Since elementary school counselors frequently provide or interpret achievement test scores for academic placement decisions, they must be vigilant for invalid data. Standardized norm-referenced achievement tests can underestimate achievement or potential of low-income black children because of different learning styles and test bias. Recent…

The Carpinteria school district in California has developed a model preschool program to bring Spanish-dominant preschool children up to a level of readiness for school that compares favorably with that of English-speaking children in the same community. That goal is achieved by developing skills in four major areas: Spanish language, cognition,…

This paper investigates the problems of the impact of grouping on measuring academic performance. It focuses on inferences made from the group level to the individual level. Data for a large state college system with over 30 individual colleges is used. The problem of aggregation bias is studied using the analysis of covariance and is related to…

This document is the third annual status report of the Spencerport (New York) More Effective Schools/Teaching Project. Section 1 describes nine documents developed during the project; identifies persons participating in the project; states the applicability of effective schools research to all levels of a suburban school system; and sets forth the…

This paper reports findings from the National Institute of Education's Napa County Project, one of four follow through projects funded over a period of four years to develop and implement instructional programs that would improve teaching practices, increase students' academic engaged rates, and increase gain on reading and mathematics achievement…

The internal/external (I/E) frame of reference model describes relations among Verbal self-concept (VSC), Math self-concept (MSC), and corresponding achievement scores (VACH, MACH). In support of the model Marsh (1986) found that: (1) VSC and MSC were nearly uncorrelated; (2) the effect of VACH on VSC, and of MACH on MSC, were positive; but (3)…

Informed opinion suggests that problems of underachievement in school relate to the lack of particular kinds of experience, discontinuity between school and home, and linguistic and cultural diversity. If a literacy program were based on up-to-date knowledge of the processes involved in reading and writing, and what is known of early literacy…

To examine the developmental process of communication competence and the resulting relationship between competence and college success, a longitudinal study of college students was undertaken. In this study, pertinent background factors and measures of communication skills were collected on the same population over the course of a student's…

A basic-skills testing remediation model for older, reentry college juniors was studied longitudinally and cross-validated against previous findings. Attention was directed to the rates of academic success and attrition for students entering an upper-division university in 1981 as juniors and seniors and majoring in business administration. The…

Measures of both preferred and actual classroom and school environment were administered to 1,675 secondary school students in New South Wales (Australia). Shortened versions of the My Class Inventory, Classroom Environment Scale, and Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire, as well as the Quality of School Life questionnaire were…

This report presents a review of the activities implemented from January 1979 to August 1985 within the Cooperative Demonstration Kindergarten (CDK), a project of the College of Education, Mississippi State University. Part I provides the original concept paper for the CDK. Part II reproduces the statement of agreement between the College of…

The ways collective bargaining affects the operation of public schools are identified. Teachers covered by bargaining agreements, compared with teachers not covered, receive higher salaries and teach smaller classes. They also spend slightly less time instructing students but more time preparing for classes. The major difference detected in the…

The college plans of 167 Maryland high school seniors who qualified as National Merit or National Achievement semifinalists were surveyed. Findings include the following: of the semifinalists choosing out-of-state colleges, 58 percent selected private and about 22 percent selected public institutions; slightly less than 10 percent planned to…

Data relating to the characteristics and performance of Bakersfield College (BC) students who transferred to public four-year colleges and universities in California were gathered from the transfer institutions and analyzed. Study findings included the following: (1) first-time transfers from BC to the California State University and College…

Criticism of standardized tests is extensive, and a number of claims of test misuse have been made. Test misuse is discussed in six common circumstances. (1) Test users accept the title of a test as an accurate and complete description of the variable being measured, not having full knowledge of the test, its items, and the test manual. A…