The purpose of this study was to compare final grades of dual enrollment students in English Composition I (ENGL 1010) and College Algebra (MATH 1130) at VSCC. The study focused on whether students admitted to these courses using COMPASS Writing and/or Math scores are as successful as students admitted to these courses using ACT English and/or Math subscores. Additionally, the researcher examined whether there were differences related to gender and race-ethnicity for each course by entry method. Final courses grades were used to determine success. The population consisted of 4,156 dual enrollment students and was broken down into 2 groups: ACT-admitted dual enrollment students and COMPASS-admitted dual enrollment students. For this study 5,138 dual enrollment grades were used in calculations. Chi-square tests were used to determine significance in the final grades of both groups of students.
The quantitative findings revealed no significant difference between ACT-admitted students and COMPASS-admitted students when comparing final grades in English Composition. There was a significant difference within the two groups when comparing final grades in College Algebra with ACT-admitted students scoring significantly higher grades than COMPASS-admitted students. Additionally, findings indicated COMPASS-admitted females scored more grades of A than ACT-admitted females in English Composition while ACT-admitted males earned more grades of A than COMPASS-admitted females. The difference was significant in College Algebra with both ACT-admitted females and males being at least twice as likely as COMPASS-admitted females and males to score grades of A. While there was no significant difference when comparing final grades between the white ACT-admitted students and white COMPASS-admitted students in English, significance did exist for the White students in College Algebra. White ACT-admitted students had significantly higher percentages of grades of A than white COMPASS-admitted students in College Algebra. Lastly, although data could not be analyzed for non-Whites in English Composition or College Algebra, when reviewing the percentages for both courses, ACT-admitted students’ A grade percentages were higher.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-4011 |
| Date | 01 May 2016 |
| Creators | Ellison, Yolanda |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright by the authors. |
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