The Air Force Occupational Measurement Center conducts task-based occupational surveys of Air Force specialties that include supervisor ratings on recommended training emphasis for entry-level airmen. Priorities are input to the Instructional System Development training model, which guides the development and revision of specialty training…

European studies that investigated motivational and contextual influences on students' approaches to learning are reviewed. The studies used both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Both interviews with students and factor analysis of inventories have assessed deep and surface approaches to learning. In some studies, learning approaches in…

Construct validity of a prototype baccalaureate generic problem solving skills test was explored through a structural analysis. The assessment method used three real-life problem situations crossed by six generic skills, namely Decision-Making, Communication, Analysis, Synthesis, Valuing and Execution. There were six written responses for each…

The Attribution Style Questionnaire (ASQ) is a short (36-item) objective inventory which assesses cognitions regarding responsibility for bad and good outcomes relevant to cognitive models of depression. Three alternative scoring systems have been proposed; no scoring system has been empirically verified. Convergent and discriminant validity have…

The development and structure of the Profile of School Excellence (PRO-S/E) are described, and the needs for which the PRO-S/E was developed are explained. A product of the Appalachia Educational Laboratory (AEL) in West Virginia, the PRO-S/E has been involved in evaluation and improvement planning and intervention for 25 urban and regional school…

This study focused on a comparison of the factor structures of the scores on l8 teacher competencies measured by both low-inference and high-inference observation. The observation inventories used were the Classroom Observations Keyed for Effectiveness Research (COKER) for low-inference observation, and the Teacher Performance Assessment…

The Spiral of Silence theory (Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, l973) suggests that highly consonant media content has a strong impact upon individuals' perception of the opinion climate as well as upon their opinion expression. Noting that the theory lacks empirical investigation, a study took advantage of a controlled media system in Cheongju, South…

The internal consistency of the Self Assessment Instrument of Chapter 1 Program Quality (SAICPQ) was studied. This instrument is widely used to assess the implementation of exemplary practices in compensatory education. The SAICPQ is a self-report questionnaire consisting of 13 subscales representing correlates of achievement in studies of…

In order to explain the derivation and implications of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Library Index (a descriptive statistical indicator of research library quality which is based on an analysis of certain key library characteristics), this paper discusses regression and correlation as methods for measuring relations between such…

Occupational education has an impact on students in the form of economic returns to the individual and society through the development of technical skills. The Association of Vocational Education Administrators (AVEA) launched this study to test the hypothesis that vocational programs also have a positive impact on student's social, affective and…

Student ratings of dental hygiene clinical instruction were analyzed to determine dimensions of clinical instruction and the effect of the faculty's teaching philosophy on the underlying components of teaching. A 31-item student evaluation instrument was developed to reflect the teaching philosophy of the Department of Dental Hygiene, University…

U.S. universities and colleges offering distance education courses have increased immensely since 1998, and by 2004 it was expected that distance learners will constitute about 14% of all those enrolled in degree programs. In its preliminary review of distance learning, the Institute for Higher Education Policy (1998) emphasized the need for…

In 1969, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) empaneled a Task Force on Research Training and charged it with (1) building a relevant knowledge base about training needs and problems and (2) developing procedures to attack these problems. During its two years of study, the Task Force carried out a series of three USOE-supported…

Four questions were asked in this study: (1) Can educational opportunity be defined in terms of measurable alternatives? (2) Can the variables be grouped into separate meaningful factors? (3) What are the relationships among the factors? (4) Are the towns and school districts that are disadvantaged under one of the factors also disadvantaged under…

Since acts of teacher brinkmanship were considered to represent an expression of the teachers' dissatisfaction with the teachers' role, it was conjectured in this study that a relationship should exist between teachers' attitudes toward teacher brinkmanship and the teachers' job satisfaction. Two instruments, the Teacher Job Satisfaction Inventory…