A COMPARISON OF THE ACADEMIC SUCCESS OF PRACTICAL NURSING STUDENTS WHO GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL WITH THOSE WHO COMPLETED THE GED.
Contributors: University of Georgia.
Published: 1989
Number of pages: 121
Subjects: Education, Adult and Continuing.; Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to compare the academic success of Georgia's public postsecondary vocational school practical nursing students who enrolled using a GED credential with those who enrolled using a traditional high school diploma. The independent variables were completion of GED requirements (as evidenced by receipt of the GED credential), completion of high school graduation requirements (as evidenced by receipt of a high school diploma), race (black, white, other), and age (in years at time of initial enrollment in the practical nursing program). The dependent variables were the graduation percentage, the average of the grade point averages upon graduation (reported numerically on a 4.0 scale), and first-attempt pass percentage on the practical nursing licensure examination.

Of the twenty-eight public postsecondary vocational schools within Georgia at the time of the study, all were asked to participate; however, sixteen did not supply the requested data. The remaining twelve did participate and supplied valid case data on 1,254 practical nursing students for the three school years covered by the study (i.e., 1983-84, 1984-85, and 1985-86).

In general, the study found that there was no significant difference between the performance of GED and high school graduates in their pursuit of a career in practical nursing. However, it was found that race did significantly contribute to the understanding of the performance of the practical nursing students. Specifically, black students tended not to perform as well as white students. With the exception of young high school graduates, age did not significantly contribute to the performance of the practical nursing students. In any case, the primary finding and focus of this study was that, in the practical nursing program, GED graduates generally performed as well as and no worse than their peers with high school diplomas.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-06, Section: A, page: 1530.

Thesis (ED.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, 1989.

School code: 0077.