This study attempted to determine if there was a change in job attitude among employees of a state institution for the developmentally disabled after a move to new, superior facilities. An attitude scale was constructed and administered in December 1982, prior to the move. A second testing occurred two months later, after Experimental Group I had…

This paper provides the basis for understanding score equating through item response theory (IRT). Theoretical justifications and practical advantages of IRT true-score test procedures are discussed. Three steps in the equating process are specified, and a self-test is included. (SLD)

This paper provides a progress report on an investigation to validate and extend the autocatalytic model for the adoption of educational innovations. Three topics are dealt with: (1) a brief description is provided of the autocatalytic model and its current application, (2) the design of a survey to collect data for further tests of the model is…

This paper discusses new psychometric analyses that improve capabilities for relating performance on achievement test items to instruction received by examinees. The modeling discussion is closely tied to data for eighth graders in the United States provided by the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS), comprising not only responses to a…

The first panel of a three-year longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the process by which youth form career expectations. The study was designed around a cross-sectional path model of career expectations drawn from the sociological literature on status attainment and is based on differential equations in which all expectation variables…

This study was designed to obtain descriptive data on the classroom evaluation practices of secondary teachers in two different public school systems. A self-report survey instrument was employed to collect data from 217 teachers in York, England, and 217 teachers in Minnesota. Respondents were asked to indicate which specific techniques they…

Approximately 1200 Danish school children aged 8, 11, and 14 participated in a questionnaire study under the caption, "Why I like to read." Data from Denmark formed part of an international study, in which 12 other countries used the same questionnaire to explore various functions of reading and to compare them over different countries.…

Alternative mathematical models for scoring and decision making with criterion referenced tests are described, especially as they concern appropriate test length and methods of establishing statistically valid cutting scores. Several of these approaches are reviewed and compared on formal-analytic and empirical grounds: (1) Block's approach to…

This study examined the hypothesis that prior experience with augmented-quotient problems would positively influence performance on remainder-only problems and quotient-only problems. Analysis of sixth through eighth grade students' (n=545) responses to test forms that systematically varied the order of appearance of these three division problems,…

This report explores the student background characteristics that might be associated with success or failure in calculus and evaluates the effectiveness of remedial mathematics education. The sample consisted of two groups at the University of California, Santa Cruz: (1) all students (105) who took first quarter calculus in spring, 1985; and (2)…

This project was designed to study the effects of an inservice model on the quantity and quality of developmental mathematics instruction provided by participating teachers. Participants were seven teachers of students in grades from 2 to 6 who had volunteered for the project after being selected as potential lead teachers in mathematics. The…

In this article we explore young children's development of mathematical knowledge and reasoning processes as they worked two modelling problems (the "Butter Beans Problem" and the "Airplane Problem"). The problems involve authentic situations that need to be interpreted and described in mathematical ways. Both problems include tables of data,…

The high percentage of students who have difficulty in solving free-response problems related to the mole concept was addressed by implementation of reading skill strategies and computer assisted instruction. Frayer models, semantic mapping, and graphic organizers from Reading in the Content Area (RICA) were used to increase student understanding…

Outlining both methods and results, this report describes Bismarck Junior College's (BJC's) use of the American Council on Education's model for assessing the short-term, current impacts of a college on local business volume. After chapters 1 and 2 discuss the value and focus of economic impact studies, chapter 3 describes BJC in terms of its…

The validity of American College Testing Program (ACT) test scores and self-reported high school grades for predicting grades in specific college freshman courses was studied. Specific course grades are typically used to place students in remedial, standard, or advanced classes. These placement decisions, in turn, have immediate implications for…