Dan Baugher

Longitudinal Study of Student Dropout From a Business School

In this study, the authors identified variables that predict college student dropout from a business school. In the 1st phase of the study, they collected information from students (N = 403) in the 2nd semester of their freshman year. Then they collected dropout data from the same students 4 semesters after the first phase. The authors used point-biserial correlations to determine the relationship of each independent variable to dropout. Three factors showed a significant correlation with future dropout: 1stsemester GPA, 1st-semester average course evaluation, and perception of financial difficulties.

TOKEN VERSUS STORED VALUE CARD USE IN NEW YORK CITY SUBWAY SYSTEM: OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OVER TWO TIME PERIODS

As transportation systems search for ways to improve service and reduce costs, new systems for fare payment are becoming more common. The human throughput at turnstiles of a large number of token and stored value card users was observed in the New York City subway system for 1 week and then for another week after a 6-month interval. The results suggest that magnetic card swipe read/write technologies for fare payment may, at least initially, slow down access to subway platforms and increase entry problems for users. Stored value card users took longer, on average, and showed more variability in throughput than token users. Stored value card users also experienced a fair amount of difficulty in swiping their cards through turnstile readers, although the difficulties decreased after 6 months. Users of cards also differed from token users on a number of demographic variables. With about 50 percent of the ridership served by the new system at the time of the study, the most consistent finding across both stud...

Ten Years of Experience with a Performance-Based Promotional Selection and Career Development System within State Government.

This article describes the experiences of the New York State Division of the Budget over the past ten years with the decentralized administration of an organizationally-based system for selecting and developing employees for promotion. This system assesses candidate training and experience against the requirements of the position to which they aspire as well as recent job performance on behaviors relevant to performance in the promotional position. Overall, both managers and candidates have found the system to be more effective than traditional written/oral exam processes in furthering career development within the Division, selecting employees for promotion, and rewarding current performance.

Is the empirical validity of prior experience for performance affected by rating approach

Purpose – In the public sector, Training and Experience (T & E) exams assess prior experience and are one of the most often used methods for selecting job applicants. This study uses a KSA approach, where raters judge the quality of job relevant prior experience, not its duration or quantity. It was hypothesized that an additional rater and a consensus meeting between raters would increase reliability and validity. Design/methodology/approach – T & E and supervisory ratings were obtained over a 12-year period for 166 candidates seeking promotion to a budget analyst position. Validity was measured by the correlation between T & E scores and supervisory ratings. Consensus was required only for T & E scores differing by a specific amount (hybrid consensus). Findings – Intraclass reliability was 0.73, 0.84, and 0.95 in the one-rater, two-rater, and hybrid consensus conditions with each coefficient greater than the next (p < 0.05) showing the benefit of multiple raters and consensus for reliability. Validity w...