Engagement in the first year as a predictor of academic achievement and persistence of first-year students.

Abstract

Evan and Matthew, my junior research assistants who offered writing breaks at almost always the exact right moment. And toMarvin and Ann, who gave this first-generation student the kick-in-the-pants he needed to go to college. well prepared in terms of high school GPA and ACT, typically earned a lower v first-year GPA and fewer credits, and were less likely to persist and to graduate compared to continuing-generation students. Those that did graduate, however, did so with a similar GPA to continuing-generation students. The significant predictors of academic achievement at the end of the first year of college were high school GPA and ACT. High school GPA and ACT were also significant predictors of the likelihood of persistence and graduation within six years.Surprisingly, engagement did not emerge as a predictor of the likelihood of persistence or graduation for either first-generation or continuing-generation students nor were there significant differences in engagement between firstgeneration and continuing-generation students. Significant differences in engagement did, however, emerge according to ethnicity and gender with students of color indicating higher levels of engagement than White students and women being more engaged than men. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are also considered.vi

Relationship between living environment and first-year student academic achievement and persistence.

“…6. Continuing-generation student: a student from a family where one or both parents or grandparents attended a post-secondary institution (Schlinsog, 2010 (Kemmelmeier, Danielson, & Basten, 2005).…”

“…GPA as measurement for academic achievement. Most predictive validity studies in educational settings have used generalized criterion measures such as GPA to measure student academic success (Kiser & Price, 2008;Kuh, et al, 2005;Novak, 2008;Schlinsog, 2010). GPA typically reflects arithmetically averaged components of performance, and meaningful variance may well have been averaged out in such a multidimensional criterion.…”

“…However, his findings showed that the firstgeneration students who do persist to completion graduate with a slightly higher overall GPA than the continuing-generation students. Schlinsog (2010) concluded that high school ACT and GPA scores serve as predictors of first-year grade point average, and first-year GPA is a predictor of cumulative GPA at graduation.…”

“…The following variables for this study were identified from the literature presented earlier. Some of the variables were analyzed as pre-college attributes in an effort to increase the validity of the study based on accepted predictors of student success (Astin, 1984;Schlinsog, 2010;Tinto 1993). General discussion of the variables used for the current study is found in the following sections.…”

“…The data utilized for the study included identification of the first-year students who enrolled in the fall semester of the second year of study as well as the cumulative grade point average at the end of the first year of college. Predictive validity studies in educational settings have used generalized criterion measures such as GPA to measure student academic success (Kiser & Price, 2008;Kuh, et al, 2005;Novak, 2008;Schlinsog, 2010). However, there are challenges to utilizing GPA as a predictor, especially if it is analyzed as a lone predictor and not paired with standardized test scores, because the variance in score values given from different teachers and programs could cause inaccurate scores of the work performed by the student (Kappe & van der Flier, 2010;Willingham, et al, 2002).…”