Through interviews and questionnaires explores five mature students' approaches to learning statistics from the theoretical perspective of activity theory. Analyses socio-historical factors relating to students' self-regulation of their cognitive activities and interpretation of the contexts affecting their approaches. Appendices include…

Presents the case against private school choice, exploring myths and facts about public and private education. Private school choice would not increase accountability and would not bring about healthy competition for students. In addition, private schools do not outperform public schools to the extent one would expect. (SLD)

Examined contributions of different risk factors to predicting children's psychological and academic outcomes at end of first grade. Found that each analysis level contributed to prediction of most outcomes; 18 to 29% of outcome variance was predicted; a common set of predictors predicted numerous outcomes; ethnicity showed little unique…

This 22nd annual Official Education Construction Report details school and university construction information. It documents the amount and type of construction put in place and projected to be completed by the nations' educational institutions over the next three years (1996-1998). Annual and regional construction activity projections are…

Explored the assessment of family processes for African American kindergarten children, parents, and teachers involved in the EARLY ALLIANCE prevention trial. Regression analyses examined the relationship of family processes to child social and academic competence, problem behavior, and early reading achievement. Family structure, family cohesion,…

These nine articles discuss research and statistics on libraries and librarianship, including libraries in the United States, Canada, and Mexico; acquisition expenditures in public, academic, special, and government libraries; price indexes; state rankings of public library data; library buildings; expenditures in school library media centers; and…

The annual report on the state of education notes that after the shock of September 11, came a renewed sense of patriotism among young people. Charts and graphs display test results of the civic knowledge of U.S. 9th graders, scores from 4th-grade reading tests, 4th-, 8th-, and 12th grade math tests, and SAT scores Other items include…

The relations between motivational constructs, effort, self-efficacy and worry, and statistics achievement were investigated in a sample of 360 undergraduates in Malaysia. Both trait (cross-situational) and state (task-specific) measures of each construct were used to test a mediational trait (r) state (r) performance (TSP) model. As hypothesized,…

Recent assessment research joining cognitive psychology and psychometric theory has introduced a new technology, item generation. In algorithmic item generation, items are systematically created based on specific combinations of features that underlie the processing required to correctly solve a problem. Reading comprehension items have been more…

International students and the faculty and administrators charged with their oversight were surveyed at two religiously affiliated, private universities to determine the extent of their adjustment problems in the United States. Although the international students were found to have only minor adjustment problems in the twelve areas covered by the…

The impact of schools on student achievement has been of great interest in school effects research the last four decades. This study examines trends of school effects on student achievement, employing three national probability samples of high school seniors: NLS:72, HSB:82, and NELS:92. Hierarchical linear models are used to investigate school…

The decision for psychiatric hospitalization after deliberate self-poisoning (DSP) is not well understood. This study, a longitudinal cohort study of 3,148 consecutive DSP patients found 920 (29.2%) subjects were referred for psychiatric hospitalization, 576 (18.3%) on involuntary basis. A logistic regression analysis showed increased risk for:…

Background: Family history of mood disorders and stressful life events are both established risk factors for childhood depression. However, the role of mediators in risk trajectories, which are potential targets for intervention, remains understudied. To date, there have been no investigations of mediating relationships between risk factors and…

Students at the undergraduate level usually tend to view research methods courses negatively. However, an understanding of these attitudes is necessary to help instructors facilitate the learning of research for their students, by enabling them to create more positive attitudes toward such courses. The aim of this study is to describe the…

This paper describes the components of a successful, online, introductory statistics course and shares students' comments and evaluations of each component. Past studies have shown that quality interaction with the professor is lacking in many online courses. While students want a course that is well organized and easy to follow, they also want to…