This paper discusses inconsistencies in Greenspan and McGrew's argument that confirmatory, rather than exploratory, factor analysis should be utilized in testing Greenspan's model of adaptive intelligence in adults with severe mental retardation. It is argued that problems with the data set should be addressed through further research rather than…

Advocates for ethnosciences courses in higher education. Compares the epistemology of Western science and traditional tribal knowledge, including methods of information gathering, data interpretation, fragmented versus holistic approach, and world views. Discusses the expansion of some fields of scientific inquiry to include…

Discussion of mathematical modeling, particularly for high school physics curricula, focuses on software that is connected with laboratory work and the inference of mathematical models based on measurements of physical quantities. Fitting procedures are described, and user interface is explained. (Contains nine references.) (LRW)

Reviews three areas of limitations in the comparative evaluations of early intervention alternatives for disabled children presented in this volume: (1) inaccurate outcomes measures; (2) a misconception of parent training programs as representing true family involvement; (3) and the lack of control over the integrity of treatment given study…

Presents activities using the theme of collecting and interpreting data from the students' own classroom. Stresses communication among students and between students and the teacher. Includes reproducible student worksheets. (MKR)

Describes the construction and use of a microcomputer-based experimental system designed to examine the role of visual context in the analyses of data displayed in computer graphics. The responses of end users to changes in visual context of business graphics are examined, and future experiments are discussed. (Seven references) (LRW)

Focuses on different ways participants in a research project may understand the research and use it themselves by describing how 20 adult students and 14 community members, participants in a recent ethnographic study of adult literacy in England, responded to the invitation to collaborate with researchers in interpreting interview data. (SLD)

Considers what computers contribute to the work of historians, and of history teachers, that is specific to the nature of computers and cannot be accomplished by other tools available to historians today. Suggests that simulation games and databases be used to reduce the historian's unspoken biases when examining the conditions of historical…

Data analysis problems, particularly involving the likelihood of obtaining visually ambiguous graphs, pose a barrier to efforts to promote increased use of single-case evaluation by practitioners. Uses findings from an evaluation of a cognitive-behavioral intervention with adolescent sex offenders to illustrate data analysis problems. (JPS)

A study compared the effects of different methods of analyzing trends to illustrate how failure to account for change in classification will lead to misinterpretation of data on the performance of students with disabilities. Data from five years of assessment in Texas is used to illustrate effects of classification changes. (Contains references.)…

Fournier, coordinator of the School Achievement Indicators Program (SAIP), claims that score differences are associated with linguistic and gender differences. These results have long been substantiated. The expectation-setting process has little reliability or validity. SAIP does not help teachers, and should not determine what students learn.…

Reviews data on student transfers between colleges, especially transfers from community colleges to baccalaureate-granting institutions. Considers the overall transfer picture, community college transfer rates, and complicating factors such as varying times students spend at community colleges before transferring and the increasing incidence of…

Analyzes two possible assessment outcomes: (1) differing results on two or more assessments; and (2) loss of achievement after improvement cycle. Proposes short- and long-term solutions to problematic results, including analyzing differences in tests and pre-planning to avoid flaws in assessment design. (NB)

Provides information about how faculty can use the data on their own student ratings to develop a narrative that will help others (such as administrators and the public) understand what the numbers mean and how they should and should not be used. (EV)

Studying normal infant development is a challenge for cognitive scientists in general and for neuroscientists in particular because: (1) physiological indices of infant cognition are generally noisy and technically difficult to obtain; and (2) interindividual variability and a paucity of established results make data interpretation very complex,…