Prepared as part of a state program review, this report presents results from a review undertaken of all agriculture and horticulture programs at Illinois public community colleges for fiscal year 1995. The first part focuses on the four agricultural programs reviewed: Agricultural Business and Management; Agricultural Production, Workers, and…

This study was undertaken to develop guidelines for making interpretive inferences from scores on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), a norm-referenced test of English-language listening comprehension (LC) and reading (R) skills, about level of ability to use English in face-to-face conversation, indexed by performance in…

Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores, student-reported high school grades, and scores for four other Admissions Testing Program tests were correlated with freshman grade point average for 299,794 students at 198 colleges from the enrolling classes of 1978, 1981, and 1985. The purpose of the study was to determine whether observed changes in…

Scaffolding refers to the instructional support that instructors or more skillful peers offer learners to bridge the gap between their current skill levels and the desired level. An aspect of scaffolding that is often ignored is the fading of support as the learner masters the skill. It has been suggested that there is a risk of over-relying on…

The estimates in this publication are key statistics reported before the close of the 1996-97 school year. They include the number of students in membership, teachers, and high school graduates for public elementary and secondary schools, and total revenues and expenditures for the operation of public elementary and secondary schools. The public…

Many social workers are anxious about the use of evaluation techniques and are particularly reticent about using statistical research. Strategies for understanding the steps involved in integrating practice and evaluation in a school social work setting, an appreciation for the need of evaluation, and knowledge of various resources on conducting…

This paper describes a methodology used in an on-going retention study at New York University (NYU) to identify a series of easily measured factors affecting student departure decisions. Three logistic regression models for predicting student retention were developed, each containing data available at three distinct times during the first…

This study examined gender differences in laterality, socialization, and educational achievement in fourth graders and determined which characteristics predicted mathematical and language achievement. The participants were four fourth grade classes comprised of 32 boys and 45 girls at an elementary school in a small rural town. Measures used were…

Two studies examined the relationship between preschool and elementary school children's ability to delay gratification and their school behaviors, after controlling for differences in socioeconomic status (SES). Children's gratification control was measured through an age-appropriate dilemma that forced each child to exhibit gratification control…

Data reported by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of the Census, and a literature review were used to develop comparative descriptive profiles of the employment status of white U.S. minorities in the workplace. In addition, these data were used to show the progression of African Americans into the workplace from…

At grades 8 and 12, the 1992 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment contained a small number of 50-minute blocks in addition to the usual 25-minute blocks. To determine whether to incorporate the 50-minute blocks into the operational scaling, this study sought to determine whether the longer blocks measured a…

This compilation aggregates all relevant statistics about the history of the U.S. educational system into one convenient book. The statistical surveys of what is now the National Center for Education Statistics date from 1870. The level of detail in the surveys by this office gradually increased until, by 1920, the statistical program included a…

It is crucial that measures and indicators for important aspects of the educational system be found and collected. As the education system strives to meet commonly identified goals, effective inputs become easier to identify and become more amenable to common collection and use, overcoming the two major impediments to developing national education…

The Dallas School Accountability Program is described, and a step-by-step method for determining how well a school performs relative to other schools is presented. The Dallas program is a two-part program. Beginning with criterion-based improvement plans, goal levels are set by determining the discrepancy between the actual and desired levels of…

People's beliefs about the origins of their health, sometimes referred to as health locus of control, have been shown to influence a variety of important behaviors, including the propensity to engage in effective health maintenance activities, and the willingness to seek and follow medical advice. The purpose of the present study was to explore…