In response to a call for research on using the SATs and ACTs for U.S.-based college and university admissions, researchers systematically interrogated the literature surrounding both tests, using a framework for validity evidence built upon the "Standards of Educational and Psychological Testing" and Kane's contemporary view of…

We analyze admissions and transcript records for students at multiple Ivy-Plus colleges to study the relationship between standardized (SAT/ACT) test scores, high school GPA, and first-year college grades. Standardized test scores predict academic outcomes with a normalized slope four times greater than that from high school GPA, all conditional…

Academia and education advocates have reported a concern about the elimination of art and music education classes from high school curriculums in the United States. Studies using mean SAT test scores from 1984 and 1994 versions of the SAT test indicated participants who had art and music education classes had higher verbal and mathematical SAT…

In the 1930s, American colleges and universities began to screen applications using the SAT, a mass-administered, IQ-descended standardized test. The widespread adoption of the test accompanied the development of the world's first mass higher education system--and served to promote the idea that the United States was becoming a…

As homeschooling numbers rose following the COVID-19 pandemic, nontraditional education such as hybrid homeschooling was reported as a desirable option by parents. This dissertation examines the academic outcomes of homeschool and hybrid homeschool students in Georgia following the rise of post-COVID nontraditional education. Hybrid homeschooling,…

The topic for this quantitative correlational study was the low proficiency in reading comprehension of graduates in the Jacksonville metropolitan area of North Florida. The research problem explored a statistically significant correlation between the Emotional Quotient score of the Emotional Intelligence inventory and individualized outcome…

This paper studies the causal impacts of public universities on the outcomes of their marginally admitted students. I use administrative admission records spanning all 35 public universities in Texas, which collectively enroll 10 percent of American public university students, to systematically identify and employ decentralized cutoffs in SAT/ACT…

The purpose of this quantitative ex post facto study is to determine if and to what extent is there a statistically significant difference in math aptitude, as measured by SAT-Math scores, between African American male and female public high school students enrolled in a STEM program versus those enrolled in a non-STEM program in a high school of…

Academic dishonesty is becoming more common among university students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-based programs. This is concerning because these students hold positions of responsibility in their professional careers. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine if a student's academic standing and/or…

While there is a growing body of literature related to the benefits of participation in career and technical education (CTE) in high school, there remains a dearth of causal work in this area. Relying on administrative data from Baltimore City Public Schools, which uses a ranking system with a strict cut score to assign students into CTE-focused…

This paper studies the causal impacts of public universities on the outcomes of their marginally admitted students. I use administrative admission records spanning all 35 public universities in Texas, which collectively enroll 10 percent of American public university students, to systematically identify and employ decentralized cutoffs in SAT/ACT…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between race, high school graduation, Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, and four-year college-going rates. The setting included 89 school districts that were located in two adjacent suburban counties in New York State: Nassau and Suffolk. A Pearson Product-Moment correlation analysis,…

This quantitative study used archived student records to determine which high school and postsecondary factors are the most significant predictors of college retention among 2,175 students enrolled at the University of West Georgia in Fall 2018. A two-tailed t-test was conducted for research questions one and two to analyze the high school GPAs…

As access to higher education increases, it is important to monitor students with special needs to facilitate the provision of appropriate resources and support. Although metrics such as the "reading readiness" ACT (formerly American College Testing) of provide insight into how many students may need such resources, they do not specify…

Grade inflation is causing student's hard work to be undervalued. As high grades get easier and easier to achieve, the highest grades can only go up so far. The difference between excellent and decent is compressed. Everybody wins is a system that guides and shapes the mindset of most American students--except a small number of kids who lose out…