The ability of the Rasch model to provide item difficulties and achievement test scores which are invariant is studied. Data for the study were obtained from students in grades 3 through 7 who took the Sequential Tests of Educational Progress (STEP III) Reading and Mathematics Concepts tests during a spring norming study. Each test contained 50…

The issues of treatment assignment is ordinarily dealt with within the framework of testing aptitude treatment interaction (ATI) hypothesis. ATI research mostly uses linear regression techniques, and an ATI exists when the aptitude treatment (AT) regression lines cross each other within the relevant interval of the aptitude variable. Consistent…

A multi-faceted model for the selection of answers for multiple-choice tests was developed from the findings of a series of exploratory studies. This model implies that answer selection should be curvilinear. A series of models were tested for fit using the chi square procedure. Data were collected from 359 elementary school students ages 9-12.…

The proposition was examined that for children from different family groups, there are variations in relations among their ability, attitudes toward school, and academic achievement. The study indicated that the family may act as a critical substratum variable that influences the relations between children's attitudinal and cognitive attributes…

This study is based on three distinct elementary cognitive tasks using chronometric techniques: (1) the S. Sternberg memory scan task, (2) a visual scan task; and (3) the Hick paradigm. Certain parameters of the tasks are compared experimentally and correlationally. Subjects were 48 university students, tested and retested on the tasks in a…

Using samples of college students of very high ability and strong academic background, sex differences in performance and perceptions of performance in introductory chemistry and mathematics courses were studied. Considerable differences favoring men were found, and these appeared to be due primarily to differences in mathematics background.…

Explores whether education reduces the effects of certain socioeconomic variables on school performance. Achievement scores of high school and college students in Puerto Rico are related to family income, size, and education. Results indicate that college education reduces the gaps created by inherent conditions among sampled students. Includes 17…

This study collected exploratory data on a group of organizational adjustment variables (procedural, personnel, process, structural, and strategic) among a group of schools and school districts. Results provide a preliminary basis for suggesting that the adaptive organizational behavior of schools and school districts may be influenced by…

This experiment explored the mediating functions of attributional and self-efficacy variables on achievement outcomes for skill training treatments offered in conjunction with attributional feedback. Children who were identified as learned helpless and deficient in division skills received training on division operations either through modeling…

A model of early literacy acquisition focused on development in word recognition, spelling, reading comprehension, and writing and on the interrelation of growth in each of these skills. Results of longitudinal data suggest that without phonemic awareness, exposure to print does little to foster spelling-sound knowledge. (Author/LMO)

A number of measures were examined as predictors of graduate students' achievement in inferential statistics courses. The most important predictor variable set was attitudes toward feminist issues. Other predictors included mathematics attitude and masculinity-femininity. Sex-related differences were found on all variables except verbal and…

The impact of selected economic factors on the level of contributions to higher education institutions is analyzed separately for corporate and individual donors, with the finding that alumni are more likely to give when economic conditions are relatively poor, while corporations give more in good economic times. (MJL)

Four methods were used to forecast monthly circulation totals in 15 midwestern academic libraries: dummy time-series regression, lagged time-series regression, simple average (straight-line forecasting), monthly average (naive forecasting). In tests of forecasting accuracy, dummy regression method and monthly mean method exhibited smallest average…

The Regression Model, popular in selection bias research, is proposed for use in item bias detection, providing a common framework for both types of bias. An empirical test of this new method, now called the Regression Bias method, and a comparison with other commonly used item bias detection methods are presented. (Author/BS)

Students successful in developmental coursework later do as well or better than students not needing developmental courses. This study examined the performance of 3,873 students new to a college for the fall 1997 semester through the spring 2001 semester. Analysis of variance and logistic regression were used to tease out effects of level of…