It is widely believed that regression models for binary responses are problematic if we want to compare estimated coefficients from models for different groups or with different explanatory variables. This concern has two forms. The first arises if the binary model is treated as an estimate of a model for an unobserved continuous response and the…

There are no absolute standards regarding what teaching evaluation ratings are satisfactory. It is also problematic to compare teaching evaluation ratings with the average or with a cutoff number to determine whether they are adequate. In this paper, we use average and standard deviation charts (X[overbar]-S charts), which are based on the theory…

Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) is a useful tool when analyzing data collected from groups. There are many decisions to be made when constructing and estimating a model in HLM including which estimation technique to use. Three of the estimation techniques available when analyzing data with HLM are maximum likelihood, restricted maximum…

We present considerations for validity when a population outside of a normed sample is assessed and those data are interpreted. Using a career group counseling example exploring life satisfaction changes as evidenced by the Quality of Life Inventory (Frisch, 1994), we showcase qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore how normative data…

In this paper, we report a case study that illustrates the importance in interpreting the results from statistical tests, and shows the difference between practical importance and statistical significance. This case study presents three sets of data concerning the performance of two brands of batteries. The data are easy to describe and…

Purpose: This paper argues that in a well-organised school with strong leadership and vision coupled with a concerted effort to improve the teaching performance of each teacher, student achievement can be enhanced. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that while macro-effect sizes such as "whole of school" metrics are useful for…

Studies that consider the displays that students create to organize data are not common in the literature. This article compares fifth through eighth graders' difficulties with the creation of bar graphs using either raw data (Study 1, n = 155) or a provided table (Study 2, n = 152). Data in Study 1 showed statistical differences for the type of…

Numeracy in schools is becoming an increasingly important part of mathematics learning and teaching. This is because educators want students to engage with mathematical concepts more deeply, use mathematics to make sense of their environment and make decisions that are based on the analysis of mathematical information. In order to be numerate,…

Effective professional development for school principals is crucial to the successful administration of schools, especially during periods of change resulting from policy mandates. The Louisiana Legislature has passed legislation in an attempt to reform education in the state. During this same period, the Board of Elementary and Secondary…

The release of the latest results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) garnered all the usual headlines about America's lackluster performance and the rise of competitor nations. To be sure, the findings--that America's fifteen-year-olds perform in the middle of the pack in both reading and math--are disconcerting for a…

On the basis of taxometric analyses of data sets that they created to pose interpretive challenges, S. R. H. Beach, N. Amir, and J. J. Bau (2005) cautioned that using comparison data simulated by J. Ruscio's programs can lead to inaccurate conclusions. Careful examination of S. R. H. Beach et al.'s methods and results plus reanalysis of their data…

Using student achievement data from British Columbia, Canada, this study is an exploration of the differences that lie within the private school sector using hierarchical linear modeling to analyze the data. The analysis showed that when controlling for language, parents' level of educational attainment, and prior achievement, the private school…

A common problem in the behavioral sciences is to determine if a set of observed variables can be more parsimoniously represented by a smaller set of derived variables. To address this problem, the performance of five methods for determining the number of components to retain (Horn's parallel analysis, Velicer's Minimum Average Partial (MAP),…

This study used 1994 data from the California Community College System cohort of first-time freshmen to identify that part of University of California (UC) or California State University (CSU) transfer performance that is determined by factors outside the control of college administrators. The idea was to "level the playing field" when…

Procedures used in Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) dissertations at the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) were studied. Focus was on identifying: (1) characteristics of the research designs used; (2) sources of the instruments used to collect data; (3) reports of reliability estimates and evidence of validity of the instruments; and (4) types of…