In recent years the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) files have become recognized as a valuable resource for studies of talent flow, but the length and complexity of the files have made it costly to extract the information. A special GRE talent flow database was designed, covering the years 1978 to 1987, with three different structures: (1) an…

To investigate the actual and possible roles of parents in the development of preschoolers' bilingual ability, this study examined the home environments and bilingual ability of Singapore preschoolers. A total of 378 children, aged 5 and 6 years, were divided into 2 groups and individually interviewed. Children in one group began the interview in…

Numerous cognitive psychologists have validated the hypothesis, originally advanced by the Russian physician, A. Luria, that different individuals process information in two distinctly different manners: simultaneously and sequentially. The importance of recognizing the existence of these two distinct styles of processing information and selecting…

The evolution of the concept of communicative competence (CC) in language learning and teaching is traced since 1966, when D. H. Hymes first discussed it publicly. His concept of CC had its theoretical origins in the convergence of transformational generative grammar and the ethnography of communication, and was first discussed at a conference on…

In 1996, Florida's Miami-Dade Community College conducted a study to examine the college preparatory completion rates of first-time degree-seeking students based on their verbal and mathematics entry-level placement scores. Results include the following: (1) fewer than 30% of students scoring at the lowest level on the mathematics placement test…

This study investigated the dimensionality of mathematics subscale scores from the National Assessment of Educational Progress for the assessment's Technical Review Panel, specifically for the data from the 1990 and 1992 main assessment in relation to students' instructional and noninstructional background variables. Discriminant analysis was…

The assessment of interests through the use of interest inventories is big business in the field of testing today. The assessment of interests originally developed as an outgrowth of efforts in education and in industry to supplement special and general abilities information about individuals. Interest inventories used today differ from early…

Research has shown that successful school-to-work transitional planning must be linked to good vocational assessment. A study of the type and extent of formal vocational assessments being conducted by educators within secondary schools in Wisconsin showed that 77 percent assessed occupational interests, 63 percent assessed vocational aptitudes,…

This study examined the relative effects of homogeneous versus heterogeneous ability grouping on performance and attitudes of students working cooperatively during interactive videodisc instruction. After two cooperative training sessions 80 fourth through sixth grade students, classified as high and low ability, were randomly assigned to…

A method is presented for determining the content validity of a series of secondary school mathematics tests. These tests are part of the Mathematics Diagnostic Testing Project (MDTP), a collaborative effort by California university systems to develop placement examinations and a means to document student preparation in mathematics. Content…

To examine the link between deaf children's language abilities and their knowledge of, attitudes toward, and self-endorsements of cultural gender stereotypes, 46 deaf children between the ages of 5 and 12 years were given measures of gender-related attitudes, knowledge, and self-interests. Teachers were asked to rate children's ability with signed…

An actuarial model applied to the selection process of a special medical school program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine was tested. The 77 students in the study sample were admitted to the university's Fifth Pathway Program, which is designed for U.S. citizens who completed their medical school training, except for internship and…

Opinions of senior academic officials about changes in the quality of students in science and engineering (S/E) fields over the past 5 years were surveyed in 1982. Responses were received from officials from 387 institutions with undergraduate programs and 298 schools with graduate programs. Sixty-one percent of the officials believed that…

A study investigated previous research findings that children demonstrate certain confusions about print conventions, and that above average readers perform better on measures that assess knowledge of print conventions than do poorer readers. In addition, the study measured the contribution of intelligence to both print awareness and reading…

A study investigated the ability of fifth grade above and below average readers to use mental imagery in reading familiar and unfamiliar text. The subjects, 80 fifth grade students reading either above or below grade level, were placed into either an experimental or a control group. All subjects individually read one familiar and one unfamiliar…