IN RESPONSE TO THE OBSERVATION THAT CHILDREN LOSE MUCH OF THEIR IMAGINATIVENESS AND CREATIVENESS AT ABOUT AGE 5 OR DURING THEIR KINDERGARTEN YEAR, A PROGRAM CALLED THE "CREATIVE-AESTHETIC APPROACH TO SCHOOL READINESS" WAS EMPLOYED TO SEE IF IT WOULD PREVENT SUCH A LOSS. THE PROGRAM IS NORMALLY USED WITH PRESCHOOL CHILDREN TO DEVELOP THE…

A number of potential threats to internal validity in true experiments are discussed. Programmatic research efforts proceeding from established correlational findings to experiments employing random assignment are described and used as referents in discussions of validity considerations. The collection of observational data is recommended for use…

Studies were some problems of learning motivation and extrinsic reinforcement in a group of disadvantaged youngsters. Also tested was the hypothesis that learning would be facilitated for those children who received regular individual tutoring in addition to classroom instruction, regardless of conditions of reinforcement. Subjects were 60 Negro…

The effect of a structured program of musical training on the musical abilities of preschool children from disadvantaged environments was investigated. It was hypothesized that, if the musical abilities of such children could be improved sufficiently, they might then be able to enter elementary school on a level commensurate with that of their…

The purpose of this project was to design, execute, and evaluate a film to be used as a public education program in rehabilitation counseling. The film "Will It Be You?" was produced to interest undergraduate students in a career in rehabilitation counseling and to inform the general public of the goals and services of rehabilitation counseling.…

The intent of this experimental program is to test the impact of an assistance system on issues such as work incentive, cost of benefits, administrative costs, and other corollary issues. The structure is to provide assistance that increases as earned income declines, and decreases as earned income increases. Unlike the President's Welfare Reform…

The Distar I Reading, Language and Arithmetic programs were used with two first grade classes. The Distar II programs were used with two second grade classes. One first grade Distar class appeared to make some progress in oral language. Comparison of the first grade Distar classes with a first grade control class that used a Scott-Foresman basal…

Matching, randomization, random sampling, and other methods of controlling extraneous variation are discussed. The purpose was to specify the benefits of randomization in estimating causal effects of treatments. It is concluded that randomization should be employed whenever possible, but the use of carefully controlled nonrandomized data to…

After offering some possible explanations for the existing inadequacies in evaluating organizational training programs, the authors discuss several evaluation issues, particularly internal validity. Methods for overcoming evaluation inadequacies and the implications for better controlled evaluation designs are also covered. (EM)

The Canadian Public Service Commission conducted an experimental course using the communication technology satellite for the experimental group and a conventional classroom for the control group. Both groups of forty managers had the same subject matter and used the same student-directed learning methodology. The article contains observations on…

The estimation and evaluation of the effects of alternative educational or social policies is a major purpose of decision oriented, comparative evaluation studies. This paper reviews the rationale underlying the definition and interpretation of various measures of effect magnitude and examines their relevance to evalution research. (Author)

This article discusses the circumstances under which unequal sample size in the two-group study can arise and result in an attenuated point-biserial correlation. Formulas are provided for correcting the coefficient either directly or through the mediation of relevant statistics found in studies where the coefficient itself is not reported.…

This paper is concerned with the construction of effect size standard errors in situations where the effect sizes are independent but the data have likely been sampled from non-normal distributions, and possibly for different studies, from different families of non-normal distributions. Asymptotic distribution-free estimators are provided for two…

The effects of age and education on Halstead test performance were examined in this cross-validation of the Vega and Parsons study. Differences between correlation in psychiatric patients and medical-surgical control subjects are discussed, as is the importance of age, and differences in reference groups when making clinical inferences about brain…

Compares academic results of teaching an experimental class of sophomores using a methodology of dyadic mode learning with a control class of sophomores and examines the potential uses and characteristics of the group relationships in dyadic mode learning for university level work in a full semester's courses. (Author/RK)