Although sampling has been mentioned as part of the chance and data component of the mathematics curriculum since about 1990, little research attention has been aimed specifically at school students' understanding of this descriptive area. This study considers the initial understanding of bias in sampling by 639 students in grades 3, 5, 7, and 9.…

Recruiting schools and kids to participate in drug prevention evaluations is no longer, if it ever was, a "done deal." Since the mid-1980s, schools have been inundated with requirements for drug programs and requests to cooperate with program evaluations. As a consequence, both treatment and control schools are harder to find. In addition, many…

A discussion of family literacy projects focuses on alternatives to traditional methods of program evaluation. In the first chapter, the distinction between standardized and alternative assessments is clarified and the special evaluation needs of family literacy projects are highlighted. The remainder of the handbook is intended to help program…

Two previous meta-analyses of the test-coaching literature have yielded conclusions that differ with respect to aptitude test scores. This study attempts to resolve differences in the conclusions of these two analyses by J. A. Kulik, R. L. Bangert-Drowns, and C. L. C. Kulik (1984) and K. Pearlman (1984) by using the methods of F. L. Schmidt and J.…

The question of the appropriateness of a set of national standards for educational achievement in the United States is extremely complex. One source of the complexities is the diversity of human characteristics, and the distortions that come from racism, sexism, and other forms of chauvinism. The current practice in testing seems to treat validity…

To determine the factors that influence interpretation of a research study description, 8 descriptions of research studies were interpreted by 320 undergraduate students in psychology, mathematics, and economics statistics and research methods classes at the University of Victoria (British Columbia, Canada), Millersville University (Pennsylvania),…

The 1990 National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS:90) is the second in a series of federally funded surveys of enrolled postsecondary students. Its key purpose is to portray accurately the characteristics of these students, particularly recipients of student aid. Results will answer questions about recipients and sources of federal and…

An empirical investigation of methodological issues associated with evaluating treatment effect in single-subject research (SSR) designs is presented. This investigation: (1) conducted a generalizability (G) study to identify the sources of systematic and random measurement error (SRME); (2) used an analytic approach based on G theory to integrate…

Reading skills are crucial to students learning and using English as a second language for academic purposes. Teachers can construct valid reading tests if they approach the task with care and focus on the test's ability to measure construct rather than face validity. In reading tests, the crucial elements of test design affecting validity are (1)…

This notebook contains 21 standards established by the Center for Educational Statistics (CES); CES legislation; and a description of the CES publication and publication review processes. The publication clearance procedures and the external advice and peer review policies are established by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the Longitudinal Studies Program (LSP) are major survey projects on educational outcomes performed by the Center for Education Statistics. NAEP is a continuing cross-sectional survey of young Americans' skills, knowledge, and attitudes. The LSP studies follow a sample of students as they…

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), a battery of 10 vocational tests, was administered to a national probability sample of nearly 12,000 young people, 15 to 23 years of age. Score distributions from the study were needed by the Armed Services to set performance levels for accepting and assigning recruits. Three psychometric…

This study reexamines results reported by Angoff and Schrader regarding formula directions and rights directions for standardized tests. In that study, it was concluded that the two scoring directions were essentially equivalent. In this study, methodological concerns are discussed and additional data analyses undertaken. Among various…

This appendix gives a detailed explanation of how data was collected in a Florida statewide study designed primarily to determine the degree and type (or desired degree and type) of adult participation in learning activities. The sections in the report are descriptive in nature, and a major portion of the material is comprised of tables, interview…

The statistical properties of two methods of estimating gain scores for groups in quasi-experiments are compared: (1) gains in scores standardized separately for each group; and (2) analysis of covariance with estimated true pretest scores. The fan spread hypothesis is assumed for groups but not necessarily assumed for members of the groups.…