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Interaction between College Effects and Students' Aptitudes1

Interaction between College Effects and Students' Aptitudes1 Interaction between College Effects and Students' Aptitudes1 DONALD A. ROCK, LEONARD L. BAIRD and ROBERT L. LINN Educational Testing Service Most people assume that a student who goes to Harvard will learn more than a student who goes to Normal State. They assume that "better" professors, libraries, and "atmosphere" will result in more knowledge of science, humanities, and social science. But is it true? The average Harvard graduate may be more knowledgeable than the average Normal State graduate; however, the average Harvard student is also more knowledgeable than the average Normal State student when he enters college as a freshman. Thus, if Harvard enrolls only very bright students, and Normal State enrolls average students. Harvard seniors will naturally seem brighter than Normal State seniors at the end of college. The point is this: before we can tell whether Harvard or Normal State (or Swarthmore or Ohio State) is more effective, we have to control for the ability of the students going t o those colleges. The idea of controlling for the ability of the students who attend various colleges seems simple and straightforward enough, but it involves many thorny statistical problems. If we do apply controls, how much of http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png American Educational Research Journal SAGE

Interaction between College Effects and Students' Aptitudes1

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References (4)

Publisher
SAGE
Copyright
Copyright © by SAGE Publications
ISSN
0002-8312
eISSN
1935-1011
DOI
10.3102/00028312009001149
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Interaction between College Effects and Students' Aptitudes1 DONALD A. ROCK, LEONARD L. BAIRD and ROBERT L. LINN Educational Testing Service Most people assume that a student who goes to Harvard will learn more than a student who goes to Normal State. They assume that "better" professors, libraries, and "atmosphere" will result in more knowledge of science, humanities, and social science. But is it true? The average Harvard graduate may be more knowledgeable than the average Normal State graduate; however, the average Harvard student is also more knowledgeable than the average Normal State student when he enters college as a freshman. Thus, if Harvard enrolls only very bright students, and Normal State enrolls average students. Harvard seniors will naturally seem brighter than Normal State seniors at the end of college. The point is this: before we can tell whether Harvard or Normal State (or Swarthmore or Ohio State) is more effective, we have to control for the ability of the students going t o those colleges. The idea of controlling for the ability of the students who attend various colleges seems simple and straightforward enough, but it involves many thorny statistical problems. If we do apply controls, how much of

Journal

American Educational Research Journal – SAGE

Published: Jan 1, 1972

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