Two studies investigated whether instructing students to organize recall would differentially facilitate performance of "fast" and "slow" learners (defined from pretest recall performance). Instructions to employ alphabetic organization facilated performance of both groups to the same extent, whereas categorical organization facilitated slow…

This article lists psychometric problems encountered when measuring change in achievement by improved test scores as is done in performance contracting. Examined are: regression toward the mean, reliability of gain scores, the nature of grade norms, and test content as representation of educational objectives. (SB)

The effect of an environmental field trip on student learning in one middle school in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States was examined. An experimental one-group pretest-posttest group design was implemented on a sample of 579 students which comprised 12 groups. Although a t-test for dependent samples indicated that less than half of the…

This paper explores the role of organising data in representing numerical data in an organised way--a skill which does not come naturally to most students. Grade 6 children were given a series of lessons on organising data and then representing the data graphically. It was found that after instruction, more students were able to reorganise the…

This study compared the performance of the LOGIST and BILOG computer programs on item response theory (IRT) based scaling and equating for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) using real and simulated data and two calibration structures. Applications of IRT for the TOEFL program are based on the three-parameter logistic (3PL) model.…

The purpose of this study was to compare and evaluate five online pretest item calibration/scaling methods in computerized adaptive testing (CAT): (1) the marginal maximum likelihood estimate with one-EM cycle (OEM); (2) the marginal maximum likelihood estimate with multiple EM cycles (MEM); (3) Stocking's Method A (M. Stocking, 1988); (4)…

The Texas Education Agency awarded twenty competitive grants to Head Start programs in the state. The focus of the grants was on emergent literacy and pre-reading skills. Teachers, mentors, and administrators underwent intensive training. To investigate whether children emerged from the grant programs ready to enter school reading, an outside…

Outdoor behavioral healthcare (OBH) programs treat adolescents with emotional, behavioral, and substance abuse problems using wilderness therapy and related therapeutic and educational curricula. Elements of OBH are designed to reveal and address problem behaviors, foster personal and social responsibility, and enhance clients' emotional growth.…

This remedial mathematics curriculum for deaf community college students is organized into 22 lessons grouped into three levels: whole numbers, fractions, and decimals. Preliminary versions of the curriculum have been used in Deaf Prep classrooms and taken through a development and revision process. Each lesson follows the same pattern: topic…

This study was designed to investigate the interacting effects of dimensional pre-training and set size on acquisition of a multiple discrimination involving letters of the alphabet. (Author)

Results showed that the decision act facilitated rather than inhibited subsequent attitude change. (MB)

Concludes that training in the use of dictionary pronunciations as a means of instructing retarded readers might be more effective if combined with oral reading practice. (RW)

How do you change beliefs and attitudes that are rooted in emotion? (Editor)

Provides a replication of a study by Bandura and McDonald concerning Piaget's theory. Though results approximated those of the previous study, the theoretical conclusions are dissimilar. Bibliography, tables, and graphs. (JB)