This "Practitioner's Guide to Growth Models," commissioned by the Technical Issues in Large-Scale Assessment (TILSA) and Accountability Systems & Reporting (ASR), collaboratives of the "Council of Chief State School Officers," describes different ways to calculate student academic growth and to make judgments about the…

This article discusses the uses of production function models and describes the role of inferential statistics for making predictions in school finance. Specifically, the analysis evaluates types, suggests uses, explains the advantages and disadvantages, and lists the statistical complexities of production functions. (JAM)

This study was designed to help students decide whether or not to register for a general chemistry course. High school grade point averages (GPAs) and American College Testing (ACT) scores were obtained on over 600 students from New Mexico State University and were entered into correlation analysis with chemistry grades. A "Chemistry…

Analyzes data presented in a recent article (EJ 328 649) examining the relationship between A-level physics and mathematics and degree performance in engineering or physics. A grade of A in A-level physics predicted first class degree performance. (JM)

This study of 420 entering students at Dartmouth Medical School (New Hampshire) found that a combination of criteria such as Medical College Admission Test scores, undergraduate science grade averages, and college selectivity was useful in identifying successful first-year students. Results also indicated that the admissions committee…

Describes results of survey of media service directors at public universities in Ohio to determine the expected longevity of audiovisual equipment. Use of the Delphi technique for estimates is explained, results are compared with an earlier survey done in 1977, and use of spreadsheet software to calculate depreciation is discussed. (LRW)

The focus of the session summarized in this paper was on how postsecondary educational institutions can better anticipate the future of higher education by using the "alternative futures approach to planning" model. The alternative futures model processes the best available information obtainable so that plausible alternative futures in…

Procedures for predicting academic achievement at Indiana University, Bloomington, are examined, based on data for the 4,145 freshmen who entered the university in fall 1983. Three sets of prediction equations and a graphic scheme for determining probable first semester grade point averages (GPAs) for males and females are provided. Entering…

Stepwise discriminant analysis coupled with logit regression analysis of freshmen data from Brandon University (Manitoba) indicated that six tested variables drawn from research on university dropouts were useful in predicting attrition: student status, residence, financial sources, distance from home town, goal fulfillment, and satisfaction with…

In an effort to encourage the growth and maturity of its students, Broome Community College in New York abolished its attendance policy. For the past 7 years, both attendance rates and grade point averages (GPA's) of students at the college had been dropping. In 1990, a study was conducted at BCC to determine if there was a measurable relationship…

This paper examines the use of environmental scanning for institutions of higher education to achieve the following objectives: (1) provide early warning of changes that will have an impact on education; (2) define potential threats and opportunities to the institution or department; (3) promote a future orientation in faculty; and (4) alert…

Proposes three types of supplementary problems to develop students' skill in interpretation of graphically represented data. Eleven examples are presented and solved for the following types of problems: comparison of one quantity to another, comparison of two quantities that each depend on a common parameter, and reasonable data prediction. (MDH)

Three construct scores (academic skills, parent discipline, and parent involvement) and 2 discrete code category measures (positive responses and total positive behavior) were recorded for 39 antisocial and 41 at-risk grade-4 boys. Five resulting regression prediction models produced strong effects in accounting for school achievement, adjustment,…

This study examined the relationship between students' academic performance in high school vis-a-vis their performance in the first year at college. The study analyzed data on students who graduated from Maryland high schools in the 1994-95 academic year and who were enrolled in 2- and 4-year Maryland public institutions or in one of 11…