The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of per pupil expenditure and high school size in public school corporations upon academic success in college. A random sampling of 196 students from the entering classes of 1963 and 1964 served as the study population. Sex of the student, rank in high school class and SAT verbal scores were used for comparative purposes. Per pupil expenditures and class rankings were converted to T scores in order to afford comparability in both areas.The statistical treatment involved computation of the Pearson product moment of correlation for every combination of variables and a stepwise regression analysis with grade point average as the dependent variable. The two null hypotheses and question number one were tested through this treatment. In order to answer questions involving the relationship of sub-groups within the sample population six other regression analyses were made. These involved subgroups determined by the number of quarters of college completed and by high and low ranking in class as determined by college grade point average. The two null hypotheses were as follows: 1. There is no significant correlation between the expenditure per pupil in public school and the academic success of their graduates as indicated by grade point average in college. 2. There is no significant correlation between the graduating class size in public high school and the academic success of their graduates as indicated by grade point average in college. The questions explored were as follows: 1. Is there a correlation between per pupil expenditure in public school corporations and graduating class size of high schools in these corporations? 2. Is per pupil expenditure or size of high school graduating class related to the number of years of college attended by a corporations graduates? 3. Are per pupil expenditure or graduating class size useful predictors of academic success for groups of students who have terminated their college education during their first year, their second year, third year, or at the completion of their fourth year of college? 4. Do either high school graduating class size or per pupil expenditure relate to the prediction of academic success when that group of students with the highest ranked grade point average and another group with the lowest ranked grade point average are considered separately? The first null hypothesis was rejected. Although the practical importance of the correlation was slight it was significant. The second null hypothesis was accepted. Question number one was answered affirmatively. The results obtained from investigation of other questions involving sub-groups were similar to the findings for the total group. Some of the conclusions were as follows: 1. There is no solid agreement by writers in the field of education as to what constitutes the ideal high school size. 2. Although the simple correlation of per pupil expenditure and college academic success is -.018, per pupil expenditure does add slight significant value in the prediction of academic success after high school rank and SAT verbal scores have been considered. 3. No significant correlation exists between high school graduating class size and academicsuccess in college. 7. Of the variables considered in this study, high school class rank is the best predictor of further academic success. 9. High school class size is not a determining factor in how long a student remains in college. 11. There are no marked differences between the results obtained when considering the effect of high school graduating class size and per pupil expenditure upon college academic success when computed using the entire study sample than when only the top fifty and the bottom fifty academically ranked college students are considered. 12. Class size is not a factor in the determination of how many quarters a student will complete in college.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/175066 |
| Date | January 1970 |
| Creators | Bernhardt, Charles W. |
| Contributors | Linson, Robert E. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | iv, 85 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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