A study provided the initial test of a multidimensional instrument based on the idea that syntactic language choice might predict writing apprehension. The test measured six factors: (1) blank page paralysis, (2) general affect toward writing, (3) positive/negative business affect, (4) alternative modes, (5) attitude toward writing competence, and…

This study examined the relationship and relative importance of selected variables to successful performance of urban community college students on the American College Testing Program (ACT) College Outcome Measures Program (COMP). The importance of age, race, gender, type of degree, program or major category, admissions criteria and ACT…

This study was designed, using a path analytic model, to assess the relative impact of different factors on science concentration decisions made by grade 10 high school students (N=237). Included in the model were selected demographic and socioeconomic factors, academic abilities factors (including logical thinking), indicators of home and school…

Involving 619 preschool children, a longitudinal investigation evaluated a new test for identifying preschool children who produce an excessive number of form errors in printing. All children participating were fluent in English and were in the appropriate grades for their ages, either pre-kindergarten or kindergarten, when they were given the…

One important line of inquiry in educational psychology involves the study of change of individuals' cognitive-motivational processes. The conjunctive use of longitudinal data with latent growth curve modeling procedures has, for example, allowed researchers to identify initial levels and to trace trajectories of theoretical variables such as…

The findings and conclusions of an inquiry into the use and value of college academic records as a primary basis for predicting later occupational success are summarized. The inquiry revealed a wide variation in the meaning of grades from school to school. The quality of students accepted by different colleges varies widely. This variation is…

An analysis of the characteristics and grades of students in Mathematics 71, a basic mathematics course, was conducted at Kings River Community College to provide counselors and instructors with information to help them determine the chances of a student's success in the course. Data collected included information on placement test scores; high…

Assessing the self-esteem of students may be one way to evaluate the effectiveness of educational programs. To study the impact of an art-based program, middle and high school students completed the Self Esteem Inventory as well as intelligence and achievement measures. Results showed that self-esteem mean scores (both pre and post) were well…

Program evaluation research, including reputational studies and studies based on objective indicators, and research on the quantitative correlates of program quality are reviewed. Reputational studies, which have dominated research on program quality in higher education, emphasize peer evaluation. Some major reputational studies of graduate…

The Supervisory Behavior Description Questionnaire (SBDQ), Form 2, is a modified semantic differential scale using five pairs of bipolar adjectives to describe supervisory behavior. Form 2 of the instrument was field tested to determine which supervisory behaviors 60 graduate students in education perceived as satisfying or motivating. These…

Two questionnaire surveys of 89 Kansas public elementary and secondary schools examined, first, the relationship between school expectancy climate--teachers' expectations that their efforts would lead to positive student results--and school effectiveness, and, second, the change in that relationship through the school year. School effectiveness…

In the past only academic variables have performed well in the prediction of attrition. Ideally, persons in higher education would like to predict attrition prior to its occurrence, but many academic variables are not available until after the fact. Thus, the isolation of those motivational and personality variables which identify individuals as…

The relationship between student/teacher attitude similarity and teacher evaluations was studied in a group of 222 students who completed a 24-item attitude scale, once for themselves and once for their instructors, and a 28-item teacher rating form (TRF). A significant, moderate-sized correlation between assumed similarity and TRF scores for…

Pre-enrollment characteristics that distinguish nonpersisting students from students who persist into the second semester of their freshman year were studied at the University of Iowa in 1978. Three sources of information were used to obtain predictor variables: American College Testing (ACT) program test scores, the ACT Student Profile, and high…

Theories of career decision-making and occupational choice have not been well-related to the life course of the majority of women. The relationship between career and life planning variables in the areas of education, marriage, parenthood, and work were examined through interviews with urban white, black, and Hispanic eleventh grade students…