The Prediction of Performance in a Counselor Education Master's Degree Program

Abstract

An examination was made of the predictive validity of the Graduate Record Examinations Aptitude Test, Verbal, Quantitative, and Total scores (GRE-V, GRE-Q, and GRE-T) and undergraduate grade-point average (UGPA). Criterion variables consisted of graduate grade-point average (GGPA), performance on the Master's Comprehensive Examination (MCE), and grades in required area and core courses. Subjects were 107 students enrolled in the Department of Counselor Education Master's degree program at a large Southwestern university. Scores on the GRE-V were correlated .24 (p < .01) with both MCE scores and GGPA, but were not correlated significantly with any other criterion variable. GRE-Q test scores were correlated .31 (p < .001) with performance in Educational Foundations (FED) courses which involved at least one course in research and statistics. The GRE-T measure was a valid predictor of grades in FED courses and of GGPA. Although each predictor variable was correlated with at least one of the criterion variables, the most valid predictor was UGPA which was found to be significantly correlated with FED grades (.51), MCE scores (.17), and GGPA (.38), respectively, at the .001, .05, and .001 levels of significance.