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Predicting Student Academic Success in a Developmental English Community College Course

Pittman, Kathy Lynne Moore
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1387492861

Abstract Details

2014, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Curriculum and Instruction (Education).
Almost half of all college matriculates currently require some form of developmental education, and the student numbers continue to grow, in spite of expensive national and state educational initiatives created to reduce their numbers. About two thirds of these developmental students seek educational opportunities in a community college. Most concerning is the research indicating that only about 25% of students enrolled in higher education developmental education go on to graduate within eight years. Although the research is growing, especially for large, urban higher education institutions, much remains to be discovered about how to best meet student developmental needs, particularly in smaller, more rural community colleges. This study sought to identify predictors of student academic success in two developmental English courses at a rural Midwestern community college. Specifically, the independent variables were student age, student gender, student ASSET writing score, and developmental English writing class placement (with or without reading instruction). The binary dependent variable was developmental English course completion. Logistic regression and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the research questions for this study. Findings showed that two variables among the four predictor variables did indeed predict student academic success in the developmental English courses. The two predictors were gender and ASSET writing score. The significance of gender suggested that holding the other predictor variables constant, in the community college under study, females were almost twice as likely as males to be successful in the developmental English course. With regard to the ASSET writing score, removing the effects of all other variables, a 10-point increase in the score was almost twice as likely to increase the odds (or likelihood) of academic success in the developmental English writing courses. Study findings in gender support other research indicating a major gender shift currently taking place in higher education with more females than males completing higher education degrees. The study finding in writing assessment test score underscores the importance for educators to choose writing assessment tools carefully and to use them as only one indicator for developmental course placement. Multiple measures for assessment are indeed best.
James Salzman, Dr. (Committee Chair)
142 p.
Adult Education; Curriculum Development; Education; Educational Evaluation; Gender; Higher Education; Secondary Education; Teaching
college student; developmental education; developmental writing; student retention; teaching composition; teaching reading; community college

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Pittman, K. L. M. (2014). Predicting Student Academic Success in a Developmental English Community College Course [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1387492861

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Pittman, Kathy. Predicting Student Academic Success in a Developmental English Community College Course. 2014. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1387492861.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Pittman, Kathy. "Predicting Student Academic Success in a Developmental English Community College Course." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2014. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1387492861

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ohiou1387492861
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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.