The authors present a quick and simple procedure for observing four behaviors relevant to classroom management: student disruption, student attention, and the teacher's use of both positive and negative events. The procedure utilizes paraprofessionals as raters and is validated by high interrater reliabilities. (Author/EJT)

Research on the reliability of various measures of interviewing skills used an experimental design involving patient interviews of medical students in their sophomore and senior years. Results suggest caution against overinterpretation of data from faculty raters and illustrate that nonprofessionals can be trained to use interaction analysis…

Possible integrated and independent tasks were pilot tested for the writing section of a new generation of TOEFL® (Test of English as a Foreign Language™) examination. This study examines the impact of various rating designs as well as the impact of the number of tasks and raters on the reliability of writing scores based on integrated and…

This study evaluated the effect of training on improving the reliability of the peer review process by determining whether or not training made a difference in the variability among reviewers' scores and documentation provided to support the scores. Different levels of training were provided for participants in the peer review process who were…

Retention of pupils results in a need for additional teachers, facilities, and materials at a rate approximating the rate of retention. Retention is a more serious problem for the state, which needs to pay most of these increased costs. This paper reviews the research evidence to assess the cost-effectiveness of student retention policies.…

A sample of 212 urban, black mothers and their 8- through 12-year-old children responded to questionnaires about the frequency of potentially stressful life events experienced by the children and the feelings the children had when the events took place. A 49-item questionnaire addressed childen's concerns regarding the stress categories of home…

Seven experiments were conducted concerning decision making and information processing under conditions of uncertainty. Several different experimental tasks were used; all presented the subject with multiple independent sources of information regarding the likelihood that some event would occur. Study 1 subjects were Air Force pilots; all other…

This paper notes the proliferation of literature about the characteristics of Japanese education and culture. Generalizations ranging from reports of remarkable progress in subject disciplines to praise of Japanese technology, social and individual behavior, and systematic accomplishments have been cited. It is contended in this study that some of…

The High School Course/Grade Information Section (CGIS) of the American College Testing (ACT) Assessment registration folder collects detailed information about the courses students have taken or plan to take in high school, and the grades they have earned in courses they have completed. In this study, data provided by students on the CGIS were…

Two major groups of researchers focus on identifying schools that have been unusually effective in terms of their students' achievement: (1) "effective schools" researchers; and (2) those charged with the responsibility of identifying schools for special recognition. However, all legitimate attemps to operationalize school effectiveness…

A series of research studies on the consistency of reading specialists' diagnoses of students with reading problems have indicated that clinical agreement has been astonishingly low. To investigate which factors seem to lead to consistency in clinical diagnosis, a study was conducted based on a theory of clinical problem solving called inquiry…

Behavioral observation has become increasingly important in research in developmental and clinical psychology, as well as in program evaluation and instructional research. Several statistical approaches to assessing the dependability of behavioral observation were reviewed. The demand for accurate and efficient paradigms for behavioral observation…

An explicit model identifying 10 relevant components of achievement gain scores has been developed. Based on that model, all students under consideration are stratified according to individual observed pretest score, and achievement gains are measured relative to the average and range of gains among students in the same prescore stratum. The…

The modification of Rutter's Children's Behavior Questionnaire and its standardization was the focus of a study of 496 normal and 102 disturbed preschool children. Resultant data indicated its possible value in clinical or research settings for the first step in early detection of emotional problems. (Author/SDH)

More research is needed to distinguish between actual and artificial sex differences, and greater attention should be paid to individual differences, since at this point sex appears to account for very little variability in human performance. (JC)