Mathematics achievement predictors for college algebra

The purpose of this study was to determine which of the following independent variables or combination of independent variables; mathematics score on the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) or American College Testing (ACT), mathematics score on Texas Academic Skills Program Test (TASP), age, gender, high school GPA, high school rank, number of high school math units, and high school algebra one grade, is the best predictor of achievement in college algebra.; This study selected all students enrolled in college algebra at Texas A&M International University for the academic years 1995-1996 and 1996-1997 who had SAT or ACT scores, TASP scores, and a grade from high school algebra one. The following research questions were proposed: (1) How can the following variables be combined to form the best predictor of achievement in college algebra: mathematics score on the SAT or ACT, mathematic score on the TASP, age, gender, high school GPA, high school rank, number of high school math units, and high school algebra one grade? (2) Is age a predictor of achievement in college algebra? (3) How can the high school academic preparation variables be combined to form the best predictor of achievement in college algebra? (4) How can the mathematical standardized test scores be combined to form the best predictor of achievement in college algebra? (5) Does gender have an effect on how the independent variables predict achievement in college algebra?; A multiple step-wise regression analysis was used to analyze the data. The sample was divided into two groups by gender and the analyses were done twice, once for each group. For the male cases, the high school GPA was the best predictor with an R Square of.142, indicating that 14.2% of the observed variability in the college algebra grade is explained by the high school GPA. The best predictive model from the analysis for the female cases was Model 3. Model 3 included the high school GPA, TASP, and the number of high school math units with 26.3% of the observed variability in the college algebra grade explained by these three variables.