This is one of a series of brief and non-technical mini-reports of the Evaluation System of the District of Columbia Public Schools. This report deals with the prediction of gain in Prescriptive Mathematics Test (PMT) scores. Twenty-two variables were involved in the analyses reported in the mini-report. The data were analyzed for all grade…

A procedure for rapid screening of variables as potential moderators is presented and discussed. A moderator is defined as any variable which can be used to identify differentially predictable persons; or defined statistically by stating that if a predictor and a moderator are each divided into three or more categories and used as independent…

Two hypotheses were developed in an attempt to organize and clarify the conceptual basis for studies of relationships between patterns of habitual sleep duration and self-perceptions of the need to achieve. A non-specific arousal (N-SA) hypothesis presumes that short sleepers show more vigor, more general anxiety, incline more toward development…

The utility of a non-linear transformation of the criterion is established. The Pythagorean Theorem is used as the example to demonstrate the point. The functional relationships may be such (as in the Pythagorean Theorem) that an R-squared of 1.00 cannot be found without making a non-linear transformation of the criterion. The goal of…

Observations during research involving the Bruce Treadmill Test (BTMT) indicating that Stage III for females and Stage IV for males represented speeds which are intermediate between comfortable walking and confortable jogging for many subjects, prompted this study to determine ways to obtain more consistent group results. Twenty-eight subjects…

Adolescent coital activity and the attendant risk of pregnancy is a problem with far-reaching implications. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of family variables on adolescent sexual behavior and contraceptive practices. More specifically, the research question was: Could a set of parent-adolescent interpersonal variables be…

This study assessed the effect of factors outside the instructor's control on student ratings of instruction. Seven special items along with the standard Student Ratings forms were administered to 28 classes in the Anthropology Department. Results indicated that the impact of outside factors, as perceived by students, was not correlated with…

Prediction for a number of criteria from a set of predictor variables in a system of regression equations is studied with the possibilities of linear transformations applied to both the criterion and predictor variables. Predictive composites representing a battery of predictor variables provide identical estimates of criterion scores as do the…

The identification of variables useful in the prediction of drug abuse has been the subject of a great deal of research. The research presented in this report attempts to add to the existing collection of information concerning variables useful in the prediction of drug abuse. An experimental instrument, the Social Factors Questionnaire, was…

This study was designed to investigate the effect of contract grading on the following variables: student performance on a cognitive posttest, final grade received in the course, student attitude toward the course, the amount of assigned reading completed by the students, the amount of time students devoted to the course, and the degree to which…

Some of the methodological considerations in school effectiveness studies are outlined and a state of the art presented. Two general theoretical models are given which provide the researcher with an overall strategy for handling such a study of school effectiveness: the Dyer Model and Production Process Model. Six statistical models which provide…

Recently the application of Bayesian statistical procedures within the field of guidance and counseling has been receiving attention. This paper justifies and illustrates a simple, direct application of Bayes' Formula to expectancy tables. To make the application a counselor must specify prior probabilities that a student will attain success…

The implications of the report are that a knowledge of quantitative areas is becoming increasingly more important in the logistics career fields. Therefore the study has emphasized predicting academic performance in quantitative courses in graduate logistics. It was expected that a useful model of this type, in conjunction with the other models,…

The accuracy of 3 measures of future income was investigated for a sample of families filing Parents' Confidential Statements with the College Scholarship Service (CSS). Measures were: parents' reports of current (1968) income; parents' estimates of 1969 income; and predictions of 1969 income made by application of least squares regression…

Consultants in change agent roles frequently overlook the importance of adequate descriptive data on the target systems they seek to influence. The state of an organization's health may operate to nullify the best of planned intervention efforts. Survey data from a large, nonpublic, metropolitan high school provided consultants from the Center…