This paper reports obtained correlations between scores on entrance tests, and between entrance scores and scholastic rating during the first semester of college work, for students entering Coe College in September, 1940

Greene, Paul C.

English

University of Northern Iowa

Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science Volume 48 Annual Issue Article 102 1941 Some Relationships between Placement Scores and Scholastic Rating Paul C. Greene Syracuse University Copyright ©1941 Iowa Academy of Science, Inc. Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias Recommended Citation Greene, Paul C. (1941) "Some Relationships between Placement Scores and Scholastic Rating," Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, 48(1), 361-366. Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol48/iss1/102 This Research is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa Academy of Science at UNI ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science by an authorized editor of UNI ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact scholarworks@uni.edu. SOME RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PLACEMENT SCORES AND SCHOLASTIC RATING PAUL c. GREENE PURPOSE This paper reports obtained correlations between scores on en-trance tests, and between entrance scores and scholastic rating during the first semester of college work, for students entering Coe College in September, 1940. J\fETHOD 1. The Testing Program. The test-battery included: the (Thurstone & Thurstone) "Amer-ican Council on Education Psychological Examination for College Freshmen," 19,tO machine-scoring edition; the "Nelson-Denny Reading Test for Co1legcs and Senior High Schools," Form A; the "Minnesota Speed of Reading Test for College Students," Form A; the 19'10 edition of the (Derby et al.) "English Placement Test for Iowa Unfrcrsities and Colleges" (supplemented by an original hour-essay written by the students and graded by members of the English Department), and the Series A "Pitch" and "Rhythm" discrimination tests from the Seashore "::\Ieasures of Musical Tal-ent" ( 1939 edition, revised by Seashore, Lewis and Saetveit). Each music test was administered twice in succession. Table 1 in-dicates the content or subdivisions of the individual members of the test battery. Table 1. 1940 Batter.1J of Entrance Tests. 1. ACE Psychological Examination. Linguistic (L) Tests: Completion, Same-Opposites, Verbal Analogies. Quantitative ( Q) Tests: Arithmetic, Figure An-alogies, Number Series. 2. Nelson-Denny Reading Test for Colleges and Senior High Schools Vocabulary Test, Paragraph Reading Test. 3. Minnesota Speed of Reading Test: 38 paragraphs, irrelevant phrases to be crossed out. 4. English Placement Test for Iowa Universities and Colleges: Spelling, \Vord Usage, Punctuation, Grammar, Sentence Usage, \Vord l\Ieaning, Paragraph Comprehension. 5. Original Hour-Essay (graded by members of the English Dept.). 361 1Greene: Some Relationships between Placement Scores and Scholastic RatingPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1941362 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [VoL. XLVIII 6. Seashore Measures of Musical Talent (Revised): Pitch Dis-crimination, Rhythm Discrimination. Decile ranks on total scores and (or) sub-scores of these tests were used (a) as evidences of general college ability, (b) as aids to counselling in regard to the selection of courses, ( c) as bases for sectioning (particularly in the first-year English courses), and (or) ( d) in the case of the music tests, to assist the Depart-ment of Music in the early identification of students who might possess unrecognized abilities for musical appreciation or perform-ance. 2. The Index of Scholastic Rating. The Grade Point Ratio is the ratio of the number of hours of course-work carried to the number of grade points earned, where: A= 3, B = 2, C = I, D = O,and F = -1. The following procedures were followed in determining the grade point ratio: (a) The courses in Physical Education, Military Science and Practical Music were not considered in computing the ratio. (b) Standing in the remedial course in "English Fundament-als," required of freshmen scoring below a critical point in the English Placement and English Essay Tests, was not considered. This is a non-credit course for which a mark of either "O.K." or "F" is assigned. ( c) A grade of "X" was credited with zero honor points. This grade may be assigned at the conclusion of the first semester of a year-course when the student is near the borderline between pass-ing work and failure. At the end of the year the instructor reports, on the basis of the student's work during the second semester, whether the "X" is to be recorded as a "D" or as an "F". Should the student fail to continue with the course during the second se-mester, the "X" automatically becomes an "F". The procedure fol-lowed in computing the G. P. R. was equivalent to giving grade "X" the honor point rating of grade "D", namely 0 points. ( d) Standing in courses in which the semester grade was re-corded as "incomplete" was omitted from consideration in comput-ing the G. P. R. In the exceptional instances in which a stu-dent's record consisted primarily of "incompletes," the entire rec-ord was eliminated from consideration. ( e) The records of those students for whom scores were lacking on one or more of the placement tests were discarded except in ten instances in which scores on the "Measures of Musical Talent" were not available. 2Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 48 [1941], No. 1, Art. 102https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol48/iss1/1021941] PLACEMENT SCORES 363 3. The Correlational Analyses. Pearson's rs were obtained between the various entrance tests, using raw scores except in the case of the Nelson-Denny Reading Test, where percentiles were used. Results of the English Essay Test are not considered in this report. Scores on the several entrance tests also were correlated against the G. P. R. for the first semester of college work. An r was ob-tained between the G. P. R. and percentiles based on (unweighted) summated total scores on the A. C. E., English Placement, Xelson-Denny, and Minnesota Speed of Reading Tests. A multiple (R) also was obtained between the G. P. R. and (weighted) total scores on the same combination of tests. N equals 210 cases for correlations involving scores on the tests of pitch discrimination and rhythm discrimination. N is 220 for all other correlations. RESULTS 1. Relationships Between G. P. R. and Entrance Scores. Table 2 presents the obtained rs between total or sub-scores on the various tests and the grade-point ratio. Statements here are grouped according to related tests or sub-tests. In Table 3 the relationships are indicated in rank order (high to low) according to size of the "Index of Forecasting Efficiency" (Ip), where Ip is defined as = I -\h - r2 • This index indicates the improve-ment over chance in prediction from a regression equation by a given score. Table 2. G. P. R. v.,. Entrance Scores Tests r PEr Ip N 1. ACE-T .43 .04 .10 220 2. ACE-T (m) .40 .05 .08 118 3. ACE-T (f) .55 .05 .16 102 4. ACE-L .44 .04 .10 220 5. ACE-Q .27 .04 .04 220 6. Eng. Pl. .56 .03 .17 220 7. N-D H. T. (P) .47 .04 .12 220 8. Minn. Sp. R. .50 .03 .14 220 9. Rhvthm D. .22 .04 .03 210 10. Pit.ch D. .14 .06 .01 210 The r between G. P. R. and (unweighted) summated total scores on the ACE totals, English Placement, Nelson-Denny (P) and Minnesota Speed of Reading Test = .49 ± .03 (Ip = .13). The multiple R for the same data = .59 ± .03. (Ip = .20). 3Greene: Some Relationships between Placement Scores and Scholastic RatingPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1941364 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [YoL. XLYIII Table 3. G. P. R. vs. Entrance Scores Test r PEr Ip I N Eng. PL .56 .03 .17 220 ~Iinn. R. s. .50 .03 .14 220 N-D R. T. (P) .47 .04 .12 220 ACE-L .44 .04 .10 220 ACE-T .43 .04 .10 220 ACE-Q .27 .04 .04 220 Hhvthm D. .22 .04 .03 210 Pitch D. .14 .06 .01 210 2. Relationships Between Scores on Tests and Sub-Tests. Table 4 presents the obtained rs between scores on entrance tests or sub-tests, grouped according to content. In Table 5 the relationships are indicated in rank order (high to low) according to size of Ip. Table 4. Inter-rs, Entrance Scores Tests r I PEr Ip N ACE-T vs. Eng. PL .76 .02 .35 220 R. C. (P) .78 .02 .37 220 R. s. .64 .oa .23 220 ACE-L vs. Eng. PL .80 .02 .40 220 R. C. (P) .85 .01 .47 220 R. s. .63 .03 .22 220 ACE-Q .61 .03 .21 220 Eng. PL vs. ACE-T .76 .02 .35 220 ACE-L .80 .02 .40 220 R. C. (P) .78 .02 .37 220 R. s. .6·1. .03 .23 220 R. C. (P) vs. ACE-T .78 .02 .37 220 ACE-L .85 .01 .47 220 Eng. PL .78 .02 .37 220 R. s. .66 .03 .2.5 220 R. s. vs. ACE-T .6.t .03 .23 220 ACE-L .63 .03 .22 220 Eng. Pl. .64 .03 .23 220 R.C.(P) .66 .03 .25 220 P. D. vs. R. D. .30 .04 .05 210 P. D. vs. ACE-T .2t .oi .03 210 R. D. VS. ACE-T .28 .04 .04' 210 T"ble 5. Inter-rs, FJntrance Scores (Arranged According to Size of_!JiJ_ Tests r PEr Ip N R. C. (P) vs. ENG. PL ENG. PL R. C (P) Eng. PL H. C. (P) Enu:. Pl. ACE-L ACR-L P. D. R. D. P. D. ACE-L ACE-L R. C. (P) ACE-T ACE-T R. s. H. S. R. S. ACE-Q R. D. ACE-T ACE-T ------------------.8.5 .80 .78 .78 .76 .66 .64' .63 .61 .30 .28 .2.t .01 .02 .02 .02 .02 .03 .03 .03 .03 .04 .04 .Ot .47 .40 .37 .37 .35 .25 .23 .22 .21 .05 .04 .03 220 220 220 220 220 220 220 220 220 1210 210 4Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 48 [1941], No. 1, Art. 102https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol48/iss1/1021941] PLACEMENT SCORES 365 D1sci:ss10N I. The obtained rs between G. P. R. for the first semester of college work and scores on the scholastic entrance tests are within the range of those usually obtained.1 These relationships are of limited utility in the prediction of scholastic rating of a given in-diYidnal from a knowledge of test-scores. 2. The degree of relationship between G. P. R. and weighted scores on the scholastic entrance tests shows little advantage for prediction as compared with the unweighted scores for the same tests. 3. Ranks based on weighted scores on the combined scholastic entrance tests would appear to offer little advantage, for individual prediction of scholastic rating, as compared with rank on the in-dividual placement tests for which the zero-order rs with G. P. R. are largest. 4. Of the individual measures used, rank on the English Placl'-ment Test is most highly related to G. P. R. It should be noted that G. P. R. for most of the students took account of grade re-ceived in a three-credit course in Constructive English. 5. At least for the purposes for which the tests were used in the local situation, it would seem that the American Council test is useful mainly for the following purposes: (a) Comparison of the performance of the local group with an extensive national sample on which norms usually are available near the close of the aca-demic year during which the tests may be given; and (b) as giv-ing some estimate of the student's relative rating in verbal and numerical facility. 6. This study reports no evidence concerning the factors ac-counting for the order of the relationships found. Factors limit-ing the relationships might include: (a) Characteristics intrinsic to the tests or (and) the test-situation; (b) the number, selection and grading systems of the various instructors contributing to the scholastic rating of the students; and ( c) factors operating within the student when tested (novelty of the situation, physical factors, cooperation and motivation) or while engaged in college work (physical and motivational factors, extra-curricular activities, ade-quacy of work habits). 1 For a contemporary review of the recent literature on this point, see Harris, D., "Factors Affectinp: Collep:e Grades: A Review of the Liter-ature, HJ30-HJ37," Psychol. Bull., lfHO, 37, 125-166. See pp. 125-127. 5Greene: Some Relationships between Placement Scores and Scholastic RatingPublished by UNI ScholarWorks, 1941366 IOWA ACADEMY OF SCIENCE [VoL. XLVIII 7. It appears that for individual prediction of scholastic accom-plishment, the criteria reported in this study should be supple-mented by other indices. DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY, SYRACUSE, NEW y ORK. 6Proceedings of the Iowa Academy of Science, Vol. 48 [1941], No. 1, Art. 102https://scholarworks.uni.edu/pias/vol48/iss1/102

Some Relationships between Placement Scores and Scholastic Rating

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Some Relationships between Placement Scores and Scholastic Rating

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