Practical information is provided, in a question and answer format, for community college officials who are planning to conduct a community needs assessment. A brief discussion of the usefulness of needs assessment surveys to the college planning process is followed by descriptions of eight steps to be followed in planning and conducting a survey:…

Longitudinal measures of change are the most important kinds of estimates being produced from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 (NLS). Several topics are presented in this report, most of which build on previous variance components analyses. The major areas covered are effects of stratification and clustering,…

Accurate estimation of variance components used in generalizability theory is essential for the theory to be viewed as an efficacious mechanism for studying the reliability and validity of a measurement procedure. This paper explores two alternatives for dealing with the apparent instability of small sample size used in determining the accuracy of…

Generalizability theory is described and applied to data collection methods for student ratings of instruction. Three generalizability coefficients (generalizing over both students and items, generalizing over students only, and generalizing over items only) are defined, and the appropriateness of each for various purposes is discussed.…

The evaluation design, which prescribes when and from whom to gather data, is described as significant because it can lend credibility to evaluation results. The objectives of this booklet are to aid the evaluator in: choosing a design; putting it into operation; and analyzing and reporting the data. Examples include both formative and summative…

A general process for testing the feasibility of applying alternative mathematical or statistical models to the solution of a practical problem is presented and flowcharted. The system is used to compare five models for test equating: (1) anchor test equating using classical test theory; (2) anchor test equating using the one-parameter logistic…

The failure of educational research to fully allow for limitations in methodology when drawing conclusions is faulted. In addition to this, a failure on the part of the media--educational and other--to fully publicize these limitations is also criticized. Methodological shortcomings of the 1977-78 American Institutes of Research (AIR) study of…

The implications of a mathematical model of test scores are explored where the data are limited to a random sample of items without replacement from an indefinitely large population or item domain in which items are scored either zero or one. The purpose is to obtain an unbiased estimate of a student's proportion of items correct in the item…

It appears that relatively little thought has been given to the methods for reviewing, synthesizing, and reporting the results of a set of empirical studies on a given substantive topic. The question is raised as to whether the studies that have been reviewed constitute a population or a sample, and if a sample, whether they are representative or…

The Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program is designed to give disadvantaged children incentive to read by letting them choose books from a wide variety of paperbacks and keep them as their own. This document reports on the evaluation procedures and results for the Dallas RIF Project in 1973-1974. Following a description of the project and its…

Selected data from the Commission on Human Resources data base are reported for two major groups that have been underrepresented in doctoral education in the past: minorities and women. A wide selection of tabulations of data on doctorate holders by sex and racial/ethnic group membership is presented. Characteristics of minority and women Ph.D.…

Ohio's Statewide Needs Assessment is designed to provide baseline data about students' learning in cognitive areas. Over several years, students at various grade levels will be assessed. The areas to be assessed, as well as the grades of the students to be assessed, will be considered and advised upon by the ESEA Title III State Advisory Council.…

The purposes of the assessment project were to determine when the fourth grade math skills were acquired by the majority of students in the Salem, Oregon public schools, and to compare accomplishment on the criterion-referenced test with accomplishment on a standardized test. Because the project required testing grades 3-6, multiple matrix…

This survey analyzes the descriptions of research samples provided in 1,353 research articles relating to children. The 1974 volumes of 24 research journals were examined, and all articles in these volumes were included in the survey if they met two criteria: (1) having a research sample, and (2) dealing with children and youth between the…

The principal uses of statistics in library planning may be illustrated by examples from the state of Illinois. State law specifies that the Illinois State Library compile and publish statistics on libraries. State agencies also play an important and expanding role in this effort. The state library now compiles statistics on all types of…