This document contains four symposium papers on measurement and research tools. "Income Effects of Human Resource Development for Higher Educated Professionals" (Martin Mulder, Bob Witziers) reports on a study of 1,876 higher-educated professionals that found no correlation between participation in human resource development activities and…

The structure of attitudes toward services rendered by state departments was studied in six southeastern states with a 70-item scale. Development procedures are described. The scale was administered to randomly chosen samples of superintendents (N = 671), central office personnel (N = 404), principals (N = 627), teachers (N = 3,684), and other…

Surveys 101 wind instrumentalists to reveal major differences in the pattern of influences leading to the re-creative skill of performing a repertoire of rehearsed music for a formal examination compared to the creative ability of improvising. Uses a path analysis to determine links between the data and theoretical model. (MJP)

In a previous study, a conceptual model of wisdom was created (Brown, 2004a) to better understand integrated learning outcomes. The purpose of this study is to develop a scale to measure this wisdom construct. This article discusses salient aspects of the extant professional literature regarding the measurement of wisdom and details the efforts to…

The Gang Membership Inventory (GMI) was developed for use with urban high-risk youth and administered as part of a larger survey. The GMI consists of 15 true/false items asking about the respondent's involvement in gang activities in the year just past. Activities range from peripheral involvement to more serious involvement in gangs (e.g., being…

The 1993 Illinois Goal Assessment Program (IGAP) Reading Tests measured reading comprehension using both narrative and expository reading passages. Noticeable differences in mean scaled scores occurred depending on whether the 1993 results were equated back to the 1992 narrative test or the 1993 expository test (Hsu and Ackerman, 1994). In an…

Research was performed in lower grade technical schools in the Netherlands to study complex psychomotor tasks requiring integration of several task-dependent skills. In two studies, students were observed performing metal work. They were assigned to instructional conditions of high, intermediate or low structure. Students in the high-structure…

Reflective thinking is important to young adolescents as they develop their thinking skills. Various instructional methods have been recommended to support reflective thinking, yet the nature of the underlying factors in these methods is unclear. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factors prompting reflective thinking. Results…

Objectives of the Veterans' Cost-of-Instruction Program (VCIP) evaluation were: (1) to develop profiles describing institutional services for veterans, the Office of Veterans' Affairs (OVA), and demographic characteristics; (2) to identify differences and similarities in institutions' veteran assistance programs; (3) to describe the degree to…

THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY WAS TO DETERMINE THE ECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS UNDERLYING PUBLIC PROVISIONS FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN IN 101 ILLINOIS COUNTIES (COOK EXCLUDED) AND TO DEVELOP A DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUE TO INDICATE WHETHER COUNTIES COULD BE EXPECTED TO MAKE SUCH PROVISIONS. SERVICES STUDIED WERE THOSE FOR THE DEAF, THE SPEECH HANDICAPPED,…

Three themes were addressed at the conference: (1) implications of factor analysis for achievement testing; (2) use of achievement tests in awarding course credits; and (3) extended conceptions of evaluation in higher education. The speeches were entitled: Factors of Verbal Achievement, by John B. Carroll; Schools of Thought in Judging Excellence…

This paper presents data on a follow-up study of a project in the 1960's: a classroom assessment and intervention program directed at mental health for all the first grade classrooms of Woodlawn, a black poor community on Chicago's south side. Now, ten years later, the mental health of these adolescents as well as the mental health, structure, and…

In 1968 a television-based course of study on racial conflict was used in hundreds of schools nationwide. Five 30-minute films were shown to students in grades 7-12. Other materials were teacher and student manuals, and three teacher training films. the latter showing other teachers going through the film-discussion program in real situations.…

The rationale for and development of the Classroom Behavior Scales (CRB) are discussed in connection with applications on four separate samples of Head Start, kindergarten and first grade children. Studies of observer agreement, stability, structure, comparisons over sex, classes, conditions, observers and over time are presented. Results showed…

The concept of psychosocial maturity is reviewed in preparation for the exploration of the feasibility of constructing a scale that measures maturity. Investigation produced a preliminary 54-item scale with high reliability and moderate validity, which is appended. A factor analysis of the scale supports the a priori structure by the theoretical…