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Academic Profile: SSU Freshmen and Upperclassmen Average Scores Compared to Reference Group Average Scores Prepared by: Kimberly A. Lata, Institutional Research Analyst
June, 2005
The data presented in this report shows SSU Freshmen and SSU Upperclassmen average scores on the Academic Profile as compared to the reference group average scores established by ETS for a self-selected reference group of institutions. The score data is based on students taking the Academic Profile between December 1995 and August 2004. Freshmen include entering freshmen and other freshmen. Upperclassmen include juniors and seniors.
The following institutions are included in the reference groups. These institutions were self-selected as being near to SSU in composition, size, and having an open admission policy, thereby making them more appropriate for comparative purposes.
The charts on the following pages show SSU Freshmen and SSU Upperclassmen average scores, compared to the reference group average score for Freshmen and Upperclassmen, in the areas of: Humanities, Social Science, Natural Science, Reading, Writing, Critical Thinking, Math, and Total. Each chart shows the SSU average scores compared to the reference group average scores over time.
The data presented in the table beneath each chart shows SSU Freshmen and SSU Upperclassmen Academic Profile average scores compared to Reference Group average scores in each particular area. One-sample t-tests were done to determine whether the mean differences were significant at the .05 level of probability.
As can be seen in the tables, there were significant differences found in several areas for both Freshmen and Upperclassmen. Positive differences reflect areas where SSU Freshmen or SSU Upperclassmen average scores were higher than the average scores for the reference group. Negative differences reflect areas where SSU Freshmen and SSU Upperclassmen average scores were lower than the reference group average scores.
An important note regarding the data in the charts and tables that follow must be made. Because ETS did not provide average scores for the freshmen reference group in any of the test areas for June 2000, an average score was calculated from the average scores provided for other test times. Average scores for both the freshmen and upperclassmen reference groups were also calculated for all test areas from June 2001 to August 2004 since no new average scores were provided by ETS for the reference groups. Since calculating an average from the other averages available works on the assumption that the reference group performed about the same as usual, the calculated average does not reflect the true average score. Great care must be taken when making any interpretation of how SSU students did compared to the reference group based on t-tests from the calculated averages.
Another change from previous versions of this report is that the score data for each year was calculated for the entire year, instead of for June and December for each year. Because of this, the score data for the reference groups were averaged together also. Having data for the year should make the results easier to read, since the tables and charts are less congested with data.
For the purposes of this report, Teacher Education students were excluded from the comparisons of profile averages from December 2001 to August 2004. Because Teacher Education students can use the results of the Academic Profile in lieu of taking the Praxis exam, it is believed these students attempt to try harder and thus will skew the results of the exam.
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