| Abstract: | In this article, grade point average (GPA) is considered a missing data technique for unavailable grades in school grade records. In Study 1, theoretical and empirical differences between GPA and seven alternative missing grade techniques were considered. These seven techniques are subject mean substitution, corrected subject mean, subject correlation substitution, regression imputation, expectation maximization algorithm imputation and two multiple imputation methods-stochastic regression imputation and data augmentation., The missing grade techniques differ greatly. Data augmentation and stochastic regression imputation appear to be superior as missing grade techniques. In Study 2, the completed grade records (observed and imputed values) were used in two prediction analyses of academic achievement. One analysis was based on unweighed grades, the other on weighed grades. In both analyses, alternative missing grade methods produced better and more consistent predictions. It is concluded that some alternative missing grade methods are superior to GPA. |
