Predictive validity of senior high school (SHS) aggregate of students' grade-point average (GPA) at the University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the predictive validity of students’ senior high school certificate examination (SHSCE) entry aggregate on their final year cumulative grade-point average (GPA) at the University of Cape Coast. The study covered the year groups from 1999 to 2001 involving five departments under the Faculty of Education at the University of Cape Coast. A total of 1,216 subjects consisting of 403 females and 813 males formed the study population. The research design used final year cumulative GPA as the criterion, and SSCE aggregate, gender and end of first year GPA (FYGPA) as predictor variables. Bivariate and regression analyses were carried out to investigate the relationships between variables. The correlation coefficient, r was also used to describe the extent of relationships and the regression equation used to estimate the predicted variable. There were significant differences in the relationships between SHSCE grades and end of first year GPA as well as the final year cumulative GPAs. The key finding was that SHS students’ entry grades did not determine their final year GPA with certainty. Rather, the end first year cumulative GPA was found to be the best predictor of the final year cumulative GPA with the other predictor variables having relatively little predictive effect on the criterion variable. The study concludes that it is best to predict students’ grade point average with their first year cumulative GPA and recommends that the departments in the Faculty set aside 5% of admission vacancies for students with low aggregates.