Both business leaders and parents pressure policymakers to legislate new initiatives to improve schools. One improvement strategy has been to reduce class sizes; another has been to allocate larger school budgets. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the relationship between class size and student achievement and between…

This study investigates whether or not the factor structure of reading comprehension is invariant across large, nationally representative samples of 14-year-old students from four different countries. The data from French-speaking Belgium, Hungary, Italy, and the United States were collected as part of the Reading Literacy Study of 1990-91,…

Possible population differences in speed versus level of Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) reading comprehension scores were explored. The study used operational measures computed post hoc from item-level data in GRE files for a pre-October 1977 version of the verbal test in which 40 GRE reading comprehension (RC) items were included as a…

This paper illustrates and explains the relationship between drawing ability and spatial and visual-perceptual ability; it defines those terms and explores their connection to intelligence and information processing as well as their potential implications for education and training. Discussion covers results of recent studies, which suggest that…

The purpose of this tutorial is to provide the basic information needed for success with SPSS/PC+ Studentware, a student version of the statistical analysis software offered by SPSS, Inc., for the IBM PC+ and compatible computers. It is intended as a convenient summary of how to organize and conduct the most common computer-based statistical…

The predictive power of the Split-Half version of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children--Revised (WISC-R) Object Assembly (OA) subtest was compared to that of the full administration of the OA subtest. A cohort of 218 male and 49 female adolescent offenders detained in a Texas juvenile detention facility between 1990 and 1992 was used. The…

Standard errors and bias of unidimensional and multidimensional ability estimates were compared in a factorial, simulation design with two item response theory (IRT) approaches, two levels of test correlation (0.42 and 0.63), two sample sizes (500 and 1,000), and a hierarchical test content structure. Bias and standard errors of subtest scores…

Previous research using various measures of teacher quality has largely failed to investigate the relationships among such assessment measures using multivariate procedures. Multivariate investigations are essential in studies of teacher competence because these methods view various competency variables in the larger contexts to which researchers…

It is argued that analysis of variance (ANOVA) and related methods should be taught using a general linear model (GLM) approach, rather than a classical ordinary sums of squares approach. The GLM approach emphasizes the linkages among conventional parametric methods, emphasizing that all classical parametric methods are least squares procedures…

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…

This study explores the effectiveness of an instructional strategy which displays appropriate knowledge structures versus a learning strategy that engages learners in defining knowledge structures by comparing the effects of providing graphical organizers in the form of completed frames with requiring students to complete frames as a study…

Three descriptive statistics (difficulty, discrimination, and reliability) of multiple-choice (MC) test items were compared to those of a new (1980s) format of machine-scored questions. The new method, answer-bank multi-digit testing (MDT), uses alphabetized lists of up to 1,000 alternatives and approximates the completion style of assessment…

A national survey of 175 public relations managers documented fund-raising encroachment (subordination of public relations functions to fund-raising) at 23% of their charitable organizations, with variation in vulnerability among different types (e.g., the public relations function is managed by fund raising at 50% of the private colleges and…

The performance of the following four methodologies for assessing unidimensionality was examined: (1) DIMTEST; (2) the approach of P. W. Holland and P. R. Rosenbaum; (3) linear factor analysis; and (4) non-linear factor analysis. Each method is examined and compared with other methods using simulated data sets and real data sets. Seven data sets,…

Results obtained using three methods for gathering attitude data were compared. The methods are ranking, paired comparisons, and the Likert-type scale. Three attitude objects, each consisting of five items, were selected or developed for this study. One set had been used with graduate students previously. Participants were 392 students in…