Following an incentive (low, high) manipulation, college students received response-outcome contingency training. All students then observed a lecture. Postlecture results indicated that the high- compared to the low-expressive lecturer increased achievement and internal locus in contingent but not noncontingent students for low-incentive…

Examined the performance of 51 referred rural children on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (Revised) in relation to the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (Revised). Results indicated that while verbal comprehension may contribute most to successful performance on the PPVT-R, perceptual organization may play a significant though lesser…

Studied the effects of anxiety and depression on anagram performance displayed by college students (N=72). Results showed that depressed-anxious and anxious subjects tended toward reduced efficiency in anagram solution, rated themselves as having experienced signficantly more cognitive interference, and displayed a significantly more negative…

Deficiencies in job performance are not always due to a lack of knowledge, but frequently are the result of not knowing proper procedures and methods to get the job done. Recognizing the difference between deficiency in knowledge and deficiency in skills is the key to improving performance without training. (Editor)

One conclusion that can be drawn from this prototype study is that there is a need for precise definition of the abilities being measured. (Author/AM)

Points out the need to identify subject characteristics and, whenever possible, to individualize instruction to attain optimum performance. (RB)

This is the first report on the performance indicators adopted by the Illinois Board of Higher Education in February 2003 to assess progress toward the six goals of "The Illinois Commitment." This imitative is a work in progress that will be implemented and refined over multiple years. This first report focuses on the statewide and…

A study was conducted to examine peer effects among 138 undergraduates at Williams College, a highly selective four-year liberal arts school. The study explored whether students would perform better writing about newspaper articles they read and discussed in academically homogeneous or heterogeneous groups of three. In homogeneous groups, all…

Graduates of the service academies operated by the Army, Navy, and Air Force currently make up approximately 18 percent of the officer corps for the nation's armed services. The academies represent the military's most expensive source of new officers. The Department of Defense (DOD) pays the full cost of a student's 4-year education at the…

This report is the third annual accountability report of Connecticut's state system of higher education. The report contains accountability measures for each unit of the system and performance improvement targets on six priority state-level goals. The new reporting structure, inaugurated in this report, has a three-level structure: 12 state-level…

Judgmental standard setting methods, such as the W. H. Angoff (1971) method, use item performance estimates as the basis for determining the minimum passing score (MPS). Therefore, the accuracy of these item performance estimates is crucial to the validity of the resulting MPS. Recent researchers, (L. A. Shephard 1994; J. Impara, 1997) have called…

In this study, researchers investigated whether school leaders who were members of minority groups draw on specific skills in order to succeed in administrative positions. Interviews with five California school superintendents (three Hispanic and two African American) examined factors for success in their role as superintendent of an urban public…

Prior research has shown that test takers use a variety of strategies when taking passage-based reading comprehension tests. The specific effects that these alternative strategies have on actual examinee test performance are largely unknown. Evidence suggesting that performance differences exist across testing conditions would imply that the…

This investigation, which was part of a larger dissertation study, examined high-level performance in groups of people with developmental disabilities and the instruction that facilitated such performance. Specifically, it focused on those aspects of instruction that appeared to be particularly effective in eliciting a high level of performance in…