A model of parent involvement in computer education is discussed in relation to activities of the Computer Discovery Project at the Center for Young Children, University of Maryland. Content focuses on parents' attitudes and concerns about the use of microcomputers in educational settings. Growth in parents' involvement with computers is…

Perspectives on concept mapping and its benefits to students in the learning of scientific concepts are presented in this paper. A concept map is defined as a two-dimensional heirarchical representation of concepts which indicates the relationship between the selected concepts. Aspects of concept mapping addressed in this review include: (1) its…

Although perfectly scalable items rarely occur in practice, Guttman's concept of a scale has proved to be valuable to the development of measurement theory. If the score distribution is uniform and there is an equal number of items at each difficulty level, both the elements and the eigenvalues of the Pearson correlation matrix of dichotomous…

This document presents the final report from a 2-year investigation conducted by a College Board-appointed commission to examine the provision of precollege guidance and counseling in schools in the United States. The first section of the report contains a summary of the commission's work and lists four priority recommendations and four other…

This paper discusses the use of latent class structure as a modelling framework for tests in which much of the data conforms to a relatively small number of systematic patterns. Application of this framework to the analysis of tests has been limited because available parameter estimation algorithms can only handle a relatively small number of…

The paper examines the prospects of employment for Canadian youth with mental disabilities and offers a model for secondary vocational programing designed to promote the transition from school to work. An introductory section comments on the bleak outlook for employment for students with disabilities and notes the economic and social consequences.…

A theoretical linguistic model is insufficient to deal with the problems of language teaching because of the complexity of the phenomena concerned and the dynamic nature of language acquisition and communication. Most linguistic models neglect the fact that, in communicative situations, language users construct the prerequisites of communicative…

A biography for elementary school students presents an account of an American Indian television reporter, Tom Beaver (Creek), and includes a map of Oklahoma showing the location of Indian tribes. A teacher's guide following the biography contains information about the Creek tribe and the history of television, learning objectives and directions…

Tinto's conceptual schema of college dropout forms the theoretical framework for the development of a model of university student dropout intention. This study validated Tinto's model in two different departments within a single university. Analyses were conducted on a sample of 684 college freshmen in the Education and Economics Department. A…

Several parenting models are discussed in addressing the following premise: we parent the way we have been parented and, thus, parents play out resolved or unresolved childhood conflicts with their children. The following parenting models and their relevant research are reviewed briefly: the psychoanalytic model (emphasizing intrapersonal and…

Hypothetical data sets are used to demonstrate how canonical correlation methods subsume other commonly utilized parametric methods. Analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, multiple analysis of variance, and multiple analysis of covariance are heavily used by educational researchers. It is concluded that researchers would do well to consider…

J. D. Bransford's tetrahedral model of learning considers four variables: (1) learning activities, (2) characteristics of the learner, (3) criterial tasks, and (4) the nature of the materials. Bransford's model provides a research-based theoretical framework that can be used to teach, model, and have students apply a variety of study strategies to…

While individualized learning strategies typically provide large amounts of instructional support, they also reply heavily on learner judgement to determine the amount of support required to achieve an objective. Frequently, these strategies result in high achievers selecting too much support and low achievers selecting too little. Interest in…

Three item response models were evaluated for estimating item parameters and equating test scores. The models, which approximated the traditional three-parameter model, included: (1) the Rasch one-parameter model, operationalized in the BICAL computer program; (2) an approximate three-parameter logistic model based on coarse group data divided…

This report suggests feasible alternatives to the present methods of calculating benefits and costs of the joint federal-state vocational rehabilitation program. "Summary and Guide to Reading This Report" (Monroe Berkowitz) appears first. Part I, Background, Theory and Models, includes "The Cost Benefit Tradition in Vocational…