The 4th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2011) brings together researchers from computer science, education, psychology, psychometrics, and statistics to analyze large datasets to answer educational research questions. The conference, held in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, July 6-9, 2011, follows the three previous editions…

This study investigated the efficacy of noncognitive variables and academic background as a function of student ethnic group for the prediction of college grade performance and persistence. New freshmen during four consecutive fall semesters were administered the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Freshmen Survey. The sample included 251…

Policymakers adopt basic skills tests as admission requirements for programs of teacher education to increase the accuracy of admissions and, ultimately, to increase the competence of the teaching force. The tests are regarded as an independent measure of student academic competence. A multiple regression study of the incremental predictive…

A popular concept in education indicates that effective instruction requires the teacher to know the child. A study was conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in order to determine where this knowledge comes from. A group of 15 teachers enrolled in the graduate school listed their students and indicated which students they knew…

The validity of several predictors was examined against multiple criteria of student program success. Subjects (N=437) were selected from about 800 students in the elementary teacher education program of a small California state university. Predictor variables for each subject included: (1) undergraduate grade point average (GPA); (2) subscale…

This follow-up study helped determine the predictive validity of parent and teacher ratings and scores from the Early Identification Assessment Battery. This assessment involved a random selection of 4-year-old children scheduled to enter a French immersion program in the Ottawa, Canada, school system. In the spring of grade 1, 63% of the original…

This review of the Northern California (NorCal) Cooperative Research Project on Student Attrition, which was conducted between 1968 and 1970, provides detailed information on how to use the findings of the study to identify those students who are most likely to drop out of college during their first term. Chapter I provides background information…

Eighth grade students, in response to a pictorial stimulus (either an intact picture, or a series), were instructed to write either a story (which would be enjoyable for another eighth grader) or a description (which would help another eighth grader visualize the picture). Thirty responses from each of the four task conditions were then analyzed.…

Random polygons were used as stimuli in a two-choice multiple discrimination learning paradigm designed to test individual learning ability. A nonverbal test was developed in order to avoid the cultural and racial bias which, according to the author, is inherent in verbal tests. Information processing rate (IPR) was used as the measure of learning…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the two judgmental factors of "confidence-eagerness" and "ethnicity-nonstandardness" (previously identified from teachers' semantic differential evaluations of audio-taped samples of children's speech) would still be found when samples were presented in an audiovisual mode and whether these…

Evaluates the effectiveness of five admission models in predicting student performance in a Masters of Business Administration program. Found the regression model predicts graduate success better than the other models, but none of the models improved upon the admission officer's judgment. (Author/JAC)

Studies by the Stanford Research Institute indicate that poor Black children were 3.5 times more likely to be identified by teachers as mentally retarded than their White counterparts. Biased intelligence tests should not be used for placement, and lawsuits should be filed against their use throughout America where there is a demonstrated need.…

This study assesses the predictive validity of the Phelps Kindergarten Readiness Scale (PKRS) for later academic achievement and explores the utility of a domain-specific measure of kindergarten readiness. Kindergarten readiness scores were significantly correlated with both math and language arts achievement as measured by New York State…

A hypothetical model was formulated to explore factors that influenced academic and clinical achievement for graduate-entry medical students completing their third year of university studies. Nine latent variables were considered including the students' background, previous successes with their undergraduate and postgraduate studies and their…

This document reports on a study to determine if there is a pattern between specific learning styles and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator preferences. The learning style inventory used for the study, "The Teaching and Learning Styles Survey for Adolescents (TLC)," is based on Jungian style preferences--thinker, feeler, sensor, and…