Date Awarded


Document Type


Degree Name

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)




The purpose of this study was to determine whether Army ROTC cadets who enter the Advanced Course differ significantly in certain selected variables from cadets who choose to terminate the ROTC program with the Basic Course. Using theoretical constructs from Schoenherr's and Greeley's (1974) General Role Commitment Model and the Card et al. (1975) ROTC/Army Career Commitment Model, a prediction model was developed for the present study, the ROTC Continuation Model. The ROTC Continuation Model was used to predict ROTC continuation in a single Army ROTC Program. All (803) cadets enrolled in this specific program from school years 1974-75 through 1980-81 and had been eligible to enter the Advanced Course were included in the study. The .05 level of significance was used in analyzing all data.;The first phase of the Model's analysis process, bivariate analysis (chi-square statistics and grouped t-tests), found no significant differences between the two groups of cadets on their sex, academic grade point averages, Cadet Evaluation Battery Subtest II scores, and Scholastic Aptitude Test scores. Significant differences were found between the two groups of cadets with other variables. These findings indicated that the cadet who continued into the Advanced Course was more likely to have enrolled in a smaller military science class, had a higher ROTC class order of merit, have been older, had a higher ROTC grade point average, and higher Cadet Evaluation Battery Subtest VII scores than the cadet who terminated with the Basic Course. The cadet whose father had military experience, and had served in the military for a long period of time was more likely to continue in the ROTC program than the cadet whose father had no military experience, or just a brief period of service. A married, or divorced cadet who had prior JROTC or active military experience, and had entered the ROTC program in his freshman year was more likely to continue in the program than a single cadet without JROTC or active military experience who entered the program in his sophomore, junior or senior year. A Black cadet had a higher probability of continuation than a White cadet. Cadets who had ROTC scholarships and were members of the ROTC Rangers, had higher probabilities of continuation than cadets who did not have these characteristics. Discriminant analysis was used in the second phase of analysis to correctly classify 91.91% of the cadets in the study into their respective continuation groups. Multiple regression analysis identified nine variables which explained 62% of the variance in ROTC continuation.



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