This document contains 14 papers selected from those presented at the Seventh Annual Conference of the Research Council for Diagnostic and Prescriptive Mathematics. Categorized as interdisciplinary studies are reports on "Mathematics as an Activity of Our Intelligence" by Skemp and a study on "The Brain Basis of Developing…

The National Center for Education Statistics supported this conference as a first step in a dialogue among forecasters to benefit all in the field. Fifty forecasters representing 20 different federal agencies attended the day-long session. Objectives of the conference include: (1) to bring forecasters together for a forum to share information on…

Research supports the premise that various mathematical topics can be categorized as being performed better by the left or right brain hemisphere. Hemispheric lateralization is defined as a learner's preferred hemisphere of control. Torrence's "Human Information Processing Survey" was given to 170 black female college students enrolled in…

A study was conducted to identify factors contributing to the success of instructional development projects. Success factors derived from factor analysis were compared with those in a previous study (Lawrason and Hedberg, 1979), and values obtained on the prediction model for this study were compared with those in the study cited. The Survey of…

Designed to clarify issues related to the definition and implementation of strategic planning, this paper presents an an examination of several themes that are central to the practical side of planning and budget development. Introductory material considers the utility of the strategic planning approach and points to three areas of higher…

In 1979-80, a national study used a combination of the Older Americans Resources and Services Functional Assessment Questionnaire and the Subjective Distress Scale of Psychiatric Status Schedule to assess the service needs of the Hispanic elderly. Thirty variables were selected from this data and categorized using Anderson and Newman's (1973)…

A study examined the effects of teacher questioning and student prediction (purpose-setting procedures) upon the reading comprehension of 188 students in grades 3 through 6. Thirty-two constructed-answer questions were developed for use with an article about kangaroos, written in an expository style and approximately 900 words in length. Half of…

A study was designed to test predictability of actual occupation from expressed vocational choice when combined separately with measures of career development. Subjects were 1,994 members of a national study of high school career development who were working more than half-time three years later (1976). Expressed vocational choice and measures of…

This study concerns itself with the guest for reliable methods of helping a greater percentage of inner city junior high school students in New York pass the ninth-year Regents examination. It investigates the hypothesis that assigning inner city students to algebra by mathematics levels rather than reading levels will result in a higher passing…

The paper reviews research in the area of cognition, specifically cognitive controls (information processing habits which tend to function across a variety of content areas). The review addresses information on three research questions: (1) What cognitive factors can reliably measure and describe the differences in levels of academic achievement…

Research indicates that the media play a role in shaping the information that voters have about election options. Knowledge of those options has been related to actual vote, but has not been shown to be strongly related to uncertainty. Uncertainty, however, does seem to motivate voters to engage in communication activities, some of which may…

A study examined the extent of the role communication encounters play in helping people make accurate predictions about others, and what types of communicators (in terms of communicative reponsiveness and gender) seem to profit most from interaction with the subject of prediction prior to making predictions. Subjects, 118 college students,…

This digest reviews briefly several futures-oriented efforts of pertinence to educational endeavors, focusing primarily on their environmental aspects. These efforts are considered under headings in the form of six questions. They are: (1) Are future studies scientific? (2) How are projections developed? (3) What do recent futuristic projections…

Using data collected in 95 Ohio school districts by Brock Hunt, this study reanalyzed those data, examined the reasons for Hunt's inability to predict a school board member incumbent's defeat, and developed a model that would have predicted those Ohio school board elections. Hunt attempted to develop a statistical model of socioeconomic-political…