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A STUDY OF COLLEGE ADMISSION OFFICERS’ ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS ABOUT CYBER-CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL APPLICANTS

Barkovich, David (2014) A STUDY OF COLLEGE ADMISSION OFFICERS’ ATTITUDES AND PERCEPTIONS ABOUT CYBER-CHARTER HIGH SCHOOL APPLICANTS. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Admission officers at post-secondary institutions face the contemporary challenge of evaluating applicants who have chosen to attend online high schools. The rapidly increasing enrollment in online educational programs has drastically outpaced the research related to the outcomes associated with this decision. The goal of this quantitative study was to explore the attitudes and perceptions held by post-secondary admission counselors in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania when reviewing cyber-charter high school applicants. This study also assessed the variations in admission procedures used for admitting applicants from cyber-charter high schools to post-secondary institutions. Finally, this study explored any relationships that may exist between the characteristics of the post-secondary institution and the attitudes and perceptions of an admission officer employed at this same institution about the cyber-charter school applicant.
The method of data collection was a structured survey distributed electronically to members of a professional organization of admission counselors in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The convenience sample included two hundred and seven respondents who completed Likert-type rating scales and provided categorical demographic data. Cyber-charter school applicants were not found to be at a procedural disadvantage during the post-secondary admission process. However, the key finding of the study indicates that a considerable number of admission counselors do not believe that the cyber-charter applicant will perform as well as a traditional high school applicant upon enrollment at the post-secondary level. The characteristics of a post-secondary institution were found to have little influence upon the admission counselor’s attitudes. An unexpected finding from the categorical data collected from the respondents, many of whom possess less than five years of experience, indicated that nearly as many admission counselors make unilateral decisions as those who do so in an admission committee. The findings revealed that applicants to post-secondary institutions in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania might face negative attitudes and perceptions during the admission process because of their choice to attend a cyber-charter school.


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Details

Item Type: University of Pittsburgh ETD
Status: Unpublished
Creators/Authors:
CreatorsEmailPitt UsernameORCID
Barkovich, Daviddavebarkovich@hotmail.com
ETD Committee:
TitleMemberEmail AddressPitt UsernameORCID
Committee ChairTrovato, Ctrovato@pitt.eduTROVATO
Committee MemberKerr, Mary Margaretmmkerr@pitt.eduMMKERR
Committee MemberBickel, Williambickel@pitt.eduBICKEL
Committee MemberKirk, Dianedlk31@pitt.eduDLK31
Date: 22 May 2014
Date Type: Publication
Defense Date: 14 April 2014
Approval Date: 22 May 2014
Submission Date: 28 April 2014
Access Restriction: 1 year -- Restrict access to University of Pittsburgh for a period of 1 year.
Number of Pages: 168
Institution: University of Pittsburgh
Schools and Programs: School of Education > Administrative and Policy Studies
Degree: EdD - Doctor of Education
Thesis Type: Doctoral Dissertation
Refereed: Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords: cyber-charter school, cyber-school, online school, post-secondary admission, admission process, college application, college admission
Date Deposited: 22 May 2014 16:09
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2016 14:19
URI: http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21508

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