The effect of ACT preparatory classes on secondary school students' academic achievement
Abstract
The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to determine whether implementing a mandatory semester-long ACT preparatory class 11th grade students during the 209-2012 school years at one rural Middle Tennessee high school was an effective instructional method for helping students to raise ACT composite scores. Required ACT preparatory classes are expensive to implement at the high school level when taken for a full semester during their 11th grade year; therefore, the researcher investigated differences between students' 10th grade ACT PLAN scores and 11th grade ACT composite score to help in the investigation. Data were disaggregated by (a) socioeconomic statuses; (b) students' plans after graduating high school, (c) at-risk status, (d) gender, and (e) ACT preparatory class / not ACT preparatory class. The participants in this study included 698 students (52% male; 48% female) from a rural Middle Tennessee high school located in Overton County, Tennessee. Students were categorized into three ability groups (high, middle, and low) according to test scores for comparison purposes. Five null hypotheses were tested using descriptive and inferential statistics at a 0.05 level of significance. The findings from this study conclude that the most significant predictor for success with students increasing ACT composite scores is students who were in the high socioeconomic status, students who were in the high ability group, and students who did not receive special education services. No significant difference was found with relation to students who received instruction in an ACT preparatory class and students who did not receive instruction in an ACT preparatory class. (Document contains 111 pages; 3 figures; and, 24 tables.)
Subject Area
Secondary education
Recommended Citation
Patricia A Dale,
"The effect of ACT preparatory classes on secondary school students' academic achievement"
(2013).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3587517.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3587517