The Personality Characteristics Of Continuation High School Students As Measured By The California Psychological Inventory And Their Relationship To Academic Achievement (Testing, Prediction, Traits, Dropouts)

The personality characteristics of continuation high school students, as measured by the California Psychological Inventory (CPI), and the nature and extent of the relationship between those characteristics and their academic achievement were investigated. Achievement was measured by two criteria: attendance and percentage-based grade point average (GPA). The sample was comprised of 96 students from two continuation schools in a multi-ethnic agricultural community. The sample was stratified on the basis of ethnicity to allow ethnic group comparison between Hispanics, Caucasians, and Blacks as well as between males and females. The results showed that the continuation students scored significantly lower than the high school norm groups on 14 of the 18 CPI scales and significantly higher on the Self-Acceptance scale. The continuation students presented scores on scales representing interpersonal and relationship skills that were comparable to their high school norm group counterparts. Their scores on scales involving intrapersonal value controls were substantially different from the normative data. Neither the GPA nor the attendance criterion was predictable from the CPI data. These data were consistent with their overall psychological profile, indicating that this sample experienced both academic and behavioral problems in adapting to school. Based on this profile and their lower scores on the achievement relevant scales of the CPI, the optimum educational format for these youth may require modification of an entirely individualized approach to incorporate adequate structure, lecture content, or small group interaction. Additionally, recommendations for further research with continuation students were offered