Of California's 6.3 million public school students in 2006-07, 1.6 million (25%) were considered English learners (EL). Although the vast majority of ELs in the state are Spanish-speaking, more than 50 languages are represented in the state's EL population. English learners are distributed throughout the state and across grade levels, with the…

Using fiscal data provided by the finance office of the school district, and personnel data obtained from the California Basic Education Data System maintained by the California Department of Education (CDE), the authors present analyses to provide a foundation for local policymakers that may be used to assess whether there are inequities in the…

In this issue's "Classroom Notes" section, the following papers are described: (1) "Sequences of Definite Integrals" by T. Dana-Picard; (2) "Structural Analysis of Pythagorean Monoids" by M.-Q Zhan and J. Tong; (3) "A Random Walk Phenomenon under an Interesting Stopping Rule" by S. Chakraborty; (4) "On Some Confidence Intervals for Estimating the…

Multivariate normality is required for some statistical tests. This paper explores the implications of violating the assumption of multivariate normality and illustrates a graphical procedure for evaluating multivariate normality. The logic for using the multivariate bootstrap is presented. The multivariate bootstrap can be used when distribution…

The sampling distribution is a common source of misuse and misunderstanding in the study of statistics. The sampling distribution, underlying distribution, and the Central Limit Theorem are all interconnected in defining and explaining the proper use of the sampling distribution of various statistics. The sampling distribution of a statistic is…

The record values of the Pareto distribution, labelled Pareto (II) (alpha, beta, nu), are reviewed. The best linear unbiased estimates of the parameters in terms of the record values are provided. The prediction of the sth record value based on the first m (s>m) record values are obtained. A classical Pareto distribution provides reasonably…

The results of a study of find alternative techniques for testing distributional normality are presented. A group of statistical techniques--some established and some new--were compared using empirical techniques. One new technique which appears to have higher power than the Lilliefors test was subjected to a better definition. Distributions under…

This article presents an improved approximation formula for the problem of correcting correlation coefficients that arise from range-restricted distributions on either or both the independent and dependent variable. (BS)

Investigated Kaufman's procedures for determining intersubtest scatter on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised by means of Sattler's revised tables for determining significant subtest fluctuations. Results indicated that Sattler's revised tables yielded more conservative estimates of subtest scatter than those originally reported…

A general procedure is provided for comparing correlation coefficients between optimal linear composites. It allows computationally efficient significance tests on independent or dependent multiple correlations, partial correlations, and canonical correlations, with or without the assumption of multivariate normality. Evidence from Monte Carlo…

A rudimentary description of Markov Chains is presented in order to introduce its use to describe and to predict authors' movements among subareas of the discipline of ethnomusicology. Other possible applications are suggested. (Author)

An algorithm for estimation of means and standard deviations or raw scores underlying table values of standard test scores is presented. An application of a computer program, operationalizing the suggested algorithm, is discussed within the framework of a comparison of estimated and known table values for sample Minnesota Multiphasic Personality…

Randomization tests involve generating all possible assignments of subjects to treatments in order to create a distribution of possible test statistics. The use of a premutation group to enhance the understanding and utility of randomization tests is discussed. (Author/JKS)

Making use of statistical analytical methods, the authors examine the systematic tendency toward disappointment that results from decision making generally and argue that such disappointment is built in structurally to the process of decision making itself. (Author/JBM)

Using simulated data, the MULTILOG and PARSCALE software packages were compared for their recovery of item and trait parameters under the graded response and generalized partial credit item response theory models. The shape of the latent population distribution (normal, skewed, or uniform) and the sample size (250 or 500) were varied. Parameter…