The shortcomings of current research on student attrition are reviewed, and ways are described in which multiple regression, path analysis, and a recursive causal model can be used to better understand attrition. A review of the research shows that past theoretical models lack an adequate definition of variables which have resulted in their being…

This study investigated the relative importance of the major factors associated with the habit of reading or nonreading. Some 2,731 seventh-grade students were the subjects of the study; from these, 487 were identified as either readers or nonreaders, and, from this group, 22 students were selected for additional in-depth case studies. From over…

This silver anniversary issue contains papers from the World Congress on Dyslexia held in November 1974, as well as two case studies and reviews of books related to the study, treatment, or prevention of problems of specific language disability. Papers include discussions of 50 years of experience with dyslexia; prediction and prevention of…

In order to determine the variables which influence children's choice of books, 52 second-grade students from one elementary school were selected and interviewed. Twenty books, which circulated most frequently among second-grade children, were designated "high preference"; another 20, randomly selected from 634 books which were borrowed only once,…

The key question underlying this study was: What does the untrained population know about public speaking? The study thus focused on resolving the conflict between folk speech theory, or knowledge that students gain informally, and formal academic speech theory. An Inventory of Public Speaking Principles was devised to test six hypotheses which…

Test items, all referencing the same instructional objective, are not equally difficult. This investigation attempts to identify some of the determinants of item difficulty within the context of a first course in educational statistics. Computer generated variations of items were used to provide the data. The results were used to investigate the…

This study assessed the relative degree of association between quality of army life and perceived attributes of different types of leaders. Interviews with one hundred thirty lower ranking enlisted personnel provided information about soldiers' satisfaction with various facets of military experience and their perceptions of the behavior of…

The purpose of this study was to identify some of the characteristics of Negro college students who majored in science in comparison to those who were non-majors. The science majors were sub-divided into pure science and applied science groups for some analyses. Twelve variables were investigated: (1) ACT composite scores, (2) ACT science scores,…

The purpose of this study was twofold: first, to answer the question of which abilities, from a selected set of 12 abilities from the structure-of-intellect model of Guilford, were related to achievement in Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC) physics, and, second, to determine how the physics achievement prediction properties of these…

This study identified variables which would predict first semester grade point average of nursing students. A variety of academic, psychological, and sociological data were obtained for 630 students attending three schools of nursing within the state of Indiana over a three-year period. High school grade point average, Nelson-Denny vocabulary…

This report explores the validity of measures for eventual use in assessing attitudinal and cognitive skills of delinquent adolescents. Ten measures of a battery along with a reading test were administered to adolescent males, 14 to 18 years of age, held in pretrial detention. The 11 tests were validated against 37 criterion variables encompassing…

This study was undertaken to examine the relationship between the rating professors received from their students and (a) selected professor and student characteristics, and (b) extenuating circumstances frequently expressed by instructors. Data were gathered in the sping of 1974 from an institution-wide administration of a rating scale in 253…

This study determines the nature and degree of relationship that exists between certain student characteristics and student ratings of instruction. The student evaluations that were used as criteria were obtained from the Instructional Improvement Questionnaire (IIQ) developed at Southern Illinois University. The majority of predictors (student…

Multiple linear regressions were employed to determine the relative contributions of cognitive and affective variables accounting for variance in college students' achievement and amount of time taken to complete a self-paced, individualized course. Study habits and attitudes (SSHA) made greater relative contributions to explaining total course…

Developing a model for predicting demand for freshmen requirement courses (from freshmen enrollees and from returned enrollees who failed to complete the course in their previous quarters) is the objective of the Freshmen Requirement Study, now partially completed by Federal City College. Work done so far has essentially validated an initial…