A Comparison of the Tests of Adult Basic Education and the Health Occupations Basic Entrance Test in Predicting Academic Success in Practical Nursing Programs

The high demand for health care workers, excellent pay/benefits, and job security has created a public interest in health care professions that has educational institutions overwhelmed by applicants seeking entrance to training programs. Many of these applicants have given little thought to what they must possess academically and attitudinally to successfully complete such training. Efforts to identify academic and attitudinal attributes predictive of academic success have long been a goal of educators. Therefore, the purposes of this study were to, first, determine if either the Tests of Adult Basic Education (TABE) or the Health Occupations Basic Entrance Test (HOBET) is a better predictor of academic success in health occupations training programs and, second, what factors as measured by the tests are significant in predicting student success. Criterion variables used were the Kentucky Vocational Achievement Test (KVAT) and exit grade point average (XGPA). While the study did not, with correlational significance, support either of the tests to be overall predictors of academic success, several factors as measured by individual subtests within each showed a significant relationship to the criterion variables. Both tests showed reading subtests to have a relationship to the criterion variable, but only one subtest showed a relationship to both. This was the HOBET Social Stress Level profile percentage which had a correlational significance with the criterion variables (KVAT) and (XGPA) of -.285 and -.450, respectively at the p<.05 and p<.01 levels of significance.

Name thesis:degree_name

Education Specialist

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Leadership

Year

1994

Author dc:creator

• Crenshaw, Sally

• Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/theses/939

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.wku.edu:theses-1942