A discriminant analysis was performed to ascertain what psycho-educational assessment variables made the greatest predictive contribution to the classification of high school students referred for Child Study Team evaluation. Thirty-nine students classified as learning disabled were compared to 47 classified as ineligible for special services.…

An important element of school counseling is providing assessments on the collective future needs and activities of a graduating school class. The College Attendance Rate (CAR) is defined here as the proportion of seniors graduating from a given high school, during a given year, that will enroll full-time at an academic college sometime during the…

A study was conducted (1) to obtain an estimate of the amount of error in prediction that occurs when static measures are used to interpret work-sample performance; (2) to identify a number of dynamic performance measures that reflect learning that might occur on the task; and (3) to compare the predictive accuracy of those measures to that of…

Most British universities accept students conditional upon A-level grades and place little reliance on recommendations. A study of social science undergraduates shows the importance of attitudinal variables and the headmaster's report in predicting success at the university. More attention should be paid to these reports. (IS)

This study sought to determine predictors of serious antisocial behaviors through use of multiple gating screening procedures. Kindergarten boys in 54 Montreal (Quebec, Canada) schools were assessed; then boys with high aggressiveness-hyperactivity-distractibility scores were observed for task-inappropriate behaviors and rated on inattention and…

Articles in this special issue use survey data to provide policymakers with validated indirect needs assessment models that will help them obtain information about populations requiring different levels and types of mental health services. The articles provide the basis for predictive needs assessment and explanatory models of resource allocation.…

Measures of quality are now in widespread use across states as part of quality improvement initiatives. For example, many states are currently using global measures of quality that were first developed for research and practice purposes (such as the Environmental Rating Scales) in their Quality Rating Systems (QRSs). Although global quality…

The International Personnel Management Association Assessment Council (IPMAAC) is a section of the International Personnel Management Association dedicated to the improvement of public personnel assessment in such fields as selection and performance evaluation. Before the IPMAAC's fifth annual conference in 1981, four workshops were conducted on…

Methods for predicting specific college course grades, based on small numbers of observations, were investigated. These methods use collateral information across potentially diverse institutions to obtain refined within-group parameter estimates. One method, referred to as pooled least squares with adjusted intercepts, assumes that slopes and…

Presented is an empirically oriented, data based program modification (DBPM) manual for individualizing educational plans for any child with a learning or behavioral problem. The rationale for an empirically based program, the socio-legal context, and specific measurement and evaluation procedures (e.g. time series procedures and discrepancy…

An elementary survey of item characteristic curve theory, centered around the problems of individualized (tailored) testing, is presented. Following the introduction, discussions are provided of the following: Test Theory for Itemized Tests; The Guttman Scale; Item Characteristic Curve Theory; An Alternative Model; Specialization, Application, and…

The Ideal Student Description Q-Sort was developed originally as a predictive instrument to determine probable success rates as teachers based upon the teacher candidate's perceptions of students in general. The Q-Sort consists of 84 items describing "openness" and "closedness" in a student and reveals the extent to which a…

This paper examines the use of environmental scanning for institutions of higher education to achieve the following objectives: (1) provide early warning of changes that will have an impact on education; (2) define potential threats and opportunities to the institution or department; (3) promote a future orientation in faculty; and (4) alert…

This report was written to provide guidance in the development and evaluation of alternative instructional approaches that hold promise of improving instructional effectiveness. The main focus of the report is on how to identify and test interactive relationships between individual differences among learners and instructional conditions or…

The McCarron-Dial System is useful for both vocational and clinical evaluation of neuropsychologically disabled adults. Five factors (verbal-cognitive, sensory, motor, emotional, and integration coping) are used to predict vocational competency, which is measured by work samples and behavior scales, during the first twelve months of a client's…