elaborated in relation to Bernstein 's theory (1996) of symbolic control and cultural production. reproduction and change. The synthesised conceptual framework provided a theoretical vocabulary to redescribe and reinterpret data at deeper levels of abstraction. The key findings of the research were as follows: The undertheorisation of RPL in policy circles and the ways in which policy has tended to gloss over issues such as "equivalence", "integrated competence", knowledge-power dynamics and the differences between mainstream and outsider knowledge; The gap between policy rhetoric and sectoral practice. The sector advocated a technicist approach to RPL that was preoccupied with matching adult experiential learning against prescribed standards. The sector practice marginalized or even excluded adult learners who had acquired their knowledge and learning in non-formal and informal contexts; Nevertheless, assessors who were socially and culturally sensitive to the RPL process had an implicit understanding of the different types of knowledge and knowers. Their developmental approach to RPL provided an enabling environment for adult learners to demonstrate their learning and knowledge from experience. Adult learners without high levels of formal literacy were able to demonstrate their ability to reflect on their experiential learning to transfer their abstract and critical thought processes to solve new problems in the assessment context. The research highlights the commensurability between informal and formal knowledge and the ability of workers who have learnt their skills informally to demonstrate high levels of conceptual and transferable skills. The present research makes the following theoretical contributions: Firstly , Bernstein's theory was extended to examine policy formulation and the policy process. Within the framework of critical policy analysis, a new construct: "relations outside" was created as an analytical tool to examine the nuances of the macro-contexts (historical, political, social, economic) which shape the meaning and significance of policy. Secondly, the research study produces a new conceptual framework to analyse the complex and dynamic nature of RPL policy and practice in a transformational context. The present study advocates a critical and holistic approach to RPL that interrogates how power-relations within and across contextual, epistemological and pedagogical issues reproduce or challenge the existing patterns of inequalities in society. / Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Durban-Westville, 2004.

The purpose of this study was to determine which academic and demographic factors predict students' achievement in the nursing major of a baccalaureate program. Records of 128 full time subjects were examined to extract the factors selected to be included in the analysis.Data pertaining to each independent variable were organized into three distinct groups based on the known performance of each subject following certification. One group passed all course work in the nursing major; one group failed one or more courses in the nursing major delaying completion; and one group was no longer enrolled. To investigate the differences in the group membership, discriminant function analyses were performed to examine academic and demographic predictors. A classification technique was utilized to test the adequacy of each discriminant function analysis. All classification analyses were 72.3 percent and above in probability level.Two null hypotheses guided this study: Hypothesis I proposed that academic factors do not predict attrition and/or retention in a baccalaureate nursing program; and Hypothesis II proposed that demographic factors do not interact with academic factors in predicting success. Hypothesis I was rejected , and Hypothesis II was not fully accepted based on discriminant function analyses.The following conclusions were identified from the findings of this study:1. Grade point averages in the required prerequisite courses predicted group membership (achievement) in the nursing major.2. Grade point averages of 3.0 during progression in the nursing major predicted membership in a group defined as continuing successfully in the first attempt of course work and graduating on time.3. Grade point averages of less than 3.0 following the first semester in the nursing major predicted membership in a group defined as failing at least one course, or perhaps predict membership in a group that will experience attrition.4. Ethnicity made a significant contribution with academic factors to predicting group membership for achievement.These results suggest that nursing educators and counselors need to consider the importance of not only closely monitoring each subject's semester grade point average, but also referring the identified problem to the appropriate service provider for intervention.3 / Department of Educational Leadership

This thesis sets out to answer the following central research question: what are the influences, challenges, benefits and costs of the Central Admission System (CAS) as an e-Governance initiative in improving undergraduates’ admissions service delivery and quality assurance in Tanzania’s higher education institutions?’ In answering this key question, three sub-questions were explored: (1) To what extent and in what ways does the implementation of the CAS influence the organisation of admissions work and workplace relations in higher education institutions? (2) What are the sociotechnical challenges of implementing the CAS? (3) What are the advantages of the CAS in improving admissions service delivery and quality assurance in higher education institutions? The sociotechnical theoretical framework is an ideal for exploring these issues as it accommodates the understanding of dual relationship between social and technological aspects of the CAS in line with the contextual issues in its implementation. The focus of the thesis is on Tanzania’s higher education institutions where the CAS is being implemented. The study is informed by data collected through interviews and documentary analysis. Data organization and analysis was done using NVivo 10 QSR software. The study demonstrates that, notwithstanding the fast development and uptake of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), the implementation of the CAS in Tanzania is hampered by the fact that most of the end-users of CAS (particularly applicants) have relatively low access to the ICT infrastructure. Several factors continue to have a significant effect on the implementation of CAS, which in turn lead to implications for the uptake of improved admissions service delivery and quality assurance. A digital divide, resistance to change by some higher education institutions (HEIs), poor ICT skills among applicants, the costs of internet services, unreliable electricity supply, and inadequate IT experts continue to frustrate the objective of improved admissions service delivery and quality assurance. As a technological innovation in the workplace, the CAS has led to a restructuring of admissions work tasks among admissions officers, a need to review job descriptions, introduced tighter controls over admission work processes, and has shaped admission workers’ professional identities and self-presentations.