The article examines distinctions in the prediction and variation discrepancy models for identification of learning disabilities (LD) discussed by Gary Hessler. Related topics addressed include choices of ability and achievement measures, identification procedures (increasing accuracy), student referrals, and changes in the LD profile. (JW)

The confluence model shows the influence of family on intellectual growth. The decline of SAT scores is related to changing family patterns. Intellectual growth is lower for children with many siblings. The increase in average family size for the cohorts taking SATs between 1963 and 1980 caused scores to decline. (Author/VM)

Grade point average, mathematics course enrollment, sex, spelling, and language expression were found to be more potent predictors of mathematics anxiety than were mathematics achievement variables. Verbal skill, as well as taking more mathematics courses, seemed to be good predictors of overall mathematics achievement. (MNS)

Presents study in which transcripts of speeches were linguistically analyzed for gender-specific features. Shows that a combination of 20 features could account for 99% of between-gender variance, permitting 100% gender prediction accuracy. (MS)

Follow-up responses were obtained for a sample of 1,091 students who had taken the California Occupational Preference Survey (COPS) Interest Inventory in grades 10 through 12. Results indicate that for 60 percent to 74 percent of the sample, the COPS is an accurate instrument for prediction of career choice or college major upon graduation from…

Examined relationships among situational variables (time of semester, gender, adequacy of resources), personal variables (gender, priorities, and personal resources for coping), and reported stress and strain among student services professionals. Results indicate that stress varies significantly with time of semester and gender and that other…

Explored the relationships among childhood activities, masculine and feminine characteristics, and career choices among career women and homemakers. Results indicated that childhood participation in sex-typed activities is associated with the adult personality characteristics of masculinity and femininity and adult role choices. (Author/BL)

The authors describe the development and role of story grammars and note the implications for assessment of story production and retelling, scrambled stories, and the macrocloze technique (testing the child's ability to predict or infer missing information). Remediation procedures for improving prediction skills and training story grammar…

Academic prophecies are characterized by their innocence, detachment from the realities of politics and economics, and deference to a limited cohort of administrative representatives. Careless forecasting of the untested future contributes to public misunderstanding of higher education's role in society. (MLW)

Investigated the best short form of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised) in a comparison of 234 learning disabled students and 290 referred but ineligible children. Results suggested that Sattler's (1982) tetrad is a good predictor of Full Scale Intelligence for learning disabled students. (JAC)

The study tests the appropriateness of multiplicative versus additive expectancy-valency models for grouping motivational force decisions of 82 undergraduate students. Arguments are offered favoring a non-nested regression models analysis over a traditional hierarchical analysis of nested regression models. Discriminant analysis indicated one of…

Patent trend analysis, a process developed at Batelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories, can help businesses understand the direction of technological change and compete more effectively in the marketplace. The procedure involves tracking the linkages among new patents in an area, the age of earlier patents cited, and the companies involved. (IS)

This paper summarizes findings from studies linking early reading problems and spoken language deficiencies and reviews the results of two longitudinal studies which show that inferior performance in kindergarten tests of language skills may presage future reading problems in the first grade. Procedures are suggested for kindergarten screening and…

Examination of the predictive validity of the Gesell School Readiness Screening Test with 84 kindergarten-age children found the procedure effective in predicting child success or failure in kindergarten and that within four-six years the chronological age of children entering kindergarten is unrelated to eventual success of failure in…

Presents a computer program which predicts the weather based on student input of such weather data as wind direction and barometric pressure. Also provides procedures for several hands-on, weather-related activities. (JN)