Biography and other forms of life writing were once considered vital sources of information on leadership. However, early in the establishment of the pursuit of a "science of leadership" in the first quarter of the last century, they were abandoned as too subjective and hence unreliable. Recently, however, as scholarship regarding leadership has…

In order to avoid the projected shortfall of a half a million science and engineering professionals by the year 2010, many believe that we must find ways to increase the number of minorities and women who choose the sciences as a discipline of study. This study, involving 500 high school students, explores the collective relationships among…

The usefulness of response latency data for biographical inventory items was assessed for improving the inventory's validity. Focus was on assessing whether weighting item scores on the basis of their latencies improves the predictive validity of the inventory's total score. A total of 120 items from the Armed Services Applicant Profile (ASAP)…

Presents biographical and pictorial information about 12 black scientists and inventors who were selected to serve as models for children who have little opportunity to learn of black contributions to science and technology, and as motivation for students who are uncertain about continuing their studies or about selecting professions. Much of…

After a two-week introductory period, participants in the Unified Studies Program at Boston State College will engage in a study of eight important institutions chosen by students at a planning session in November. Each institution will be dealt with for one full week. After the spring vacation, small groups (4 or 5 people) will engage in…

This study examined relationships among conformity to biographical item writing rules, rated stability, and obtained response stability. First and second administration data were collected and a stability index was obtained on 88 items using a college freshmen sample (N=106). One group of judges then educed rules to discriminate between the more…

A man who experienced a change of direction while serving a prison sentence, Milt Gordon, now coordinates a successful Baltimore drug abstinence and vocational assistance program. A brief biographical sketch of Gordon and a description of his program form the focal points of the article. (AG)

This research was conducted in an attempt to construct empirically derived biographical scoring keys for predicting the academic and practice-teaching performance of students in the first-year teacher education program at a Canadian university. Also attempts to use these measures to select applicants for the program. (Author/RK)

Reports the results of a caseworker survey exploring characteristics associated with the stability of foster care. The survey was developed from a national profile of the child likely to experience unstable foster care resulting in replacement. Findings and implications are discussed. (Author/DST)

Investigates the leadership characteristics of effective Colorado Outward Bound school instructors and examines criteria to be used in staff selection procedures. Biographical and personality data collected from 130 instructors at the Colorado school indicated a statistically significant correlation of a number of biographical characteristics with…

Discusses the educational philosophy of Horace Mann and his contributions to educational development, while providing a thorough insight into Mann's mental attitudes. (RK)

The major conclusion of this study is that junior college students appear to have goals in attending college that are very similar in distribution to those of students at other types of colleges and universities. (Author)

Fund raising, it is argued, needs sophisticated prospect research. Professional prospect researchers play an important role in helping to identify prospective donors and also in helping to stimulate interest in gift giving. A sample of an individual work-up on a donor and a bibliography are provided. (MLW)

Comments on the ideas presented by Entwisle and Astone in this issue. Suggests that to produce sound measurements of children's socioeconomic background requires a substantial investment in coding, data collection, and management. Nevertheless, a standard set of racial-ethnic and socioeconomic variables, no matter how well measured, cannot serve…

The 121 items in this bibliography include measures or questionnaires that require respondents to give information about their background, work history, or educational history. Populations assessed are: students, teachers, alcoholics, patients, and potential employees. Although all ages are represented, the majority of tests target adults. This…