Journal of Islamic Studies (May 2009)
The Academic Performance of Kuwait University Students Graduating from Different High SchoolEducational Systems: A Follow-up and Comparative Study
Abstract
The aims of the present study were: 1) to evaluate the secondary education outputs. 2) to compare the academic performance of the students of both genders in Kuwait University who graduated from the following six different high school educational systems: credit system, two-semester system. Islamic education system, private Arabic language schools, British schools system, and the American schools system. 3) to follow-up of the high school system’s outputs during university education in Kuwait University in an attempt to highlight the weaknesses and fortes in these types of schooling systems. and 4) to investigate the potentiality of prediction of the high school GPA, the equivalent high school GPA. the Aptitude test scores, the gender, and nationality as to predict the university GPA. The descriptive correlational method was used as an appropriate research method for the current study. The sample of the study comprised of all the students enrolled in. graduated. or suspended from Kuwait University and those in three successive years: 1999, 2000, and 2001. The sample size was 8,740 students of both genders. It was found that the private Arabic language schools educational system was the best schooling system for general secondary school students as contrasted with the other systems as predicted from and implied in the university performance levels of the students in Kuwait University as assessed in the GPA. On the other side.students who studied in their high schools according to the credit system were the least in order as to their academic achievement The high school GPA is the best predictor of the GPA in university whatever the high school educational system was. and whether the students were in science or literature specialties, where the equivalent score is the best predictor for science students.
