DEVELOPMENT AND FIELD TESTING OF AN INSTRUMENT FOR PREDICTING GENERAL EDUCATION DIPLOMA ADULT EDUCATION DROPOUTS

The purpose of this study was the development and field testing of an instrument for predicting adult education dropouts. The test instrument was designed to predict whether or not a student enrolling in an adult education high school review course would become a dropout. The sample consisted of eight classes of adult education students enrolled in a General Education Diploma (G.E.D.) review program. The developed test instrument used descriptive word pairs. These word pairs were antonyms. The word pairs were designed to elicit attitudinal responses from the students. The student's responses to these word pairs were used in the prediction of the potential dropout. Stimulus pictures of hypothetical persisters and dropouts were used to stimulate the responses. The developed test instrument was used to measure the difference between the student's attitude toward the pictured hypothetical persister in Form I of the test instrument and that student's attitude toward the pictured hypothetical dropout in Form II. The difference between the student's scores on Form I and Form II of the developed test instrument was computed. The difference-score was matched to the student's subsequent behavior: dropout or persister. The interpretation of the data in the context of this research indicated that the study with a high difference-score is more likely to become a dropout and that the student with a low difference-score is more likely to become a persister. In this study the student's attitudinal responses to descriptive word pairs were used in analysis of the data. Analysis was performed in order to evaluate the contribution of specific descriptive word pairs and the relation of these word pairs to the prediction of the potential dropout. Analysis indicated that certain of the descriptive word pairs were found to be useful as predictors of student behavior: dropout or persister. It was concluded that the use of the developed test instrument using certain descriptive word pairs could be effective in predicting the potential dropout. It was recommended that early prediction of the potential dropout and sufficient concentration on effective guidance would be productive and would motivate the student to continue working toward his original goals.