The concept of Grit has gained momentum in the last several years as a better predictor of achievement than traditional measures, such as IQ. Duckworth, et al. (2007) found grit to be positively correlated to the Big Five personality dimension of conscientiousness, but not to IQ, causing the authors to hypothesize that grit is a good noncognitive…

This exploratory case study, focused on a music teacher preparation program, examined the coursework ePortfolios of pre-service music teachers to determine if any parts of the ePortfolio process predicted teaching effectiveness in the classroom during the student teaching semester. Sixty-five undergraduate pre-service music teachers made up the…

In 2005, the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) was commissioned to evaluate the potential value of using an aptitude test as an additional tool in the selection of candidates for admission to higher education (HE). This five-year study is co-funded by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), the Department for…

The current study sought to determine if community based gardening projects would reduce perceptions of the need to use communication devices--cell phones or text messaging--and increase the likelihood of participating in future volunteer projects. Results strongly support the predictions in that the experimental group post-test mean score of the…

This study was designed to identify the help seeking behaviors of preservice teachers who are at risk for failure of state certification examinations through use of a scale adapted to the arena of teacher education, the Preservice Teacher Help Seeking Scales (PTHSS). In the past, self-report measures of help seeking behavior patterns have been…

Research has demonstrated that depressed people lack the optimistic bias evidenced by nondepressed persons and that the former may be more realistic in predicting the outcome of future events (depressive realism hypothesis). This study assesses the depressive realism hypothesis by comparing the accuracy of depressed and nondepressed people's…

Describes the theoretical framework, measurement properties, predictive power, and reliability and validity of the Drug Education School Evaluation Instrument (DESEI), used to determine the effectiveness of the North Carolina Drug Education Schools. The DESEI is included. (BH)

Results of an educational innovation study, which related the degree of dissemination effort to the nature of the innovation itself, reveal a positive relationship between the diffusability index (rating methodology) and selected indicators of the actual dissemination (i.e., number of times articles apppear in newsapers, journals). Three…

An overall rationale for the early identification of strengths and possible developmental weaknesses in school beginners is presented in Part I, with the research-based areas of assessment of tests for auditory analysis skills, conceptual skills and language skills. The general purposes of diagnostic assessment and a model of a behavioral…

Evidence suggests that individual difference measures of personality are limited in their ability to predict cross-situational behavior. This limitation has applied to measures of communication-bound anxiety that have generally been developed as unidimensional instruments. A study explored whether a measurement approach based on individual and…

A validity scale for the Sharp Consumer Satisfaction Scale was developed and used in experiments to assess patients' satisfaction with community mental health centers. The scale discriminated between clients who offered suggestions and those who did not. It also improved researcher's ability to predict true scores from obtained scores. (DWH)

The paper presented evidence of the criterion related validity of several Comprehensive Ability Battery (CAB) tests relative to criterion variables representing first year college achievement. Information regarding the criterion related validity of nontraditional tests of the CAB reflecting divergent production hypothesized to be associated with…

This thesis describes a Policy Delphi study which was conducted to initiate discussion on sensitive policy questions among members of the Board of Trustees of the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC), an international, non-profit organization created as a permanent forum to promote the development, understanding, and beneficial use of…

Data from the 1986 Current Population Survey (CPS) and a 1987 survey of public and private enterprises in Orangeburg, South Carolina, provide the basis for estimating a salary schedule for lead teachers in Orangeburg School District 5. The underlying rationale for the development of lead teacher positions is described in terms of salary gaps…

This is the report of the third phase of a multi-phase project designed to develop an inventory of documented accomplishments for graduate student selection. The material developed in earlier stages was pilot-tested in Phase Three in 26 departments that represented the fields of English, biology, and psychology. The major purpose of this study was…