Three conceptual issues form the basis for coping with technical problems of gathering data on literacy: (1) the definition of literacy; (2) choice of criteria that can be used in properly assessing and measuring literacy; and (3) conflict between the importance and necessity of literacy assessment and the difficulty of fulfilling the prerequisite…

Third in a series, the monograph summarizes the key evaluation issues, design approaches, and statistical techniques used in conducting the 1980-1983 impact evaluation of Indian Education Act Title IV Part A programs. The monograph describes the major problems in evaluating the program to determine the degree of its positive contribution to…

Issues emerging from a look at student achievement, which is defined in its usual school context as achievement on standardized tests, are addressed. A mythology about standardized testing has developed, in part because the metaphoric languages of medicine and business have been applied to education, defining it in terms of cure, efficiency, and…

The purpose of this study was to develop a single procedure for comparing population variances which could be used for distribution forms. Bootstrap methodology was used to estimate the variability of the sample variance statistic when the population distribution was normal, platykurtic and leptokurtic. The data for the study were generated and…

Since 1969 the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has conducted annual assessments to determine, in the language of the current legislation, "the performance of children and young adults in the basic skills of reading, mathematics and communications" and to "report data periodically on changes in the knowledge and…

The primary purposes of the survey were to assess community attitudes toward the San Lorenzo Valley (CA) Unified School District's schools and to determine the extent to which both the general public and parents of school-aged children perceived the schools as meeting their needs. Other purposes were to update a similar community survey conducted…

This report provides information from the 1982-83 School Utilization Survey, and examines school district wealth, school socioeconomic status (SES), and grade level in relation to the computer software available to teachers for instructional purposes, as well as teacher training for instructional use of computers. Teachers with access to computers…

This booklet introduces high school and junior high school students to the major groups of aquatic insects and to population sampling techniques. Chapter 1 consists of a short field guide which can be used to identify five separate orders of aquatic insects: odonata (dragonflies and damselflies); ephemeroptera (mayflies); diptera (true flies);…

The third workshop on marine ecosystem modeling is one in a sequence of activities designed to promote modeling as a research and management tool among Mediterranean marine scientists. Previous workshops served mainly as a forum for a familiarization with modeling, while this workshop focused on specific implementation of modeling technology. The…

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the analysis of data collected by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In simplest terms, the analysis can be characterized as establishing baseline estimates of the percentages of young Americans possessing certain skills, knowledge, understandings, and attitudes and…

This paper describes the methodology used in a study assessing the health needs of the Asian population, specifically the Chinese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese populations, in Santa Clara County, California. The study by the Santa Clara County Health Department is part of a wide-ranging needs assessment project primarily intended to guide…

An attempt was made to determine whether a non-response bias exists in the annual follow-up surveys of graduates of teacher education programs when the surveys focus on more than employment. Subjects were 291 graduates of teacher certification programs at a major university in the southeastern United States from Fall 1986 through Summer 1987. In…

Attitudes and preferences toward mail surveys were studied from the viewpoint of the recipient. Approximately 386 residents of a small rural community in Florida were sent a questionnaire about attitudes toward mail surveys, with half receiving a follow-up card after 4 days. A total of 123 usable questionnaires were returned. Respondents were…

Multiple matrix sampling (MMS) theory indicates how data may be gathered to most efficiently convey information about levels of attainment in a population, but standard analyses of these data require random sampling of items from a fixed pool of items. This assumption proscribes the retirement of flawed or obsolete items from the pool as well as…

This report describes new statistical procedures for item response analysis using estimation of item response curves used in mental testing with ability parameters treated as a random sample. Modern computer technology and the EM algorithm make this solution possible. The research focused on the theoretical formulation and solution of maximum…