Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

6-1982

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major Professor

Carroll B. Coakley

Committee Members

George W. Wiegers Jr., Gerald D. Cheek, George G. Harris

Abstract

The primary purpose of the study was to determine the relation ship between each of the subtests of the California Achievement Test— Level 19 (CAT-19) taken by the Practical Nursing students and their subsequent achievement on the State Board Test Pool Examination (SBTPE), and to determine which subtest or group of subtests, if any, could be used as a predictor of success on the SBTPE. A secondary objective was to study the relationship of the age of the students upon their performance on the SBTPE.

The population for the study was the students enrolled in the Practical Nursing Programs operated under the supervision of the Division of Vocational Education, State of Tennessee. The final population for the study was 884 students.

Data for the study were secured from: (1) a printout by individual Nursing Programs of the scores on the CAT-19, (2) Student Qualification Sheets, and (3) results of the SBTPE. The data were analyzed by frequency distribution charts using a cross-tabulation procedure, by correlation coefficients calculated by Pearson Product Moment, and selection of the Best Variable Model by the Maximum r 2 Improvement Technique,

The major findings of the statistical analyses were that; (1) statistically significant relationships were found for all independent variables and their relationship to success on the SBTPE, (2) frequency distributions for all variables showed that as the score of the variable increased the average score on the SBTPE increased, and (3) the best single subtest selected was Reading Vocabulary.

Among the conclusions of the study were that (1) students between 17-23 enrolled in the program as a group will not perform as well as the students above that age, (2) students with low ability in measurable academic abilities can be expected as a group to provide a disproportionate share of the failures, and (3) students with poor reading skills will have a difficult time succeeding in the program.

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