This study attempted to build the best fitting prediction model, with high predictive validity, for success at a minority professional school. The resulting model could be used to document the effectiveness of academic programs and applicant screening. Data for 216 medical students from the college were used to evaluate the usefulness of the…

It is generally recognized that the home background of students is important for their achievement and progress through school, but obtaining accurate information is becoming increasingly difficult. School-level indicators of socioeconomic status, although coarse, may consist of more than the sum of family backgrounds of students attending the…

Over the last ten or so years this researcher's educational focus has been on providing a science education program that is both liberating and empowering for students. Although there have been a number of motivating themes, the central one has been his work with student images of the future. He has taken these seriously and used them to inform by…

This study first determined how well two types of critical thinking measures, generic and subject-specific, predicted performance on course tests. Secondly, the study examined the extent to which critical thinking changed from the beginning to the end of the course. Two generic and one subject-specific measure of critical thinking were used in the…

This preliminary study, focusing only on writing analysis, is part of a larger longitudinal study that will be used to develop an effective instrument to predict college retention. The methodology arose from a psychological model created by John Bean (2001) to ascertain "academic fit" in the college setting and a psycholinguistic model developed…

Variables that predict success on the Examination for Certification of Educators in Texas (ExCET) were studied, extending a pilot study that focused on one component of the ExCET, Secondary Professional Development (G. Poelzer, L. Zeng, and M. Simonsson, 2000). A representative sample of 87 preservice secondary education teachers was drawn from…

Ninety teachers in grades three through six were asked to judge the likelihood of their students' passing Ohio's Fourth or Sixth Grade Proficiency Tests. Judgment ratings consisted of "likely to pass,""uncertain to pass," or "unlikely to pass." These ratings were collected in January 1998, 3 months prior to the…

The multivariable relationship between interviewer predictions of future career plans of applicants to medical school and students' characteristics at the time of their interviews was studied. The study also sought to determine the multivariable relationship between students' stated career plans at graduation and their characteristics at the time…

This study investigated factors related to Taiwanese senior high school students' self-esteem. A total of 1,672 students (779 boys, 893 girls) in Kaohsiung City in Taiwan completed a Chinese version of the Secondary Student Questionnaire (SSQ; Z. Hong, 2001). In addition, interviews were conducted with six students from three different high…

An empirical study of statistical overkill investigated the generalizability of multiple regression equations as a function of the subject/variable ratio. Data from various-sized groups of rehabilitation clients were used to develop the equations. Findings showed that equations developed on samples with less than a 10 to 1 ratio failed to…

The present study was an attempt to investigate the specific form of the relationship of persistence to academic performance, with a consideration of the information-processing value of persistence. (Author)

This study assesses 78 emotionally disturbed children on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC) and the revised edition of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA) to demonstrate the relationship between the two tests and determine which revised ITPA subtest scores best predict the children's WISC Full Scale, Verbal and…

Examines new directions in ecological research in which ecologists are analyzing systems with theoretical models and are using descriptive studies to confirm and extend their studies. The development of a model relating to species equilibriums on islands is now being applied to problems of conservation of wildlife in national parks. (JR)

Examines earlier studies relating to human memory, extracts estimates of parameters that appear to be crucial to performance in complex tasks, and illustrates how these parameter values predict behavior in a range of laboratory situations. (JR)