This study compares the dispositions and perceived preparedness of three teacher preparation programs: traditional, masters, and alternative licensure. We specifically investigated whether teachers in alternative licensure programs have the dispositions and perceived preparation essential for teaching. Each program was examined to identify…

This study, part of OECD/CERI's project on Measuring the Social Outcomes of Learning, investigates the relationship between educational attainment and political participation in Austria. First, a model based on various theoretical considerations is introduced. This incorporates direct educational effects as well as indirect effects that occur…

The aim of this study was to investigate forces that affect the timing of women's exit from violent relationships with men. Abused women were recruited from posters in the community and battered women's shelters, interviewed, and followed up for 10 years. Data for this study are based on 100 women and were analyzed using event history analysis.…

In an examination of the effects of timing of feedback on student learning, participants were randomly assigned to complete five introductory course tests using either control (Scantron form) or one of three feedback (end-of-test, 24-hr delay, immediate) procedures. A cumulative final examination with 50 new items and 10 items repeated from each…

The role of peer acceptance, number of mutual friends, and friendship quality in predicting adjustment across the transition from elementary to middle school was examined. Participants were 146 students (68 boys, 78 girls) who participated in the Time 1 (spring of fifth grade) and Time 2 (fall of sixth grade) assessments. Peer acceptance and…

We illustrate a class of multidimensional item response theory models in which the items are allowed to have different discriminating power and the latent traits are represented through a vector having a discrete distribution. We also show how the hypothesis of unidimensionality may be tested against a specific bidimensional alternative by using a…

Using data from the reading component of the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (N = 113,050), the effects of gender and curricular track for nine sub-scores of reading achievement were investigated. Only students indicating that they did not receive additional programming support were included in the analysis. Gender accounted for less than…

This article examines the role of parenting behavior in adolescents' peer group formation using a sample of 238 African American adolescents living in urban public housing projects. The study also assesses the moderating effect of age and gender on the relationship between parenting behavior and peer affiliations. Girls reported significantly…

This study focuses on a group of practitioners from a school district that adopted reform-oriented curriculum materials but later rejected them, partially due to the inclusion of alternative algorithms in the materials. Metaphors implicit in a conversation among the group were analysed to illuminate their perspectives on instructional issues…

Dropping out of high school culminates a long-term process of disengagement from school and has profound social and economic consequences for students, their families, and their communities. Students who drop out of high school are more likely to be unemployed, to earn less than those who graduate, to be on public assistance, and to end up in…

Bottleneck models of psychological refractory period (PRP) tasks suggest that a Task 1 response should be unaffected by the Task 2 response in the same trial, because selection of the former finishes before selection of the latter begins. Contrary to this conception, the authors found backward response-level crosstalk effects in which Task 2…

This study used latent growth modeling to investigate longitudinal relationships between self-system processes and depressive symptoms among maltreated (n=142) and nonmaltreated children (n=109) aged 6--11 years. On average, self-esteem and self-agency increased and depressive symptoms decreased over time. Multivariate growth modeling indicated…

One theoretical feature that makes item response theory (IRT) models those of choice for many psychometric data analysts is parameter invariance, the equality of item and examinee parameters from different examinee populations or measurement conditions. In this article, using the well-known fact that item and examinee parameters are identical only…

Cluster analysis has a rich history in many disciplines and although cluster analysis has been used in clinical psychology to identify types of disorders, its use in other areas of psychology has been less popular. The purpose of the current experiments was to use cluster analysis to investigate husband-wife decision making. Cluster analysis was…

The curriculum may superimpose a content-specific context that mediates motivation (Bong, 2001). This study examined content specificity of the expectancy-value motivation in elementary school physical education. Students' expectancy beliefs and perceived task values from a cardiorespiratory fitness unit, a muscular fitness unit, and a traditional…