Traditional and personal admissions criteria: Predicting candidate performance in US educational leadership programmes

Author： Mountford Meredith Ehlert Mark Machell Jim Cockrell Dan

ISSN： 1464-5092

Source： International Journal of Leadership in Education, Vol.10, Iss.2, 2007-04, pp. : 191-210

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Abstract

This paper examines the predictive validity of traditional academic and personal screening criteria used for admitting students into a Statewide Cooperative Doctoral Programme in Educational Leadership on student performance in the programme. This research examined the relationships among traditional admission criteria which included GRE scores (verbal, analytic, and quantitative), undergraduate and graduate GPA, and personal admissions criteria including an on-site problem-solving writing activity, a writing sample, and an interview. These measures were compared to student performance on selected programme measures that included comprehensive exam scores, time to degree completion, and an online writing score for a large group of students in a cohort-based doctorate of education programme (N > 300). Findings from the study suggest that personal screening measures such as interviews, on-site and real-time problem solving activities, and on-site and timed writing activities are more accurate predictors of student performance in an Ed.D. leadership programme than are traditional screening measures such as GRE scores, undergraduate GPAs, and graduate GPAs.