Academic Performance 1
Running head: ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE AND DISCIPLINE OF
COLLEGE STUDENTS
Academic Performance and Discipline of College
Students in Relation to Prior Public or Non-Public High School Education
Alex Beguiristain
Loyola University New Orleans
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Abstract
The present study was conducted to determine if there was a relationship between college
academic success and what type of high school (either public or non-public) an individual has
attended. Forty-seven participants (36 women and 11 men) from introductory psychology and
sociology classes were surveyed. The independent variable was the type of high school with two
levels: public and non-public. The dependent variable was college academic success. Results
supported the research hypothesis that there were no differences in college academic success
between public and non-public high school graduates. The participants’ ratings about their study
skills, approximate number of study hours spent per week on college study and desired high level
degree were strong predictors of college academic success.
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Academic Performance and Discipline of College Students in
Relation to Prior Public or Non-Public High School Education
Throughout recent decades, non-public high school officials have believed that their
high schools promote higher academic achievement and discipline more effectively than public
high schools. On the other hand, public high school officials believe that both public high
schools and non-public schools are equally effective in helping their graduates academically
succeed in college. Also, both public and non-public high schools have been shown to have
different academic curriculums. Most private high schools have been shown to put more
emphasis on college preparation while public high schools have been shown to put emphasis on
labor force preparation (Coleman & Hoffer, 1987). In addition, private high schools have shown
to offer more advanced science and math courses, such as algebra II, trigonometry, etc., than
public high schools (The National Center for Education Statistics, 1997).
Moreover, many psychologists have used the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the
American College Test (ACT) to predict college academic success of both public and non-public
high school students. Gibbins and Bickel (1991) did research to see whether or not there were
any differences in academic achievement between public and private high schools. Two SAT
data sets from Florida and a national SAT data set were analyzed (Gibbins & Bickel, 1991). The
national data set included a 10% random sample of US high school students who took the SAT
in the 1983-1984 high school year. The Florida data sets only included results from high school
students who took the SAT during the 1982-1984 high school years. In addition, Gibbins and
Bickel (1991) used a Student Descriptive Questionnaire (SDQ) to obtain non-academic variables,
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such as gender, race, and socioeconomic status from their participants. The independent variable
was the type of high school with two levels: public and private. The dependent variable was
academic performance. The results showed SAT had two limitations. Firstly, only about half of
all high school students take the SAT. Secondly, the SAT was originally designed to measure a
high students’ aptitude rather than academic success (Gibbins and Bickel, 1991). Also, statistical
results of the study did not prove that non-public high schools were more efficient than public
high schools in instilling academic discipline and effective study skills in their graduates.
Similarly, research has been done to see whether or not ACT composite scores from
both private and public high school graduates predicted college academic success. The ACT
measures a high school student’s knowledge of a variety of subjects, such as social studies,
mathematics, natural sciences and English (Thompson, 1976). Thompson (1976) used ACT
composite scores from a random sample of 996 of freshman and sophomores, to measure a
college student’s mental capacity to do academic work. Also, Thompson (1976) tested the
validity of the Student Attitudes Inventory (SAI) by combining its’ results with the
participants’ ACT composite scores. The SAI was a type of questionnaire that measured an
individual’s motivation, study methods, testing techniques, and the ability to do academic
work without being distracted. The independent variables were the SAI scores while the
dependent variable was college GPA. Statistical results showed that college success was
easier to predict when the participants’ ACT composite scores were added with their SAI
results.
Likewise, non-intellectual factors, such as academic discipline, anxiety, study skills,
and assessment tests scores, have been shown to be stronger predictors of college academic
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success than the type of high school an individual has attended. McCausland and Stewart
(1974) studied non-intellectual factors and randomly selected forty-seven male and fifty-nine
female college freshmen students. The Study Habits Inventory (SHI), classroom attendance
(ATT), the American College Test (ACT) and the participants’ first semester GPA were used
to test the participants. Results showed that both a freshmen college student’s GPA and ACT
composite score were the best predictors of academic success. In addition, statistical results
showed that the relationship between non-academic factors, such as academic aptitude, study
skills and academic discipline, and academic success was very difficult to comprehend. For
this reason, we decided to conduct the present study to research whether or not there was an
unknown relationship between non-intellectual factors and academic success of both private
and public high school graduates.
Another study conducted by Reiter (1964) tried to determine if there was a
relationship between non-academic factors and academic success of college freshmen and
sophomore students. Participants were 76 randomly selected male and female college
students from an introductory psychology course. The independent variable was college
success while the dependent variable was the college GPA. Statistical results showed that
high school achievement was a superior predictor of academic success (Reiter, 1964). Also,
Reiter (1964) stated that non-intellectual factors, such as anxiety, academic discipline, and
SAT composite scores, were not proven to be true predictors of academic success. In the same
way, Mouw and Khanna (1993) did a review study on predicting academic success and
pointed out that the best predictors of academic success were high school academic
performance and aptitude test performance on both the ACT and SAT tests. Also, non-
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academic factors, such as social class, personality traits, part time employment, and attitudes
toward an academic atmosphere were shown not to predict college success. The present study
hypothesized that if both public and non-public high school graduates would have equal
academic performance and discipline rates then a high school graduate’s academic
performance and discipline in college were determined by non-academic factors, such as the
readiness to learn, study skills, and attitudes.
Method
Participants
Forty-seven under-graduate university students (36 women and 11 men, mean age = 19
years) volunteered to participate. All participants were recruited using convenience sampling and
were given extra credit from their professors. Also, all participants were treated in compliance to
the “ Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct” (American Psychological
Association, 1992).
Materials
The participants who consented to do the consent forms were asked to provide some
demographic information about themselves such as in what state they had attended high school.
Also, the participants’ academic success and discipline were measured by their responses to
fifteen
impersonal questions dealing with their former high schools and their college life such as
checking off an option that best corresponded to how they felt about their high schools’ and
Loyola’s academic standards. In addition, the participants were asked to provide their
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approximate GPA and ACT or SAT scores. The questionnaire that was used in the present study
can be found in the appendix section of this paper.
Design and Procedure
The study was a single variable, quasi-experiment with a between subjects design. The
independent variable was the type of high school, with two levels: public and non-public
schools. The dependent variable was college academic performance which was measured by
the participants’ GPA. The control used in the present study was eliminating participants who
were either older than 23 years of age or attended a high school outside of US territory.
When the time came to perform the experiment, we first requested various Loyola
faculty to announce to their classes that a project that wished to study college success based
on the high school attended needed volunteers to participate in the study. A sheet of times was
distributed for the students to sign up for the study. Participants were tested in classrooms on
the Loyola University campus. The study took place on weekdays between the hours of 11:00
am and 7:00 pm during Spring 2001. Before consent forms were distributed, the participants
were informed that the experiment that they were about to participate in only required them to
fill out a 15minute survey questionnaire. Two consent forms were distributed and participants
were told that if they wanted the results of the experiment to write either their e-mail or
residence address on one of the consent forms that was handed in with a written signature.
After all the participants consented and signed their consent forms, we collected the consent
forms and distributed survey packets.
Moreover, the survey asked participants to answer some demographic information and
questions about the high school they attended and Loyola University. After all consent forms
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were collected, the participants were debriefed. Proof of participation sheets with our
signatures were distributed to all the participants to turn in to their professors for extra credit.
Results
The present study supported the research hypothesis that stated that both public and
private high school graduates would achieve equal college academic performance. Analysis
provided descriptive statistical data for the participants’ number of A’s earned in their most
recent semester (M = 2.9, SD = 2.5), GPA (M =3.2, SD = .64), and approximate number of
hours devoted to their college study (M = 9.4, SD = 7.4). The means for the participants’
ratings about their high school and college academic standards, college satisfaction,
approximate number of study hours devoted to their college academic study, SAT composite
scores, ratings about their study skills, and desired high level degree are listed in Table 1. An
independent groups t-test was performed comparing the means, for several variables none the
participants’ number of A’s earned in their most recent semester, (t (40) = -.613, p = .543),
GPA, (t (40) = -.263,p = .794), approximate number of study hours devoted to their college
academic study, (t (38.759) = -.896, p = .376), ratings about their high school standards,(t
(40) = 1.169, p = .249), college standards, (t (40) = -.106, p = .916), approximate SAT
composite scores, (t (40) =1.107, p = .275), desired high level degree, (t (40) = -1.414 , p =
.165), and ratings about their study skills, (t (40) = .015, p = .988).The alpha level maintained
was .05. Also, a Pearson correlation addressed the relationship between a participant’s GPA
(M = 3.2, SD = .64) and rating about his or her college academic standards (M = 3.6, SD =
.85). For an alpha level of .05, the correlation was found to be statistically significant (r (40)
= -.313, p < .05), indicating that these two variables were positively related. Additionally, the
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regression equation had an alpha level maintained at .05 which showed that the prediction of
college academic success (GPA) with the use of a participant’s rating of his or her study
skills, approximate SAT composite score, approximate number of study hours, and desired
high level college degree was significant, (F (6, 35) = 2.462, p = .043). In addition, the
estimated standard error of estimate was .5853.
Discussion
The present study supported the research hypothesis which stated that there were no
differences in college academic success between public and non-public high school graduates.
Also, there were many similarities and differences in results between the present study and
past research studies. Gibbins and Bickel (1991) analyzed two SAT data sets from Florida
and one national data sheet which contained a 10% random sample of US high school
students. However, the present study non-randomly surveyed 47 participants’ approximate
SAT composite scores. For this reason, Gibbins’ and Bickel’s (1991) statistical results for
their participants’ SAT composite scores were more accurate than the present study’s
statistical results. Similarly, both the present study and Gibbins’ and Bickel’s (1991) study did
not find any sufficient evidence to prove that non-public high schools were more efficient
than public high schools in instilling academic discipline and effective study skills in their
graduates. Additionally, Thompson (1976) analyzed ACT composite scores from a random
sample of 996 freshman and sophomores, to measure a college student’s mental capacity to do
academic work. On other hand, the present study had a non-random selection of 47
participants who provided more SAT composite scores than ACT composite scores. As a
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result, the present study only used the participants’ approximate SAT composite scores. The
participants who did not take the SAT had their ACT composite scores converted into SAT
composite score equivalents with the use a converter that was obtained from the Internet
(College Board Online, 2001). In addition, results from the present study showed that nonacademic factors, such as a participant’s ratings about his or her study skills and desired high
level degree, were found to be good predictors of college academic success.
Moreover, the present study had many shortcomings. The survey in the present study
did not have a sufficient number of questions that measured a participant’s non-academic
factors, such as, academic attitudes, socioeconomic status, and their readiness to learn. In
addition, the present study had a small sample with a small pool of variance. In addition, we
predicted that future research would uncover evidence about the relationship between an
individual’s non-academic factors and his or her academic success in college.
Similarly, the present study has many practical implications. We believed that various
college and university administrators throughout the US could use our findings to make better
predictions about which of their applicants were more likely not to drop out of college after
the first semester of their freshman year. Also, the present study’s primary objective was to
provide sufficient evidence that would disprove the biased notion that non-public high school
graduates achieved greater college academic success than public high school graduates.
Equally important, analysis of variance showed that an individual’s approximate
number of study hours that he or she spent on college academic study was the only variable
that showed significance, for the measurement of college academic success. As a result, the
extent of an individual’s study skills was a predictor of their college academic success. In
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addition, the sample mean of study hours for non-public high school graduates was two points
higher than the sample mean of public high schools graduates. We suggested that non-public
high school graduates probably tended to study longer than public high school graduates do.
Along with the theoretical implications of the present study, we suggested
improvements and ideas for new future research. The present study lacked significant scores
that generalized the total US population of public and non-public high school graduates who
attended college. As a result, more participants need to be surveyed from various colleges or
universities from either LA or other US states.
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References
Coleman, J.S., & Hoffer, T. (1987). Public and Private High Schools. New York:
Basic Books, Inc. Publishers.
Gibbins, N., & Bickel, R. (1991). Comparing public and private high schools using
three SAT data sheets. The Urban Review, 23 , 101-115.
McCausland, D. F., & Stewart, N. E. (1974). Academic aptitude, study skills, and
attitudes and college GPA. Journal of Educational Research,67, 354-357.
Mouw, J.T., & Khanna, R. K. (1993). Prediction of academic success: A review of the
literature and some recommendations. Psychological Review,27, 328-336.
Public and private schools: How do they differ? (July 1997). National Center for
Education Statistics, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs97/97983.html
Reiter, H.R. (1964). Psychological Reports,15, 23-26.
SAT I-ACT Score Comparisons (March 2001). College Board Online,
http://www.collegeboard.org/index_this sat/cbsenior/html/stat00f.html
Thompson, M.E. (1976). The prediction of academic achievement by a British study
habits inventory. Research In Higher Education, 5, 365-371.
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