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…

A series of studies and analyses to develop brief, reliable measures of intelligence and achievement motivation that would be feasible for use in a cross-sectional sample is summarized. One measure of intelligence meets these criteria. It is a 13-item test of sentence completion skill, which correlates effectively with other measures of…

As part of a longitudinal study of undergraduate transfer students at the University of Texas at Austin, students were surveyed in December 1973 and April 1975 for data on: demography, selected characteristics of the student's high school and previous college, and experience at U.T. Austin. Presented here are analyses of attitudinal data obtained…

Four major topics were discussed at the conference: application of information theory to testing; recent advances in psychometric methods; evaluating group interaction; and new developments in the education of abler students. Papers delivered were: Multiple Assignment of Persons to Jobs, by Paul S. Dwyer; New Light on Test Strategy from Decision…

The investigators hypothesized that home environment variables--as measured by the Home Environment Review, administered upon entrance to kindergarten--account for the variance in children's reading achievement at the end of kindergarten, first, and second grade. One hundred fifty-three children representing a longitudinal, traced sample from two…

At the time of the First Followup Survey of the members of the High School Class of 1972, approximately 18 months after graduation, sixty-five percent were unemployed, and eight percent were out of work. Forty-two percent were taking academic courses in a college or university. Graduates of the vocational high school curriculum were employed at…

After the second semester of comparing college student performance in beginning courses in Century 21 shorthand and Gregg shorthand the following conclusions were made: Century 21 instruction produced a higher proportion of successes among students who speak a foreign language at home (Spanish); after two semesters of instruction, the attrition…

After the third semester of comparing college student performance in beginning courses in Century 21 shorthand and Gregg shorthand statistics failed to support the contention that Century 21 instruction produces a higher proportion of successes among students who speak a foreign language at home (Spanish). Results also indicated that the attrition…

Data were collected on 80 diverse items concerning student perceptions of teaching for a representative sample of 189 classes at a large university. The items were subdivided by type of focus into four categories: course content, objectives, and structure; instructor's behavior; instructional methods and materials; outcomes of instruction. The…

When two groups, initially dissimilar, undergo different treatments, can subsequent differences be partitioned in such a way that the difference between the two treatments is unbiased? This is the central problem of this paper, and it is confronted by the examination of two levels of information using a Follow Through Evaluation. The first…

The results of three years of evaluative investigation of the University of Pittsburgh Learning Research and Development Center's program of individualized education are described. The study was conducted in seven Follow Through sites and three Pittsburgh area schools. Standardized tests were used as input and outcome measures; questionnaires and…

The nation's youth are increasingly affected by violence, both as its perpetrators and as its victims. Many violence prevention programs aim to reverse this trend, but few have been rigorously evaluated, and even fewer have been shown to work. To devise better programs, researchers need more information. To that end, RAND researchers identified…

This study investigated predictors of foreign language anxiety in 210 university students enrolled in French, Spanish, German, and Japanese language courses. Several instruments were used to gather information on student characteristics, study behaviors, attitudes, and language anxiety experience during the fourth week of the semester. Results…

A pilot project was designed to test the efficacy of profiling welfare recipients and referring them to welfare-to-work services targeted toward their specific work histories and skills. The general framework of Michigan's Work First program was used to illustrate how profiling can be designed and administered. A profiling model was proposed that…

The factors influencing active learning in small enterprises were examined. Data from earlier Australian studies were examined in an attempt to provide a framework that might inform the relationship between educational systems and small enterprises. Special attention was paid to a 1988 study of systematic differences between small businesses that…