This paper aims to investigate how stability varies with the approach used in estimating school performance in a large sample of English primary schools. The results show that (a) raw performance is considerably more stable than adjusted performance, which in turn is slightly more stable than growth model estimates; (b) schools' performance…

The Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) Model has been used to make many high-stakes decisions concerning schools, though it does not provide a complete assessment of student academic achievement and school effectiveness. To provide a clearer perspective, many states have implemented various Growth and Value Added Models, in addition to AYP. The…

The present study proposes and examines the multidimensional vector (MDV) model framework as a modeling schema for choice response times. MDV extends the Thurstonian model, as well as signal detection theory, to classification tasks by taking into account the influence of response properties on stimulus discrimination. It is capable of accounting…

This volume, a comprehensive survey and critical analysis of today's issues in mathematics education, distills research to build knowledge and capacity in the field. The compendium is a valuable new resource that provides the most comprehensive evidence about what is known about research in mathematics education. The 38 chapters present five…

Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) have been used extensively for value-added analysis, adjusting for important student and school-level covariates such as socioeconomic status. A recently proposed alternative, the Layered Mixed Effects Model (LMEM) also analyzes learning gains, but ignores sociodemographic factors. Other features of LMEM, such as…

Examines the comparative efficiency of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom, responding to governmental concerns for accountability, value for money, and cost control. Tests concepts of cost and outcome efficiency, using data- development analysis, to gain further insights into universities' operations. Applying this methodology to…

The insightful discussions by Raudenbush, Rubin, Stuart and Zanutto (RSZ) and Reckase identify important challenges for interpreting the output of VAM and for its use with test-based accountability. As these authors note, VAM are statistical models for the correlations among scores from students who share common teachers or schools during the…

This publication is a discussion of the concept of an educational production function, a mathematical formulation of the relationship between inputs and outputs in education. A description of how a production function can direct decision making toward economic efficiency precedes a theoretical discussion of the nature of actual estimation. Several…

In Dyer's Student Change Model, performance indicators (PIs) are utilized as a measure of the effectiveness of educational programs. These PIs are examined and analyzed in some detail in this paper. In particular, the reliability of the residuals, the sensitivity of the measure to sample size, the random half reliability, and the stability of the…

This document presents a research effort intended to improve the economic information available for formulating politics and making decisions related to Information Analysis Centers (IAC's) and IAC services. The project used a system of IAC information activities to analyze the functional aspects of IAC services, calculate the present value of net…

The basic objective of this research program was to develop and to test an accountability model of the educational process. In cooperation with the Pittsburgh School District, a major effort was devoted toward the development of a data base, the construction of appropriate models and the conduct of analyses of the data. Some analysis was…

Production function applications to improve the efficiency of educational programs require identification of inputs and outputs and the establishment of a data bank to provide information on input and output variables. This generalizable input identification model organizes inputs for systems analysis at various levels of inputs and provides a…

Maintains that most economics textbooks continue to repeat past mistakes concerning returns to scale and economies of scale under assumptions of constant and nonconstant input prices. Provides an adaptation for a calculus-based intermediate microeconomics class that demonstrates the pointwise relationship between returns to scale and economies of…

This statewide study achieved the following objectives: (1) It developed a methodology for conducting a benefit-cost analysis of vocational education programs in Florida; (2) It examined, compared, and analyzed public and private costs and benefits of four Florida vocational programs, (3) It compared public and private benefits and costs for…

This paper introduces anthropologists to simultaneous equation models and to a powerful technique for estimating such models. Characteristically a simultaneous equations model consists of more than one equation and allows for interaction and joint determinancies between some of the variables. Basically these models apply to situations in which one…