Students Who Become Nonpersisters: Who, When, Why, and To Do What? [microform] : The Astin Index: One Approach to Predicting Persistence at UMCP Four Years after Initial Enrollment. Maryland Longitudinal Study Research Highlights. Research Reports 5 and 9.
Two reports of student nonpersistence at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), are provided, taken from the Maryland Longitudinal Study. The first study, which examined four questions regarding students who become nonpersisters, found the following: nonpersisters had poor high school and...
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| Format: | Microfilm Book |
| Language: | English |
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1987.
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| Summary: | Two reports of student nonpersistence at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP), are provided, taken from the Maryland Longitudinal Study. The first study, which examined four questions regarding students who become nonpersisters, found the following: nonpersisters had poor high school and first-semester study habits, were apt to have been in the bottom half of their high school class, were likely to live off campus during their freshman year, and were not able to consider their parents a major source of financial support; students were most likely to leave after receiving their final grades; financial considerations were the primary reason given for leaving; and students who left planned to become employed and eventually return to school. The second report evaluates the usefulness of the Astin Index (a statistical model for assessing "dropout-proneness") in predicting persistence among UMCP students. Results included the following: (1) statistically significant t-test results were found between black and nonblack female persisters and nonpersisters in those groups; (2) the Astin Index was far more accurate than chance in predicting retention 4 years after initial enrollment; and (3) items in the Index were found that contributed significantly to the prediction of persistence/nonpersistence 4 years after initial enrollment for nonblack males, nonblack females, black males and black females. The analysis of the Astin Index approach to the study of retention suggests that the limited inclusion of both non-cognitive and post-matriculation variables is a serious drawback to fully understanding persistence, especially among black students. The Astin Index instrument is provided. Data are provided in several tables and figures and in appendices to both reports. Between them, the 2 reports contain 25 references. (KM) |
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| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED301103. |
| Physical Description: | 35 pages. |
| Reproduction Note: | Microfiche. |
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