The potential of the Rasch model to develop scores, on a ratio scale, suitable for interindividual comparisons, from intact groups with disparate distribution characteristics was investigated. The specific problems studied were: (1) the effects of skewed test score distributions on the ability parameter of the Rasch measurement model; (2) the…

The Cooperative Primary Tests were administered to 4,966 pupils in grade 2 of Vancouver schools in 1972 and results were compared with those of students in grade 2 in 1969. The battery included six tests. Scores on the first, a practice test, were not recorded. The listening, word analysis, and reading tests were used for this survey. Use of the…

The study of goal-directed learning through the design of components in the environment is reported. Particular emphasis is given to the way the child uses informational resources to attain an educational goal, i.e., the question of how children seek and use available information. The data gathering procedures ranged from the development and use…

There is a growing need for instrumentation which can enable us to observe and compute phenomena that take place in time. Although problems of observation, computation, interpretation and categorization vary from field to field and from problem to problem, it is possible to design an instrument for use in any situation where time-variables have to…

Level of cooperation in the Prisoner's Dilemma (PD) is examined for opponents acting in their own behalf or as members of a reference group consisting of strangers or friends. This subject classification interacted with trials, representatives of friend groups manifesting a consistently high level of cooperation throughout, and representatives of…

Objective scores and judges' ratings, both based on a complex personal assessment battery, were correlated with a pupil-gain criterion of teaching effectiveness and with a number of observationally derived measures of classroom teaching behavior. Twenty-seven primary teachers were studied who had demonstrated consistent patterns of pupil gain over…

Several high inference ratings were made on a sample of 31 second- and third-grade teachers selected for study because of their consistency in producing student gains on the Metropolitan Achievement Test over three successive years. Data consist of scales, checklists, and percent estimates filled out by coders after or during classroom…

An investigation was conducted to determine the effects of response-category weighting and item weighting on reliability and predictive validity. Response-category weighting refers to scoring in which, for each category (including omit and "not read"), a weight is assigned that is proportional to the mean criterion score of examinees selecting…

This paper presents the findings of part of a larger study entitled "A Study of the Church's Expanding Role in Adult Education." The study has four parts: background and history of Roman Catholic Adult Education in the United States; demonstration research projects; feasibility study of central support services; and identification of diocesan…

The final report summarizes accomplishments and implications of the project for the development and implementation of Navy training devices that utilize computer-based simulation. The emphasis is on Navy anti-air warfare in the shore-based training environment, but the results are applicable to other training environments. The report also…

To predict the educational quality of programs in 150 school districts, this study used 34 predictor variables in a multiple regression analysis. Dependent variables used to represent educational quality in a district were (1) the percent of rejections by the local Selective Service Boards for mental reasons, (2) the percent of elementary and…

This study investigated the effect of social class, race, and sex on the work values of ninth-grade students in a large metropolitan area. Measures of work values were obtained using Super's (1970) Work Values Inventory. Results indicated that race and sex have differential effects on the development of work values. Significant differences between…

The long-term stability of verbal and nonverbal IQ scores was studied for 146 Spanish-surname students. About 30-50% of Spanish students do no speak English when they begin school. The California Test of Mental Maturity or the Lorge-Thorndike Intelligence Tests were administered in grades 1,2,4,7,9, and 11. The stability of IQ scores for…

A question answering system which permits a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) student greater initiative in the variety of questions he can ask is described. A method is presented to represent the dynamic processes of a subject matter area by augmented finite state automata, which permits efficient inferencing about dynamic processes and…

A computer program for solving the conditional likelihood equations arising in the Rasch model for questionnaires is described. The estimation method and the computational problems involved are described in a previous research report by Andersen, but a summary of those results are given in two sections of this paper. A working example is also…