Methods of adjusting cut scores used in placement decisions are examined empirically. Admission and performance variables are used to study alternate methods of adjusting cut scores for placement in standard and accelerated rhetoric courses in a large university setting, with the predicted variable being success or failure as measured by…

To maximize knowledge from existing studies and to determine how job satisfaction constructs have been operationalized in the field of educational administration over the last quarter century, reliable and valid procedures must be developed to synthesize findings from the studies empirically. This study synthesizes empirical findings on job…

In July 1990, "Standards, Policies and Procedures for the Evaluation of Assessment Instruments Used in the California Community Colleges" was published, requiring colleges to determine whether current testing practices discriminate against members of underrepresented groups. The standard for demonstrating disproportionate impact comes…

Psychometric information was determined for two scales commonly used in early intervention programs and research, the Family Support Scale (FSS) (C. J. Dunst and others, 1984) and the Family Resource Scale (FRS) (C. J. Dunst and H. E. Leet, 1985). These questionnaires measure the perceptions of support for families with children with disabilities…

Little research has focused on children's loneliness or on the relationships between children's loneliness and depression. Children are typically labeled as lonely by the external behaviors they may or may not exhibit, rather than by their perceptions of their social relationships. This study examined the Children's Loneliness Questionnaire (CLQ)…

Course placement systems in postsecondary education consist of an assessment component (to predict students' probability of success in standard first-year courses) and an instructional component (in which underprepared students are taught the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in the standard course). The effectiveness of a placement system…

In 1988, whether the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)--the "Nation's Report Card"--could become a report card for the states was studied. A trial assessment program was authorized to determine whether state assessments following the NAEP format could produce reliable and useful estimates of educational progress. This…

Using the state-mandated Texas at-risk criteria to identify students at-risk for dropping out, the Austin (Texas) Independent School District (AISD) followed those students for three years to determine the accuracy of the mandated state criteria. The study focuses on the classification and follow-up of 25,587 students in 1987-88, 25,292 students…

This study replicated previous research that tested the validity of A. Biglan's classification scheme, a theoretical framework for empirically examining the differences among academic disciplines and classifying them according to three dimensions (hard-soft, pure-applied, life-nonlife). In addition, new data were used to attempt continued…

An informal study explored the difficulties of writing teachers who are asked to set aside preferred ways of viewing student writing for state-mandated criteria when serving as evaluators for state-mandated tests, such as Florida's College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST). Twelve high school, community college, and university-level writing…

Hypothesis generation has been proven to be a crucial phase in the clinical inquiry. The current instruments for measuring clinical problem-solving skills, however, are unable to differentially assess the hypothesis generating ability. For assessing this particular capability a new test is described. It is based upon exposing the examinee to an…

An objective measure of Erikson's ego-identity construct is being developed. The total scale includes seven relatively independent subscales designed to reflect the residuals (part conflicts) of Erikson's psychosocial stages of development. An initial item pool of 194 items has been reduced to 113 items by means of judgemental and statistical…

A study was conducted to determine the validity of the Op-In procedure in measuring global comprehension and to identify patterns of integrative thinking similar to those of pilot study subjects. The Op-In procedure is a type of cloze procedure that deletes every other sentence ending from a passage. Three sixth grade level scientific passages…

A study tested the cumulative acquisition model proposed by S. H. Chaffee and A. R. Tims to explain the development of adolescent patterns of news media use. The Guttman scale procedure was used to analyze patterns of news media use across a three-wave panel survey of 366 parent-child pairs over a 2-year period. In each wave, interviewers talked…

Prompted by research showing that communication is one element that distinguishes teachers rated effective by students from those rated ineffective, a study was undertaken to develop a scale for assessing the perceived communication effectiveness of graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). Two groups, one of undergraduate students and one of their…