Objective: This study compares sex offender risk classification using two popular actuarial risk assessment instruments--the Static-99 and the Level of Service Inventory-Revised (LSI-R). Despite their extensive use, the two scales assess different types of risk factors and research has yet to compare them. Method: Static-99 and LSI-R risk…

The reliability and validity of professionally written multiple-choice exams have been extensively studied for exams such as the SAT, graduate record examination, and the force concept inventory. Much of the success of these multiple-choice exams is attributed to the careful construction of each question, as well as each response. In this study,…

While a majority of cognitive behavioural researchers and clinicians adhere to the classification system provided in the "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV)," strong objections have been voiced among behaviourists who find the dichotomous allocation of patients into psychiatric diagnoses incompatible with the philosophy…

Situated learning theory provides a rich conceptual framework for analysing the processes by which apprentices become (full) participants in a community of practice. This article uses case study evidence from the UK's Modern Apprenticeship programme to show how this framework can be developed by identifying features of expansive and restrictive…

Despite decades of research on achievement goals, there is still relatively little known about differences among individuals in their conceptualizations of performance goals and reasons for pursuing them in academic settings. The purpose of the present investigation was to use participants' own words, rather than survey measures or experimental…

Problem-solving theories have not examined how solvers navigate their knowledge to interpret problem situations or to plan strategies toward goals. In this article, the author argues that success in problem solving depends on the solver's ability to construct goal-derived categories, namely categories that are formed ad hoc to serve goals during…

Four experiments investigated activation of semantic information in action preparation. Participants either prepared to grasp and use an object (e.g., to drink from a cup) or to lift a finger in association with the object's position following a go/no-go lexical-decision task. Word stimuli were consistent to the action goals of the object use…

A quantitative method for typing psychopathology of youngsters with mental retardation was assessed. Parents of 601 students in special educational placements rated them with the ABC. The sample was randomly divided into two subgroups. We used Ward's hierarchical method of cluster analysis and derived eight clusters in Subsample 1 and satisfactory…

In this article, the author criticizes the requirements of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) for students with learning disabilities and points out some faulty and misguided thinking and assumptions embodied in NCLB's approach to special education. The author fears that the law's unrealistic expectations for these students and their teachers give…

The goals of the current study were to examine (1) the relation between parents' gender-typed occupational expectations for their children at age 15 and their children's own reports of occupational expectations at age 17; (2) the long-term relations between parents' gender-typed occupational expectations for their children at age 17 and their…

The "65 percent solution," developed by First Class Education, a national advocacy group, states that 65 percent of a school's operating budget be devoted to "in-class instruction" as opposed to "out-of-classroom" purposes. One of the unintended consequences of this "solution," according to this author, is that it provides another basis for…

This article analyzes the braille spelling errors of 16 Greek students who are blind. More specifically, it explores the types of spelling errors, the students' attitudes toward spelling, and the relationship between spelling and reading strategies.

In recent years, American community colleges have evolved as the missions facing them expanded and their constituencies changed. No longer is their role solely to prepare students to transfer to four-year institutions and to provide occupational training. Now, they must also provide basic adult education, including ESL, and serve an economic…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to explore the effects of strategy instruction on lower and higher-level learning in the hypertext format of a WebQuest. The SQ3R and Classification/Categorization study strategies were used to investigate the effects of comprehension in a recall and essay task. Two hundred fifty-four eighth-grade…

This chapter describes rural community colleges, compares them to their urban and suburban counter-parts, and highlights the unique challenges they face in the twenty-first century. (Contains 4 tables.)