This university level course in economic geography emphasizes the need for control of the spatial allocation of our resources, and strives for heightened student awareness of the world as a complex. It may thus be considered an introduction to geocybernetics, the study of man/machine relationships in the control of spatial organization. A systems…

Nearly 150 papers presented at this conference, sponsored by the International Federation for Information Processing, are included in this volume which surveys the state of the art of computer education. Nine papers provide an overview on such topics as computer science and mathematics, computer education in the 1970's, computers and the…

The study applied the conventional linear transportation program to the student assignment problem and investigated methods of measuring the achieved level of desegregation. Existing measures of desegregation were analyzed, and two new indexes were developed for use in the present model and probably for other system analytical models designed to…

The 63 items on skills in acquiring and using information from written documents contained in the Survey of Young Adult Literacy in the 1985 National Assessment of Educational Progress are analyzed. The analyses are based on a qualitative cognitive model and an item-response theory model. (TJH)

Presents a program to introduce fifth graders to everyday economic life by constructing a true-to-life simulation of an economic community. Students apply mathematics skills to managing a checking account, calculating electric bills, and managing shops using computers. (MDH)

These conference proceedings include two invited lectures, three working group reports, three topic group reports, two Ad Hoc group reports, a round table report, a list of participants, and a list of previous proceedings. The invited lectures were: "Values in Mathematics Education" (Ubiratan D'Ambrosio) and "Remarks on…

A Monte Carlo study was conducted to compare the statistical bias and standard errors of non-equivalent-groups linear test equating in small samples of examinees. One thousand samples of each size (15, 25, 50, and 100) were drawn with replacement from each of five archival data files from elementary school and secondary school teacher subject area…

Research efforts have established that the Mantel-Haenszel procedure (MHP) is an effective method for detecting the presence of test items exhibiting differential item functioning (DIF). While the MHP has been advocated for situations where item response theory based methods may not be usable, recent findings have suggested that the performance of…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) represents the first time the National Center for Education Statistics has integrated three of the Elementary and Secondary Education Surveys: the Teacher Demand and Shortage Surveys, Public and Private School Surveys, and Teacher Surveys. The SASS was designed to measure the critical aspects of teacher…

Greater knowledge about the practical application of Rasch technology can help in avoiding misapplications and confusions in testing programs. Equal interval curriculum-based scaling makes possible the following improvements in measuring basic skills achievement by enabling testing programs to: (1) individualize the difficulty level of…

Twelve articles that are designed to provide ideas to engineering department heads are presented. Articles and authors are as follows: "Estimating Undergraduate Student Capacity for an Engineering Department," (T. W. F. Russell, R. L. Daughtery, A. F. Graziano); "Financial Evaluation of Education Programs," (George DePuy and Ralph Swalm); "The…

Four problems faced by the staff of the California Assessment Program (CAP) were solved by applying Rasch scaling techniques: (1) item cultural bias in the Entry Level Test (ELT) given to all first grade pupils; (2) nonlinear regression analysis of the third grade Reading Test scores; (3) comparison of school growth from grades two to three, using…

The three RMC models endorsed by the U.S. Office of Education for the evaluation of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I programs are based on narrowly conceived approaches to evaluation--the measurement of cognitive achievement gains. Each model requires the comparison of observed student performance with an estimate of what level of…

This paper develops and estimates a model of the educational process. Most researchers have relied on a single equation, educational production function, which is an unrealistic formulation. A pupil's achievement, motivation, expectations, self-concept, and his perceived parents' and teachers' expectations are determined jointly, not…

This book, one of a series prepared in connection with the Behavioral and Social Sciences Survey (BASS) conducted between 1967 and 1969, deals with problems of statistics, mathematics, and computation as they related to the social sciences. Chapter 1 shows how these subjects help in their own ways for studying learning behavior with irregular…