Presented are the preliminary results of a study of the effects of relative labor market opportunities for the highly educated on high school academic achievement and college attendance. Across regions, a one percent decline in college relative to high school graduates is estimated to induce a decline of 0.3 to 1.4 percent in reading and…

The report summarizes results of a survey of musical performance abilities of Americans of various ages. During 1971 and 1972 a national assessment program was conducted to measure the musical abilities of nine-year-olds, 13-year-olds, 17-year-olds, and young adults from 26-35 years of age. Exercises were divided into five groups: singing familiar…

Variables that best explain variance in student attrition for 168 freshmen students from a college of agriculture within a major midwestern university were studied in 1979. Variables were selected from a theoretical causal model of student attrition (Bean, 1981), a review of the literature (Bean, 1978), and five empirical investigations conducted…

Children residing in McLean County, Kentucky, and attending grades three through six who either had or had not attended kindergarten were compared in terms of academic aptitude, total reading, language expression, and math application scores on the Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS). It was found that students who had attended kindergarten…

Volunteer college students were assigned to one of six computer administered vocabulary tests, one half with immediate knowledge of results (KR) after responding to each item, and the other half without knowledge of results. The six tests were designed to be at one of three levels of difficulty and consisted either of 50 preselected items…

A systematic study is reported of the mathematical skills and learning abilities of new students immediately prior to entry into the Open University's (England) foundation courses in technology and social sciences. The intent was to provide predictive information about potential student entry skills for the team preparing a new technology…

The construct validity of three of the assessment instruments of the Career Skills Assessment Program (CSAP) was investigated by means of a confirmatory factor analysis designed to measure both the convergent validity and the discriminant validity of the instruments. A Career Development Questionnaire (CDQ) was developed because a search failed to…

TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE GRADUATES OF MELBOURNE HIGH SCHOOL, IN BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA, WERE SUFFICIENTLY DIFFERENT FROM GRADUATES OF ANOTHER HIGH SCHOOL IN THE SAME DISTRICT TO WARRANT FURTHER RESEARCH, A PILOT STUDY WAS CONDUCTED. MELBOURNE HAS RECEIVED ACCLAIM FOR ITS NONGRADED, CONTINUOUS PROGRESS, INNOVATIVE CURRICULUM AND FOR THE NUMEROUS…

The two papers represent the result of a four-week 7th and 8th grade unit entitled the Caesar Unit. Organized using primary sources, the basic materials were a selection of Cicero's letters and Caesar's Commentary on the Civil War. The first paper, by the classroom teacher of the unit, contains brief factual information about the materials,…

IN ORDER TO ASSESS THE QUALITY OF CREATIVE PRODUCTS IN ART, MUSIC, WRITING, SOCIAL STUDIES, AND SCIENCE, CHILDREN ATTENDING GRADES 3 TO 6 OF THE UNIVERSITY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES, WERE DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS ON THE BASIS OF INTELLIGENCE. THE HIGHER GROUP (49 PUPILS, IQ OF 130 OR MORE) AND THE LOW GROUP (57…

THE PURPOSES OF THIS EXPERIMENT CONDUCTED IN THE TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA PUBLIC SCHOOLS WERE (1) TO STUDY DIFFERENCES IN SENTENCE STRUCTURES AMONG STUDENTS VARYING IN CHRONOLOGICAL MATURITY AND MENTAL ABILITY WITHIN GRADES 4, 6, 8, 10, AND 12, AND (2) TO SEE IF AN INSTRUMENT COULD BE DEVISED TO EFFICIENTLY MEASURE SYNTACTIC MATURITY. THE INSTRUMENT…

This study attempted to determine the relationships between the dramatic play of children aged three to seven and their self-concept; between dramatic play and two components of self-concept--self-esteem and identification with friends; between dramatic play ability and self-concept; and between dramatic play and the teacher's attitude toward…

A role playing exercise is presented that can be run either with or without video-tape depicting a problem student in a play-acted version. Suggestions are offered for organizing the exercise, which is a meeting of professors, a residence hall worker, the assistant registrar, a tutor, and possibly a college counselor. General instructions for role…

Monte Carlo simulation procedures were used to study the psychometric characteristics of two two-stage adaptive tests and a conventional "peaked" ability test. Results showed that scores yielded by both two-stage tests better reflected the normal distribution of underlying ability. Ability estimates yielded by one of the two stage tests…

A comparison of the self concepts and school attitudes of third grade low achievers in homogeneously versus heterogeneously grouped classrooms is made in this study. An extensive review of the literature on ability grouping, self concept (and self concept tests), and school attitudes related to grouping is presented. In the study, low achievers…