Cognitive and Noncognitive Predictors of Academic Performance for College Students with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate if there are differences in how cognitive and noncognitive variables predict academic performance for college students with learning disabilities. In particular, this study examined the extent to which the cognitive variables of high school grade point average and SAT (combined verbal and math) or ACT score as well as noncognitive variables, contribute to cumulative college grade point average at the end of students' freshman, sophomore, and junior years of college. Participants were 88 college students with learning disabilities at a large, public university and a private, mid-sized, university located in the mid-Atlantic area of the United States. Using Sedlacek's (2004) Noncognitive Assessment method as a conceptual framework for this study, participants completed the Noncognitive Questionnaire (NCQ), an instrument that was developed to assess eight noncognitive variables.

Hierarchic multiple regression analyses were performed on the data in order to determine the variables that best predict the academic performance of college students with learning disabilities. The findings of this study could not be used make a determination as to whether or not the noncognitive variables of the NCQ predict college performance alone or add to the prediction of college performance beyond the HSGPA, beyond the SAT, and beyond both HSGPA and SAT due to the poor internal consistency that was found for the eight NCQ subscales. At the same time, support was found that while HSGPA is a good predictor of academic performance for this population of students, not standardized test scores were not