Exploration is known to be a precursor of identity achievement and, thus, to a healthy transition to adulthood. This study examined antecedents of exploratory behavior in adolescence and the role of such behavior in identity development. Participants were 933 respondents in a 1991 national survey of German youth, ranging in age from 13 to 19 and…

The relationship between job performance and participation in training courses was examined through a survey of 15,570 individuals who represented those members of the 24,500-member labor force component of the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1993 Survey of Training and Education (STE) who had been employees at some time during the 12 months…

This study examines the validity and usefulness of employing standardized placement tests and other indicators of academic ability to make education or training decisions about community college students. It also demonstrates how attempts to make optimal educational placement decisions through mandatory placement testing are confounded by…

A study examined the relationships among elementary school principals' knowledge of reading, principals' involvement in the school reading program, teachers' knowledge of reading, and elementary school student reading achievement. Subjects, 20 principals and 68 teachers from 20 schools in a small western city, responded to a 20-item survey…

In the State of Florida, the percentage of tenth grade students passing the Statewide Student Assessment Test-Part II (SSAT-II) Mathematics has declined one or two percentage points each year since 1985. Early, accurate identification and placement of these students for remedial instruction should help reverse this Florida trend. Accurate…

A study attempted to develop and test a questionnaire that could combine various sorts of demographic information to identify strong or weak students and forecast their course performance. The study determined if a significant relationship existed between students' personal and academic profiles and their final course grades in an introductory…

In this paper the bootstrap technique was applied to the evaluation of potential predictive bias for different ethnic groups using the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and high school ranks to predict college grade point averages (GPAs). Data of three ethnic groups were used; the total number of subjects was close to 5,000. Both conventional…

The doctoral thesis summarized in this document investigated which set of teacher education program admissions criteria best predict achievement by examining the relationship between outcomes in the teacher education program and test scores and other indicators of academic achievement. The particular problem was to determine the predictive value…

A study examined the association of reading instruction with the amount and breadth of students' reading activities, taking account of social, cognitive, and home factors in the educative process. A secondary analysis of a large national data base for students aged 9, 13, and 17 was conducted. Using answers from student questionnaires, conceptual…

This project identified statistically significant predictors of first-year retention among 1991-92 freshmen who were enrolled in a rural midwestern comprehensive college. Results of a step-wise discriminant analysis indicated that college grade point average (GPA) was the best overall predictor of retention of first-year students (n=376). Results…

Validity data were collected on tests from five aptitude clusters: information-processing (IP) componential skills, IP metacomponential skills, practical intellectual skills, cognitive flexibility, and cognitive speed. In addition, the IP activities underlying learning were elucidated. IP componential data were derived via two approaches. The…

The relationship between perceptual structure and individual differences in cognitive ability was studied through a computerized inductive reasoning task performed by 100 college undergraduates at Cleveland State University (Ohio). Measures included two psychometric tests and a set of four computerized cognitive tasks. Two components of perceptual…

This 2-year study examined the relative potency of locus of control (LOC) and motivational orientation (MO) as predictors of standardized achievement scores and learned helplessness. Also tested was the prediction that children with an extrinsic MO would be prone to adopt an external LOC over time. In the first year of the study, subjects were 158…

This report cumulates the results of 515 validation studies carried out over a 45-year period by the United States Employment Service, and relates these findings to five systems of job classification and job analysis. Correction for sampling error shows that general cognitive, perceptual, and psychomotor ability are valid predictors of job…

Attrition, which averages 40 percent among college freshmen, has been associated with academic skills, career decision making, psychological characteristics, and institutional climate. To determine the self-perceived developmental characteristics of college freshmen and the relationship of those characteristics to retention and grade point average…