Factors Contributing to the Successful Completion of the Haitian Baccalaureat (Part I) and Their Administrative Implications
The Haitian baccalaureat is a difficult centralized state examination. Every year the percentage of students who pass this examination varies from 20 to 30 percent. There was a need for systematic research of the predominant factors which determine success in the Haitian baccalaureat. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not selected factors were related to success in the baccalaureat. Three hundred and sixteen graduates in the baccalaureat for the 1984-85 school year, 150 Rhetorique Teachers, and forty principals served as subjects in this study. The data came from the official records of the National Department of Education of Haiti, secondary school records, and questionnaires. Twenty-one of the thirty-six predictor variables used in this study were correlated significantly with the criterion measure, student's success, in baccalaureat, singly. The best combination of variables for the prediction of student success in the Haitian baccalaureat consists of the following: instructional facilities, elementary score, mother's profession, teacher conveniences, discipline, residence location, and study hours. Each of the four categories of predictor variables (personal characteristics of the student, family background, school quality, and curriculum) were significantly correlated with the criterion measure, appearing as reliable predictors of success in the Haitian baccalaureat. School quality was found to be the best category of predictor variables of success. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education in Haiti appoint a Curriculum Review Commission to revise the curriculum; that the Ministry of Education in Haiti provide in the Haitian national budget to (a) establish enough public elementary schools, (b) equip the lycees with adequate offices for teachers and modern instructional facilities, and (c) require the same for colleges; that local administrators and teachers be more accountable for optimum functioning of their schools; that parents be more concerned about the needs of their children, limit family size, and share more time with them; that students study systematically every day, instead of cramming at the end of the school year, and not neglect their sleeping and leisure time; and that further study be undertaken in the area of curriculum development and comparative systems of evaluations.
Educational Administration and Supervision, Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration
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