A Comparison of University of Detroit High School Students and Students from All Other High Schools on Entrance Tests at the University of Detroit in September, 1952

Abstract

Every educational system has as one of its primary aims the production of an individual who is adequately prepared to engage in the life activities which follow the period of training. The elementary schools attempt so to train their pupils in the use of basic skills, both academic and physical, that they may progress easily and profitably to the more advanced learning situations of the secondary school. The high school, in its turn, continues this training in basic skills but also places increased emphasis upon preparing the individual to meet the exigencies of adult life both in and outside the academic situation. Thus, in order to prepare the future adult for life outside the classroom, many secondary schools offer such courses as home economics, mental and physical hygiene, American government, typing, and family living. For those students who plan to continue their academic training beyond the high school, there are, of course, those subjects in which adequate preparation is necessary for advanced work in college and professional schools. Typical of such courses are advanced mathematics, literature, biology, chemistry, physics, and history. At the peak of the educational system are the colleges, professional schools, and graduate schools, which have as their objective the final academic formation of the future citizens and professional men and women. Efforts have been made on the part of most educational systems to discover the effectiveness of their academic training programs. A program of academic achievement testing is utilized in many elementary and secondary schools. Most colleges and universities administer a battery of achievement and aptitude tests to their incoming freshman classes to determine their preparation for college work. At the very highest level of the American educational system, the professional and graduate schools almost invariably require some sort of achievement or academic ability test before admission. From this it can be seen that t here is a persistent and keen desire in American education to determine as accurately as possible the results of its academic endeavor. This interest has even led to the establishment of organizations which have as their primary purpose the production and standardization of educational testing instruments. The Educational Testing Service is one such organization. Testing to assess the academic achievement of some specific groups of the American population has been carried out on a national scale. Each year the Educational Records Bureau conducts a public school testing program to evaluate the academic achievement of pupils in the elementary and secondary public school systems. The same association has also conducted testing programs in the independent schools of the United States. In contrast to the rather extensive studies of these educational groups, scarcely ever has a comparison of educational achievement of public and parochial school children been attempted. A search in the literature revealed only one such study. Within the framework of education conducted by Roman Catholic institutions for lay people in the United States, there exists a distinct system operated by the Jesuit Order. This system contains thirty-seven high schools for boys, and twenty-six institutions of higher learning. The Educational Association of this system has recently expressed the desire to compare the results of their program of education and training, particularly at the high school level, with that of students educated under other school systems. This thesis embodies an empirical and statistical investigation to determine the academic achievement of the graduates of one high school in this system.