Student Achievement in Science and Mathematics General Education Courses: An Assessment of the Effects of Academic Background and Noncognitive Variables.

The purpose of this study was to assess the efficacy of academic background and noncognitive variables as predictors of student achievement in science and mathematics. Participants in this study were 9,802 students who began as new freshmen during 5 consecutive fall semesters and took at least 1 of 14 frequently taken mathematics and science general education courses. Significant relationships between entering academic characteristics, self-appraisals of ability and achievement expectancies, and grade performance were noted. In addition, a number of high school senior-year activities were related to later grade performance. These findings provide direction for future assessments of students' mathematics and science outcomes. An appendix discusses the entering academic characteristics, including American College Testing program scores. (Contains 14 tables and 21 references.) (Author/SLD)