Differential Prediction in the Use of the SAT and High School Grades in Predicting College Performance: Joint Effects of Race and Language

The literature on differential prediction of college performance of racial/ethnic minority students for standardized tests and high school grades indicates the use of these predictors often results in overprediction of minority student performance. However, these studies typically involve native English‐speaking students. In contrast, a smaller literature on language proficiency suggests academic performance of those with more limited English language proficiency may be underpredicted by standardized tests. These two literatures have not been well integrated, despite the fact that a number of racial/ethnic minority groups within the United States contain recent immigrant populations or heritage language speakers. This study investigates the joint role of race/ethnicity and language proficiency in Hispanic, Asian, and White ethnic groups across three educational admissions systems (SAT, HSGPA, and their composite) in predicting freshman grades. Our results indicate that language may differentially affect academic outcomes for different racial/ethnic subgroups. The SAT loses predictive power for Asian and White students who speak another best language, whereas it does not for Hispanic students who speak another best language. The differential prediction of college grades of linguistic minorities within racial/ethnic minority subgroups appears to be driven by the verbally loaded subtests of standardized tests but is largely unrelated to quantitative tests.     

Gender‐Based Differential Prediction by Curriculum Samples for College Admissions

A longstanding concern about admissions to higher education is the underprediction of female academic performance by admission test scores. One explanation for these findings is selection system bias, that is, not all relevant KSAOs that are related to academic performance and gender are included in the prediction model. One solution to this problem is to include these omitted KSAOs in the prediction model, many of these KSAOs are 'noncognitive' and “hard‐to‐measure” skills in a high‐stakes context. An alternative approach to capture relevant KSAOs is using representative performance samples. We examined differential prediction of first year‐ and third year academic performance by gender based on a curriculum‐sampling test that was designed as a small‐scale simulation of later college performance. In addition, we examined differential prediction using both frequentist and Bayesian analyses. Our results showed no differential prediction or small female underprediction when using the curriculum‐sampling tests to predict first year GPA, and no differential prediction for predicting third year GPA. In addition, our results suggest that more comprehensive curriculum samples may show less differential prediction. We conclude that curriculum sampling may offer a practically feasible method that yields minimal differential prediction by gender in high‐stakes operational selection settings.     

Minding the Gaps in Absenteeism: Disparities in Absenteeism by Race/Ethnicity,Poverty and Disability

ABSTRACT

Children from certain racial and ethnic minority backgrounds, in poverty, and/or with a disability, often face distinct challenges in attending school, leading them to miss more school relative to their non-minority, more socio-economically advantaged and non-disabled peers. This brief describes these disparities in absenteeism in the US, discusses the challenge of explaining these disparities, and considers the implications that disparities have for addressing absenteeism. Finally, it closes with advice on how schools can make headway in reducing disparities in absenteeism. As this brief argues, while schools can readily document absenteeism gaps, diagnosing the root causes of these gaps remains much more elusive. Further, schools seeking to reduce disparities in absenteeism will not only need to intentionally establish explicit targets to reduce such gaps, but they will need to develop individualized strategies to remove barriers to attendance thereby getting children—especially those facing disproportionate challenges—back into the classroom.     

An Ecological Perspective of Latina/o College Student Ethnicity

Although Latinos are the largest minority population in the United States and the largest minority population on American campuses, there is little research concerning Latino college student ethnic identity. This study incorporates an ecological model to examine the levels of influence of different settings and backgrounds of Latino college students. The findings show that Latinos from different countries of origin and within the same countries of origin identify their ethnic identity differently depending on several factors including generation, immigration status, country of origin, language preferences, and discrimination.     

大学英语写作多级评改模式探析与思考

英语写作教学中传统单一的教师评改已不再符合教学模式多元化和评价多元化的教学改革要求,以合作学习理论和二语习得相关理论为基础,尝试性地提出"评改培训→同学自评→同学互评→心得交流→教师评改"多级评改五步法,旨在实现写作评改的科学性?发展性?实用性和公正性,在提高写作评改质量的同时,提高学生的英语写作水平。     

高校英语四级通过率预测模型

研究高校学生管理工作的特点,设计了单正态云预测模型,并用于大学生英语四级一次性通过率预测,实验证明了该预测模型及方法的合理性和有效性,可以有效辅助提高高校日常管理工作的可预见性．为其各项决策提供参考依据．     

Estimation of MIMIC Model Parameters with Multilevel Data

The purpose of this simulation study was to assess the performance of latent variable models that take into account the complex sampling mechanism that often underlies data used in educational, psychological, and other social science research. Analyses were conducted using the multiple indicator multiple cause (MIMIC) model, which is a flexible and effective tool for relating observed and latent variables. The data were simulated in a hierarchical framework (e.g., individuals nested in schools) so that a multilevel modeling approach would be appropriate. Analyses were conducted accounting for and not accounting for the nested data to determine the impact of ignoring such multilevel data structures in full structural equation models. Results highlight the differences in modeling results when the analytic strategy is congruent with the data structure and what occurs when this congruency is absent. Type I error rates and power for the standard and multilevel methods were similar for within-cluster variables and for the multilevel model with between-cluster variables. However, Type I error rates were inflated for the standard approach when modeling between-cluster variables.     

Breaking it Down: Engineering Student STEM Confidence at the Intersection of Race/Ethnicity and Gender

It is generally accepted that engineering requires a strong aptitude for mathematics and science; therefore, students’ judgments regarding their competence in these areas as well as engineering likely influence their confidence in engineering. Little is known about how self-confidence in science, mathematics, and engineering courses (STEM confidence) varies at the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender. To fill this gap, this study examined the STEM confidence of multiple groups in undergraduate engineering programs. Results indicated that although some underrepresented groups may have lower STEM confidence overall, this finding no longer applies to all groups after controlling for personal, environmental, and behavioral factors. Specifically, African-American and Hispanic men report higher average STEM confidence than White men after controlling for these associated measures. In addition, White women continue to report lower average STEM confidence than White men after controlling for these measures, while other groups do not differ from White men. Further, many elements of student perception, including student views of professors, comparisons to peers, perceptions of the field as rewarding, and desirability of chosen major are positively associated with student STEM confidence. The changing patterns of significance for race/ethnicity and gender groups between the two models indicate that personal, environmental, and behavioral factors have different relationships with STEM confidence levels for different groups. This study contributes an understanding that gender differences in STEM confidence are not indifferent to racial and ethnic context. Social-cognitive theory provides a valuable framework for studying student academic confidence and would improve future self-confidence research.     

江河竞渡的优化模型

就竞渡策略问题建立了竞渡路线优化模型.首先,就题中前两问所提出的问题给出了较为精确的答案.然后分析得出了1934年和2002年完成赛事的选手条件,较好的解释了两次比赛成功者的比例悬殊的原因.在随后的问题分析中,我们提出了依据水速的变化来改变竞渡者速度方向的思路,并建立模型I和模型II,利用VB和mathematic软件编程得出问题的最优解.     

The Confluence of Race,Gender, and Class Among Community College Students: Assessing Attitudes Toward Affirmative Action in College Admissions

This article examines the attitudes of baccalaureate aspiring community college students with regard to affirmative action in college admissions. Using data from UCLA's Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) Annual Freshman Year Survey, the study assessed determinants of approval or disapproval of affirmative action for 20,339 community college students. Because students in traditionally disadvantaged groups (e.g., first-generation, racial/ethnic minorities, female, and low-income) are overrepresented at the community college, critical theoretical perspectives concerning social mobility and self-interest were utilized to guide the study. The findings indicate that race/ethnicity and political views were significant predictors of affirmative action attitudes for males and females. The impact of family income and transfer intent significantly contributed to male support for abolishing affirmative action. Age yielded a significant association for support of affirmative action as reported by older African American and white students.     

Texas Community College Graduation and Persistence Rates as a Function of Student Ethnicity

In this investigation, the graduation and persistence rates of Texas community college students by ethnic membership (i.e., White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian) for the 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 academic years were examined. Statistically significant differences were present between the 2000 and the 2010 graduation and persistence rates for all four ethnic groups. Trends were also revealed for the graduation and persistence rates for all ethnic groups between the 2000 and the 2010 academic years. Results were congruent with the results of other researchers concerning differences in the graduation and persistence rates between White students and their Black and Hispanic counterparts.     

脉冲条件下具周期时滞的竞争模型的周期正解

使用Mawhin重合度理论的连续性定理和拓扑度理论，对脉冲条件下具周期时滞的竞争模型进行研究，得到了该模型周期正解存在的充分必要条件．     

Rank in High School Graduating Classes of Various Sizes as a Predictor of College Grades

Abstract

To explore the relationship between chance in student attitudes toward a class in which they were participating and final achievement in that class, five equivalent forms of a 26-item attitude scale were administered at two-week intervals to 573 university students In three courses. Coefficients of correlation between the various sequential attitude scores and final achievement, with aptitude held constants were computed in the three situations. Some evidence was found to support the hypothesis that attitudes become progressively more closely related to final achievement throughout the period of Instruction     

构建个性化教学与自主学习相结合的大学英语教学模式

我国各地区、各高校以及各个学生情况差异较大,大学英语教学应贯彻分类指导、因材施教的原则,充分发挥计算机可单独且反复进行语言训练的特点,兼顾语言学习的灵活性及特殊性,融合教师个性化教学和学生自主学习,形成优势互补,从而建构能较快提高学生英语综合应用能力并达到最佳学习效果的大学英语教学新模式。     

多级评价的四步协调模式

本文以W.K.凯洛格基金会的释放资源倡议（Unleashing resources initiative）的评估工作为例,阐述了适用于协调多级评价的一般四步模式。我们检阅了相关文献,提出了协调对于多级评价的必要性,解释了四步模式,讨论了这一模式的优点,并提出了运用该协调模式时应注意的问题。     

基于BP神经网络的大学生耐力跑能力的预测模型

为研究学生的身高、体重、肺活量、跳绳成绩对我国大学生耐跑能力的影响,对研究对象进行体质健康的测试,获得了35个学生的测试结果.通过分析这些数据之间的联系,在建立预测模型的基础上,将学生实际的800米(女)或1000米(男)成绩和预测值进行对比分析.结果表明:BP神经网络预测模型可以很好的预测出学生的800米(女)或1000米(男)成绩,最大误差小于7％,为研究大学生的耐力跑水平提供了一种新的方法支持.     

Literacy as a Unidimensional Multilevel Construct: Validation,Sources of Influence,and Implications in a Longitudinal Study in Grades 1 to 4

This study examined the extent to which literacy is a unitary construct, the differences between literacy and general language competence, and the relative roles of teachers and students in predicting literacy outcomes. Much of past research failed to make a distinction between variability in outcomes for individual students and variability for outcomes in the classrooms students share (i.e., the classroom level). Utilizing data from 1,342 students in 127 classrooms in Grades 1 to 4 in 17 high-poverty schools, confirmatory factor models were fit with single- and two-factor structures at both student and classroom levels. Results support a unitary literacy factor for reading and spelling, with the role of phonological awareness as an indicator of literacy declining across the grades. Writing was the least related to the literacy factor but the most impacted by teacher effects. Language competence was distinct at the student level but perfectly correlated with literacy at the classroom level. Implications for instruction and assessment of reading comprehension are discussed.     

高校学生思想及行为测量预测理论模型研究

为掌握学生思想和行为特点,通过文献评阅和专家咨询明确了相关影响因素和关键流程要素,借鉴大数据处理技术,形成了可用于测量和预测高校学生思想特点和行为规律的理论模型.     

Students' Perceptions of and Satisfaction with Group Grades and the Group Experience in the College Classroom

The group approach to learning is widely accepted by higher education researchers as an effective teaching and learning tool. While there are numerous instructional, learning and social communication advantages for both students and teachers using group projects in the college classroom, a need exists for a better understanding of group projects from the student's perspective. The purpose of this investigation was to measure students' perceptions of group grades and group satisfaction on group projects in the college classroom. A cohort of 230 students from a large southern metropolitan university enrolled in sections of Group Interaction and Decision Making and Conflict Management classes participated in this study. The major findings of this study revealed that: (i) the less group grade experience that a student has, the more likely they are to agree that everyone in the group deserves the same group grade; (ii) students who work part-time are more likely to think that a group grade is a fair assessment of their contributions than students who work full-time; (iii) older students are more likely to be dissatisfied with a group grade experience than middle and younger age students. It is recommended that this study be extended to include comparison groups, graduate students and other disciplines.     

Differential Prediction of Study Success Across Academic Programs in the Swedish Context: The Validity of Grades and Tests as Selection Instruments for Higher Education

The purpose of the study is to investigate the predictive validity of criterion- and norm-referenced grades and the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test (SweSAT) and, in particular, possible differences in the prediction of achievement in higher education across academic programs. The analyses were based on credit points obtained by 164,106 Swedish students during the years 1993 to 2001. Two-level modeling with randomly varying slopes with academic program as cluster variable was used. The results provide means and variances of the slopes across the different programs. Variability in the slopes because of program subject area was also investigated. The results indicate that the validity of grades, irrespective of grading system, is stronger in comparison with SweSAT scores. The results also indicate considerable differences in predictive power across programs for the SweSAT, whereas there are much smaller differences for norm-referenced grades and relatively modest differences for criterion-referenced grades. The impact of program subject area on the variability of prediction was substantial for SweSAT scores.