A study was conducted to determine the optimum combination of selected social, academic, and demographic variables to maximally differentiate membership in the successful, unsuccessful, and withdrawal groups of first-year computer programming majors in Virginia community colleges. A questionnaire focusing on 18 selected variables was administered…

Six papers, originally presented in different form at the 1977 Convention of the Society for Research in Child Development, highlight approximately 100 studies that have used the Defining Issues Test (DIT) of moral judgment. The DIT's standardized format and objective scoring makes comparisons possible among studies, and this body of research…

The purpose of this report is to: (1) summarize the attempts that have been made to define and investigate test wiseness, particularly those efforts made at teaching test wiseness; (2) identify gaps and deficiencies in the existing body of research; (3) make recommendations as to the direction that future research in this area should take; and (4)…

This paper presents data on a follow-up study of a project in the 1960's: a classroom assessment and intervention program directed at mental health for all the first grade classrooms of Woodlawn, a black poor community on Chicago's south side. Now, ten years later, the mental health of these adolescents as well as the mental health, structure, and…

Designed for current and future occupational instructors, counselors, and administrators, the comprehensive measurement text is directed toward all subject areas in occupational education--industrial, business/distributive, home economics, agriculture, health occupations, and personal/public services. It offers necessary guidelines to select,…

In order to make policy decisions, educators must evaluate educational research proposals and projects. Findings immediately related to practice are often inadequate, omitting the theoretical establishment of principles by which we can explain and predict the phenomena of our world. These theoretical linkages to the practical world of…

The concept of psychosocial maturity is reviewed in preparation for the exploration of the feasibility of constructing a scale that measures maturity. Investigation produced a preliminary 54-item scale with high reliability and moderate validity, which is appended. A factor analysis of the scale supports the a priori structure by the theoretical…

The purpose of this study is to report a behavioral observation validation of a multiple social interaction measurement instrument entitled the "Barclay Classroom Climate Inventory." This instrument measures social interaction in the elementary classroom as derived from self-report, peer judgments and teacher expectations. It provides an…

Analysis of teacher trainee performance ratings collected from special education teacher trainees (N=151), university supervisors (N=9), and cooperating teachers (N=44) revealed that all three groups perceived identical factors--instructional management, cognitive strategies instruction, and career/vocational education--as underlying the construct…

The "No Child Left Behind Act" of 2001 crystallized the concern for accountability in education. National testing was mandated as a way to improve the "broken" educational system. Publicly funded early education programs were not spared from such testing. While the positive effects of high-quality early education on children's…

Holland's Self-Directed Search (SDS) protocols were used with at-risk Hispanic female and male adolescents were examined to determine their sensitivity to this population. The SDS was completed by 89 at-risk Hispanic students (49 females and 33 males) in grade 9 at a nontraditional school for students who have been deemed at risk for gang and…

This paper describes an evaluation model called embedded training evaluation (ETE) which can be used to evaluate different types of training ranging from basic skills through constructed learning. The model was developed for the New York State Child Welfare/Child Protection Services Common Core training program. ETE is particularly effective in…

Papers on foreign language education include: "The Message Is the Medium: Using Video Materials To Facilitate Foreign Language Performance" (Thomas J. Garza), which explores the use of this medium to enhance commonly-used non-communicative or text-bound teaching materials; "Product and Process Aspects of NES/EFL Students' Persuasive…

This symposium on issues in training consists of three presentations. "Improving Customer Service Training in Korea" (Namhee Kim) reports findings from interviews of customer service employees who identified these customer service issues: training for service recovery is needed; additional service gives a strong impression to customers;…

The Preschool Version of the High/Scope Program Quality Assessment (PQA) is a ratings instrument for evaluating the quality of early childhood programs and identifying staff training needs. The assessment was developed for use in all center-based preschool and child care settings, not just those using the High/Scope educational approach. This…