The Moderating Effects of Gender and Race in Predicting the Academic Performance of College Developmental Students

Abstract

The selection of students who are most likely to succeed in a college developmental studies program is a task with serious ramifications for individuals and institutions. The present study examined the moderating influence of gender and race on the accuracy of high school grades and College Board Scholastic Aptitude (SAT) scores in predicting the academic performance of developmental students. The results indicated significant slope differences in the regression lines for race with the equation for blacks accounting for 10 percent more variance than the equation for whites. Within the racial groups, significant intercept differences based on gender were found for whites only. The relationship between high school grade point average and SAT scores in predicting freshman grade point average for developmental students was similar to the relationship reported for regularly admitted students.

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