The influence of career preparation courses on student achievement as reported by high school records at MacArthur High School in North East Independent School District, San Antonio, Texas

摘要

This study examined the influence of career preparation courses on studentachievement at MacArthur High School, San Antonio, Texas. MacArthur is the onlyhigh school in the district to use the 6.5 scaled registrar??????s grade point average (RPA)system, as opposed to the standard 4.0 scaled grade point average. Final computationswere converted to the standard 4.0 scale for uniformity. The intent of the study was todetermine if there was a relationship between enrollment in career preparation coursesand grade point averages, absenteeism, and dropout rates.Moreover, the study sought to determine the relationship between studentsenrolled in career preparation courses and students not enrolled within these three areasof investigation. Data were collected from the student records of the population of thestudy, which consisted of 532 students, and was used in conjunction with descriptiveand co-relational statistics, including ANOVAS and Scheffes. The results of this studysupport that career preparation students in the study possessed a higher grade pointaverage. Additionally, this study supported the literature review regarding career preparation student absenteeism and dropout rates. The career preparation studentsspend more time at school, which enhances their propensity for learning.The study also compared career preparation students to students not enrolled incareer preparation courses by grade point average at MacArthur High School. Theresults of this portion of the study showed that the non-career preparation students, thehealth occupation students, as well as the trade and industry students, all possess ahigher grade point average than do the business and marketing students. This isattributable for the most part to skill sets needed for scientific definitions, higher mathskills, and enhanced scientific knowledge. Further study should be done to ascertain theextent of individual factors in determining success in other district high schools.