Five core skill areas have been identified as necessary in Youth Training Scheme programs in the United Kingdom. The City and Guilds of London Institute's courses in two of these areas, numeracy and communication skills, are described. Assessment policy and methods, including student profiling, are discussed. (GDC)

Presents thinking-aloud protocols from secondary pupils solving arithmetic story and geometrical problems and analyzes their protocols by using interpretation models founded on a general problem-solving model. A word problem solving simulation is also used to further explicate processes pupils use to solve mathematical tasks. (Author/MBR)

Sex differences in performance on the Australian Scholastic Aptitude Test (ASAT) were investigated. No significant direct effect of sex on performance was found. Sex differences were found to be the result of females having a higher verbal ability, males studying more mathematics, and males having greater confidence in ASAT success. (LMO)

Discusses how to address the concept of chemical equilibrium through the use of thermodynamic activities. Describes the advantages of setting up an equilibrium constant in terms of activities and demonstrates how to approximate those activities by practical measures such as partial pressures, mole fractions, and molar concentrations. (TW)

Sixth- and seventh-grade teachers were trained to maintain an average teacher wait time of three to five seconds during mathematics and language arts lessons. Longer waits were associated with higher achievement, improved teacher and student discourse, and greater time spent in cognitive processing. (GDC)

Using data on approximately 2,000 students drawn from three talent searches conducted by the Study of Mathematically Precocious Youth, this study investigated the relationship of possible sex differences in science achievement to sex differences in mathematical reasoning ability. (BS)

Rural background and specialty choice of family medicine are each significant predictors of practice in a nonmetropolitan area. The utilization of the medical school selection process to address the maldistribution problem is examined, and a predictive model is described. (MLW)

Socially disadvantaged Israeli children in grades three or six were paired with university student tutors. Mathematics and reading achievement were measured after one year of tutoring, two years of tutoring, or no intervention. One year of tutoring yielded some gains; however, a second year did not increment them. (Author/GDC)

Examines current state of Logo programming language and research on Logo and presents conclusions about the efficacy of Logo as a research and teaching tool. Conclusions discuss use of Logo to teach computer literacy; transfer of training; representativeness and reliability of Logo research results; and Logo research methodology. (Author/MBR)

Recent work in factor analysis of categorical variables is reviewed, emphasizing a generalized least squares solution and a maximum likelihood approach. A common factor model for dichotomous items is introduced, and the estimation of factor loadings from matrices of tetracorrelations is discussed. (LMO)

The findings of three major studies that assessed the impact of public vs. Catholic schooling on how much students learned in the last two years of high school are compared. The studies are Hoffer, Greeley, and Coleman (1985), Willms (1985), and Alexander and Pallas (1985). (RM)

Using data from the Survey of Basic Skills administered to approximately 300,000 California sixth graders, this study examines sex differences on two types of mathematics items. Probability for success is greater for girls in solving computations and for boys in solving story problems. Relationships to other influential factors are examined.

Chinese, Japanese, and American children at grades 1 and 5 were given a battery of 10 cognitive tasks and tests of achievement in reading and mathematics. Goals were to determine (1) possible differences in cognitive abilities and (2) the possible differential relation of scores on cognitive tasks to reading by children of the three cultures.…

Describes a study of an individualized university mathematics course where students were given a choice of testing options. Topics discussed include measurement of such covariates as age, years at university, enjoyment of mathematics, and quantitative ability, and the relationship of covariates and testing choice. Results indicate students made…

Summarizes five studies: (1) new sight words for computer-using children; (2) immediate rewards for correct answers with computer assisted instruction; (3) importance of parental attitude and experience to student achievement with computers; (4) Logo and adolescent females' mathematics achievement; and (5) competition versus cooperation for male…