Task complexity in terms of symbolic mediation (inner thought) as a determinant of differential test performance and the prediction of dissimilar functioning were examined. Preschool children with moderate to profound speech and/or language handicaps were tested using: (1) a sound-in-words subtest of the Test of Articulation (TA); (2) Action…

The problem of model estimation when the data are collinear was examined. Though the ridge regression (RR) outperforms ordinary least squares (OLS) regression in the presence of acute multicollinearity, it is not a problem free technique for reducing the variance of the estimates. It is a stochastic procedure when it should be nonstochastic and it…

Some early childhood variables are examined to evaluate their predictive validity. The selection of children needing early childhood Title I services is complicated by the lack of criteria for defining who is educationally disadvantaged and the special problems of early childhood testing and measurement. The study used re-analysis of longitudinal…

Data on teacher absenteeism in the U.S. as a whole as well as in specific states and districts indicate that the problem is serious and growing. A review of research findings on more than 15 factors affecting teacher absenteeism shows that time of year, levels of faculty agreement and community support, teacher interdependence, and requirements…

Research indicates that sex role orientation may be a better predictor of leadership behavior than biological sex. To provide support for the integration of sex role and leadership theories, two studies were conducted using college students as research subjects. In the first study, female and male students completed the Bem Sex Role Inventory…

The relative contribution of a variety of variables to different self-concept sub-constructs requires further exploration despite the existence of vast research about overall self-regard. The contributions of demographic, achievement, achievement motivation, and school self-concept dimensions to the prediction of the physical, moral-ethical,…

Psychologists and educators have become interested in the development of a child's social and emotional abilities as well as cognitive outcomes. To determine the important coping patterns that predict success in school, a sample of 10- and 14-year old children (N=3600) from the U.S.A., Brazil, Italy, and Mexico completed a multi-lingual battery of…

A review of 26 multivariate or "production function" studies provides the basis for this discussion of the determinants of student cognitive achievement in developing countries. The paper describes the studies and reviews the results for each of the major determinants of academic achievement--schooling characteristics, teacher attributes, and…

The formative evaluation carried out indicated that helpful information and suggestions can be procured by a process evaluation developed on an on-going basis and that constructive feedback for possible program changes can be initiated almost from the very first day. Attempts to relate summative evaluation results to program patterns proved to be…

Network analysis, a research methodology that uses interpersonal relationships as the unit of analysis in identifying communication structures, was used in a study of college classroom communication to determine what communication network factors were associated with student grades. Questionnaires asking for student perceptions of their…

To estimate the influence of positive reinforcement on classroom learning, the authors analyzed statistical data from 39 studies spanning the years 1958-1978 and containing a combined sample of 4,842 students in 202 classes. Twenty-nine characteristics of each study's sample, methodology, and reliability were coded to measure their effects on…

Data from interviews with elementary school principals are examined for insights into the impact of administrative style on evaluation utilization. Characteristics of 23 principals' administrative styles are classified as being either "compliance" (CO) or "non-compliance" (NCO) oriented. CO principals are characterized by the following: (1)…

Studies using unipolar models of sex role identity in conjunction with an attributional approach to female achievement prediction have found that androgynous women tend to consider ability to be a more feasible explanation for success than do either feminine or undifferentiated women. Androgynous, masculine, feminine and undifferentiated males and…

The relationship between personality characteristics and academic success of college freshmen at a predominantly female campus was studied, using the Myers-Briggs Type indicator (MBTI) to measure personality and first-year grade point average to measure academic success. The comparative effectiveness of the MBTI and the traditional predictors…

Predictors of relative clause production in adult second language acquisition were examined through a replication and extension of a study by Schachter (1974). The present study is different in that it was based on oral instead of written production and it was designed to examine avoidance with the consideration that avoidance presupposed choice.…