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Wade Leuwerke, Ph.D. Elma Dervisevic, BS Drake University

Development and Initial Validation of the Student Strengths Inventory: A Measure of Non-cognitive Variables that Impact Student Performance and Retention. Wade Leuwerke, Ph.D. Elma Dervisevic, BS Drake University. Graduation and Retention Rates.

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Wade Leuwerke, Ph.D. Elma Dervisevic, BS Drake University

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  1. Development and Initial Validation of the Student Strengths Inventory: A Measure of Non-cognitive Variables that Impact Student Performance and Retention Wade Leuwerke, Ph.D. Elma Dervisevic, BS Drake University

  2. Graduation and Retention Rates • 34% - Four-year graduation rate at two-year institutions • (Swail, 2004) • 53% - Six-year graduation rate at four-year institutions • (Carey, 2004) • First to second year retention rates • (ACT, 2009)

  3. Student Success Models • Primary focus on cognitive factors (ACT, HSGPA) • Pre-enrollment situational (e.g., SES) • Post-enrollment situational (e.g., Housing) • Non-cognitive/motivational (e.g., engagement) • 10 non-cognitive variables that are strong predictors of student outcomes • Different predictors for retention vs. performance • Approximately 4 – 6 of these offer significant incremental validity over standardized tests and HS GPA • Robbins et al., (2004)

  4. SSI Development Rational and factor analytic methods Homogeneous and objective measures of six factors Initial pool of 243 items developed by team of 6 researchers Reduced to 81 items through consensus 10 – 14 items for each construct 1 – 6 (strongly disagree – strongly agree) • Academic engagement • Academic self-efficacy • Campus engagement • Social comfort • Resiliency • Educational commitment

  5. Methods • Administered to N = 760 first-year college students at two large western universities (one urban commuter and one rural residential) • 45% men and 55% women • Caucasian (65%), Mexican/Chicano (9%), multiracial (5%), Asian American (5%), American Indian (5%), Puerto Rican/Cuban/Other (3.4%) and African American (2.6%) • Over 8,000 students included in predictive modeling analysis

  6. Analysis • Factor Analysis • Principal axis factoring with oblique rotation • 6 factor structure converged in 11 iterations • Accounted for 45% of variance among items • Reliability • Internal Consistency • Construct Validity • Correlation with Student Readiness Inventory • Predictive Validity • Prediction of retention and first semester GPA

  7. Factor Correlations

  8. Reliability and Construct Validity SRI SSI Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .81 to .90 Cross measure correlations

  9. Reliability and Construct Validity Scale relations with ACT scores and High School GPA

  10. Predictive Validity 18% ACT + HSGPA First Semester GPA Academic Engagement 28% Academic Self-efficacy Resiliency 20% ACT + HSGPA First Year GPA Academic Engagement 29% Campus Engagement Resiliency

  11. First to Second Year Retention Educational Commitment Campus Engagement Predictive Validity

  12. Predictive Validity Prediction of Academic Outcomes

  13. SW Large Rural Residential

  14. SC Medium Rural Regional Comp

  15. Small MNT West Rural State

  16. Large MW Urban

  17. Student Strengths Inventory Student Strengths Inventory Scales and Sample Items

  18. SSI Summary • Strong reliability and validity • Brief measure of non-cognitive factors • Measures 6 factors critical to student success • Customizable individual student report • Training to support data use models and individual interpretation strategies • Questions: wade.leuwerke@drake.edu www.studentstrengthsinventory.com

  19. References ACT, Inc. (2009). National collegiate retention and persistence to degree rates. Iowa City, IA: Author. Carey, K. (2004). A matter of degrees: Improving four-year colleges and universities. Washington, DC, Education Trust. Swail, W. S. (2004). Legislation to improve graduation rates could have the opposite effect. Chronicle of Higher Education, 50. Robbins, S., Lauver, K., Le, H., Langley, R., Davis, D., & Carlstrom, A. (2004). Do psychological and study skill factors predict college outcomes? A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 130, 261-288.

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