Effect of High School Course-Taking and Grades on Passing a College Placement Test

Abstract

Transcripts of 19,736 students who consecu- tively attended Florida high schools for four years and graduated in the spring of 1994 were analyzed to determine how course choice, grades, tenth grade standardized test score re- sults, race, and gender affected performance on a computerized placement test (CPT) ad- ministered upon entry to community college in the fall of 1994. A High School Performance (HSP) variable for math and English was con- structed to account for differences in number of courses completed, degree of course diffi- culty, and course grade. Math andEnglish HSP, 4-year cumulative grade point average (GPA), percentile rank on Grade Ten Assessment Test (GTAT) in math and reading, race and gender all had significant effects on the probability of passing the CPT Math HSP had a larger posi- tive effect on passing the Math CPT than GPA or GTAT This was not the case for the Read- ing or Writing CPT subtests where GTAT had the larger effect and the magnitude of English HSP and GPA was about equal. Students can raise the probability of passing the-Math CPT if they take more difficult math courses in high school, even at the expense of lowering their GPA.