A path analytic study examined the effects of career decision-making self-efficacy on the retention of underprepared adults in postsecondary education. The initial sample consisted of 418 underprepared students enrolled in the developmental education unit of a large midwestern urban university who had been subjects of a 1991 study and who…

Students' goals (motives) for their schooling have been the focus of much recent research and have been shown to significantly influence important aspects of their cognitive engagement and academic achievement. This paper presents the results of a qualitative investigation into the nature and characteristics of students' social and academic goals,…

The results of a small research project that studied the effect computer administration has on student performance for writing or essay tests are presented. The introduction of computer-administered tests has raised concern about the equivalence of scores generated by computer versus paper-and-pencil test versions. For this study a sample of…

The role of performance assessments in making cognitive activity apparent to teachers and students was studied through descriptions of the cognitive activity of 31 fifth-grade students. Differences while carrying out a science performance assessment reveal critical differences between those who think and reason well with their knowledge of…

Outcomes of a collaborative project among policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in Scotland to develop a framework of qualitative performance indicators for school self-evaluation and development planning are described in this paper. Following an introduction, the second section presents an overview of the Scottish public education…

This report presents the results of a management study of audio playback equipment operations conducted by the National Library Service, Library of Congress, its associated network of state and local machine lending agencies (MLA), and other parties that play a role in current operations. The objectives were to document current operations,…

Proponents of early childhood education frequently refer to the importance of parent involvement for children's school success. However, little is known about characteristics of families that are more likely to become involved in their children's educational experience. This study provided follow-up data on 221 inner-city children (median age =…

This guidebook offers guidelines, suggestions, examples, and recommendations for developing a comprehensive, sound system of accountability. The first chapter develops a conceptual framework for developing systems of accountability that identifies some major policy issues that must be addressed. Chapter 2 discusses getting started and identifies…

This study compared deception detection accuracy and confidence levels for 72 blind and 71 sighted participants with only audible cues available. Participants from a community blind center and a small western university judged stimulus tapes, which consisted of deceptive and truthful audio messages. Deceptive messages were induced by implicating…

This study examined the degree to which 50 high school students with learning disabilities (LD), 50 normally achieving high school students, and 50 high school mainstream teachers agreed as to which social skills are important for success in the mainstream. Results indicated that LD students differed significantly from teachers on the importance…

To meet the challenges created by diverse learning styles and abilities, community college students are often required to take placement tests to identify individual learning styles. This study was conducted to determine whether organizing students into activity groups based on learning style contributes to performance; and whether grouping…

Problems concerning conceptual change from existing knowledge (accumulated from everyday experiences or earlier teaching) to new scientific knowledge concerning natural phenomena are fundamentally the same for Western and non-Western students. However, difficulties experienced by non-Western students are magnified by factors such as their cultural…

In contrast to early research (such as Coleman's) that concluded schools could not override influences of the home environment, more current research indicates that schools can make a difference. This paper summarizes those research findings (emphasizing the limitations of the research from the practitioner's perspective) and relates them to new…

The criterion most frequently used in studies designed to assess the predictive validity of measures used in college admission has been the freshman-year grade point average (GPA). It is not self-evident that the first-year GPA provides either a sufficient or a representative sample of a student's academic performance. Questions have been raised…

A generic competence model for effective nursing performance was developed and compared with nurses' perceptions of job elements that discriminate outstanding nursing performance and that are critical in the selection and education of nurses. The model is to be used to validate the nursing faculty's existing competence model for nursing education…