The difference between item bias and item impact and the way they relate to item validity are discussed from a multidimensional item response theory perspective. The Mantel-Haenszel procedure and the Simultaneous Item Bias strategy are used in a Monte Carlo study to illustrate detection of item bias. (SLD)

Data from the national Youth in Transition Study for 1,456 high school students and recent graduates indicate that reported grade averages in grades 11 and 12 are significantly affected by academic self-concept measured the previous year. Results demonstrate the influence of academic self-concept on subsequent academic achievement. (SLD)

The purpose of this article is to discuss determinants of computer self-efficacy from the perspective of participant internal learning motivations and external learning environments. The former consisted of three motivations--interest, trend, and employment--while the latter comprised two environments--home and school. Through an intermediate…

This study analyzes NELS:88 data from a dropout sample of students who were enrolled in the eighth grade in 1988 but who were not enrolled in school in 1990. The data for this analysis were collected in Spring 1990 to examine reasons for dropping out and plans for dropouts to resume their education. In both areas, differences were found on…

Causal modeling procedures were used to test causal inferences about hypothesized relationships among the major influences on science learning outcomes for a secondary-two (equivalent to grade 8) sample of Singaporean students. A sample of approximately 900 was selected from schools that represented the population of secondary-two students.…

The focus of this study was to determine the causal linkages among home environment, self-concepts, prior ability, and socioeconomic status on mathematics achievement and science achievement of gifted students. The Walberg Productivity Model (H. Walberg, 1984) served as a basis for analyzing the interconnections among the family processes.…

Constructs a model that explains a large fraction of the variance in political science departmental rankings. Divides the objective predictors into two sets: one reflecting faculty quality ratings of department members, the other the effects of circumstances beyond a department's control. This model works well with most social science disciplines.…

Sixty-two French-Canadian women undergraduates participated in a study analyzing the effects of private self-consciousness on attribution. Shows women with high private self-consciousness, when told they performed well, attributed success to more internal, stable, and controllable factors than other subjects. In no-outcome conditions, no…

The aim of this study was to develop and validate a team-referent attribution scale. Conducted over three studies, Study 1 modified items from McAuley, Duncan, and Russell's (1992) Causal Dimension Scale II by rewording items to reflect team attributions and adding one item per factor. This led to the development of a 16-item scale (Causal…

This report reviews the facts underlying the debate about delinquency in the United States, focusing on evidence of how well various approaches to crime succeed in practice. Do youth programs such as family therapies and recreation initiatives actually make a cost-effective contribution to controlling crime? Research supports a strong foundation…

This paper examines what student teachers learn from writing a case about their student teaching experience. An analytic framework was developed to understand what students learn from writing such narratives. It contained six elements: (1) an intention, which formed the springboard for the dramatic action; (2) an initial conceptual map which…

Drawing on data collected from students attending Australian rural- and urban-based universities, structural modeling was used to test the validity of a model of student persistence and satisfaction in agricultural courses. The model placed personal and environmental factors as predictors of student persistence and satisfaction and was comprised…

Differences in use of selective attention by 64 more successful and 48 less successful readers in the tenth grade were studied. More successful readers are more aware of how and when to use the selective attention strategy and use more conceptual attention while reading than do less successful readers. (SLD)

Results are presented of an evaluation of effects of the within-classroom component of the Second International Science Study on science learning processes and products at the twelfth-grade level in Hong Kong. Partial Least Squares Path (PLSPATH) analysis is used to model the data obtained from 6,103 students in 217 classrooms. (SLD)

In an attempt to devise a methodology for characterizing children's intuitive theories of drug action, 217 children in Grades 1 to 6 were interviewed about how two substances, alcohol and cocaine, cause behavioral changes in their users. Measures tapped both structure (Piagetian complexity of causal reasoning, coherence, and construction of a…