This study presents the conceptualization and subsequent model fit analysis of a retention model for Latino/a students at urban commuter universities. The three institutions involved in the study represent different environments for Latino/a students. Two are Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) and the third represents a predominantly White…

Much has been written about the value of metacognition. However, little research has identified subsumed intellectual factors, logical operators, and cognitive functions; or has established clear relationships between metacognition and science cognition. This paper presents a study to build a strategic metacognitive model of an efficient,…

As part of a substance abuse prevention project, a measure was developed in both English and Spanish to measure levels of acculturation among members of a Latino youth population for later comparison of acculturation with high-risk behaviors. The Latino Youth Acculturation Scale (LYAS) consists of 23 items. Eleven items deal with language use of…

This study demonstrates that the validity and usefulness of mathematics achievement tests can be improved by defining psychologically meaningful subscores that yield differential relations with student, teacher, and school variables. The National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) 8th- and 10th-grade math tests were subjected to full…

This paper describes the development, implementation, and results of a 3-stage model of program assessment for teacher education. A survey instrument of 46 items was developed utilizing Loadman and Gustafson's National Database for Teacher Education. Data were derived from a telephone interview survey of 201 out of approximately 400 recent teacher…

This study examined the presence of Ely's conditions that facilitate innovation, as reported by Internet-using teachers in leading-edge schools. The conditions that make up the framework are: (1) dissatisfaction with the status quo; (2) existence of knowledge and skills; (3) availability of resources; (4) availability of time; (5) existence of…

Classroom boredom in the secondary mathematics classroom is a problem that can be addressed from knowledge of the intrinsic motivational variable of "interestingness." The lack of a theoretical model of interest is an obstacle in research that investigates this variable. This paper describes the three stages in the development of a model…

Constructs underlying student ratings of instruction in an introductory master's level educational research course were investigated in order to gain a better understanding of instructor behaviors that facilitate student success. During academic years 1990-91 and 1991-92, an institutionally developed scale was administered to students enrolled in…

The Standardized Letter of Recommendation (SLR), a 28-item form, was created by ETS to supplement the qualitative rating of graduate school applicants' nonacademic qualities with a quantitative approach. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the following psychometric properties of the SLR using the Rasch rating-scale model: dimensionality,…

The present article presents the results obtained from a research on Science Education ideas, practices, and needs of pre-primary teachers in Greece. A questionnaire was administrated to a sample of 130 pre-primary school teachers, and the data was analyzed through Multiple Correspondence Analysis. The results show that there are separate groups…

Investigations into item bias provide an empirical basis for the identification and elimination of test items which appear to measure different traits across populations or cultural groups. The Psychometric rationales for six approaches to the identification of biased test items are reviewed: (1) Transformed item difficulties: within-group…

To assess the impact of various rating scale formats in rating student teachers, a Likert-type scale (Highly agree/slightly agree/neither/slightly disagree/highly disagree) was derived from the graphic scale currently used by the cooperating teachers and university supervisors. They rated the music student teachers on an eight-point scale from…

Proceedings of a 1981 joint conference sponsored by the Southern Association for Institutional Research (SAIR) and the North Carolina Association for Institutional Research are presented. The conference theme was the practice of institutional research. Contents include preconference workshop reports, speeches, abstracts of papers, and reports of…

A model of self concept in children was examined by conducting a construct validation of a self concept instrument, the Self-Appraisal Inventory (SAI). The SAI was an 80-item instrument with four subscales: General, Family, Peer and Scholastic, all of which were based on behavioral objectives. The model was made more useful for a school setting…

This partially annotated bibliography of journal articles, dissertations, convention papers, research reports, and a few books and unpublished manuscripts provides a comprehensive coverage of work on latent trait theory and practice. Documents are arranged alphabetically by author. The period covered ranges from the early 1950's to the present.…