Date of Graduation

12-2004

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education in Higher Education (EdD)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders

Advisor/Mentor

James O. Hammons

Committee Member

Michael T. Miller

Second Committee Member

Gary W. Ritter

Third Committee Member

Barbara B. Shadden

Keywords

A+ program, Missouri, scholarships

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if students receiving assistance through the A+ Program exhibited higher academic performance (measured by college cumulative GPA, number of remedial courses taken, and graduation rates) at OTC than two comparison groups of non-A+ students with similar background characteristics. A secondary purpose of the study was to determine if students receiving assistance through the A+ Program (categorized by gender, size of high school, and degree sought) exhibited higher academic performance at OTC than two other comparison groups o f non-A+ students with similar background characteristics.

The A+ Program was established in 1993 to assist public secondary schools ensure a commitment to the following three objectives: (a) all students graduate from high school, (b) all students complete a selection of high school studies that are challenging, and (c) all students proceed from high school graduation to a college, postsecondary vocational or technical school, or high wage job. Students graduating from these high schools as A+ students receive full tuition and required fees to attend any public community college or vocational/technical school in Missouri.

In this non-experimental study, 372 students in the A+ Program were compared to 165 non-A+ scholarship students and 469 non-A+ non-scholarship students. All students included in the study had to be enrolled full-time and must have had a minimum high school GPA o f 2.50. In order to test this data, a 3 x 2 x 2 x 3 ANOVA was used for all research questions.

Significant differences were found between A+, non-A+ scholarship, and non- A+ non-scholarship students regarding GPA and number of remedial courses taken. A significant difference was found among gender and degree sought regarding GPA with an interaction effect found between gender and degree and size of school and degree. There were no additional significant differences found regarding number of remedial courses taken.

The report contains 10 tables which breakdown the means and the ANOVA statistics. Six suggestions for improved practice were included along with several recommendations for further study.

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