In a study of 637 students enrolled in 17 classes, cognitive dissonance was shown to be an applicable but weak conceptual framework for understanding course evaluations. Results of this study are similar to those of an earlier investigation by Canter and Meisels. (LBH)

Describes a placement test in general chemistry containing two paper-and-pencil Piagetian tasks. Results for 885 students accounted for only 21 percent of the criterion variable (predicted grade); suggest various reasons for this low correlation. (MLH)

Proposed is a grading system utilizing independent checking and grade assignments to encourage student efforts. (SL)

This study was intended to serve as an example of cross-validating results from student persistence prediction models that employed commonly available pre-college student characteristics. The study investigated whether the accuracy of predicting student persistence would vary because of the use of present-year vs. previous-year parameters on…

School classroom evaluation methods using student achievement results are currently a significant topic of investigation in the educational accountability arena. The objective of this study was to identify effective and ineffective elementary school classrooms based on student and teacher characteristics. In this conceptualization, teacher's…

The University of California is engaged in the elimination of the Scholastic Assessment Test I (SAT-I) Verbal and Mathematics tests as a requirement for freshman admission. Opponents of the SAT-I argue that the tests do not measure the outcomes of the high school curriculum and hence do not reflect student learning in secondary school. Proponents…

Undergraduate college students enrolled in courses that incorporated Web-based modules were surveyed to assess their satisfaction with learning in a digital instructional environment with the goal of identifying possible predictors of satisfaction according to temperament, preferred learning styles, and the demographic characteristics of gender,…

This annotated bibliography lists and comments on 24 selected items from the literature related to the terms higher education, academic programs, students, grades, placement, and motivation. Databases available at Nova Southeastern University, Florida, and Internet sites were used for the review. Most of the literature relates to the predictive…

Two graduate follow-up studies were analyzed for factors predicting likelihood that a graduate would stay in-state or migrate out-of-state. Slightly more than half of the bachelor's degree recipients from the class of 1993-1994 were included in the first sample, and responses were received from 522 graduates. In the second survey, 717 graduates…

This study assessed the accuracy of students' academic self-perceptions. Over the course of a semester, college students in three different classes estimated their grades multiple times before and after taking each examination in that class. A total of 76 female and 68 male students participated. Results are reported for the following topics: (1)…

The 11th Federal Forecasters Conference provided a forum where 180 forecasters from different federal agencies and other organizations could meet and discuss forecasting in the United States. The theme for this conference was "Forecasting, Policy, and the Internet." In the morning session, a panel presentation featured three speakers.…

This study compared the cross-validated accuracy of American College Test (ACT) Composite score and high school grade point average (GPA) (HSAV) for predicting different levels of first-year college GPA. Logistic regression models were developed by institution, for predicting GPA levels of 2.00, 2.50, 3.00, 3.25, 3.50, and 3.75 or higher. These…

This study explored the relationship between Oregon high school students' performance in a standards-based system and their subsequent performance in the first year of college. Findings from 6,082 students from the Oregon University System and 12,519 from Oregon community colleges led to the conclusion that the 10th grade benchmark performance may…

The 10th Federal Forecasters Conference provided a forum where 127 forecasters from different federal agencies and other organizations met to discuss various aspects of the conference's theme, "Forecasting in the New Millennium," that could be applied in the United States. A keynote address, "Procedures for Auditing Federal…