A Longitudinal Evaluation of English 7, Developmental Reading, at Southwest Missouri State University
Date of Graduation
Summer 1976
Degree
Master of Science in Education in Literacy
Department
Reading, Foundations, and Technology
Committee Chair
James Layton
Abstract
Because college reading programs have been diverse and often segmented, each program needs to be evaluated in terms of its own effectiveness. Two major criteria have been (1) overall grade point average and (2) attrition rate. The problem of this study was to investigate for a three-semester period whether semester grade point averages, cumulative grade point averages, and persistence rate for marginal students who enroll in and complete the English 7 course differ significantly from those of marginal students who are referred but are not enrolled in English 7. The analysis of the data and the subsequent testing of the hypotheses for the groups under investigation appear to warrant the following conclusions: l. A marginal student who takes English 7 will more likely achieve in the upper C range and have slightly higher semester grade point averages than a marginal student who does not take English 7. 2. A marginal student who takes English 7 consistently will have higher significant cumulative grade point averages than a marginal student who does not take English 7. 3. A marginal student who takes English 7 is likely to persist in university studies at SMSU longer than a marginal student who does not take English 7. It appears that enrollment in English 7 is significantly related to a marginal student's ability to remain in college and achieve within a category of C. It is further recognized that no causal relationship was established and that other variables such as type of courses carried or personality variables may have been responsible for the differences. The importance of the findings of this study seems to be that English 7 is effective in producing tenacious students who achieve above their predicted overall grade point average and that consideration should be given to the expansion of facilities and services offered in the developmental program.
Subject Categories
Other Education
Copyright
© Mary Paula Phillips
Recommended Citation
Phillips, Mary Paula, "A Longitudinal Evaluation of English 7, Developmental Reading, at Southwest Missouri State University" (1976). MSU Graduate Theses/Dissertations. 2445.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/2445
Dissertation/Thesis
