The relationship of higher education to Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers' performance /

Abstract

Baed upon the idea of a relationship between improved work performance and increased college education, it was postulated that there would be a relationship between these two variables. The data were analyzed using a One-Way ANOVA and lead to the rejection of the Null hypothesis inasmuch as there was significance found at the (alpha) .05 between Groups 1 and 5.

This study examines the relationship of higher education to the work performance of Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers as measured by an instrument (Knowledge Achievement Test--KAT) developed from an indepth analysis of the position of state trooper. The basis for the methodology used in the development of the KAT is the Job Task Analysis process using a committee approach. The population consisted of 497 Oklahoma Highway Patrol Troopers which were divided into five mutually exclusive stratified KAT scores and were defined as follows: (Group 1) High school diploma or G.E.D.; (Group 2) Those having one year of college; (Group 3) Those having two years of college; (Group 4) Those having three years of college; (Group 5) Those having four years of college.