This study compared the ability of the ACT Assessment Battery (ACT), the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and six other variables to predict first semester Grade Point Average (GPA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a "highly selective midwestern university". Additional purposes were to determine: (1) the effect of using…

A linear regression model was used to select items from a pool of 700 arithmetic word problems to be used in a computer-assisted mathematics curriculum for elementary school students. The experimental procedure first involved a stepwise linear regression analysis of a student's performance over a set of 25 problems. The probability correct for…

The frequent occurrence of childbirth during periods of marital disruption is discussed. Life table procedures based on 1970 information show, from a sample of 1,054 women, that slightly more than 25% of separated, divorced, or widowed women had given birth within 48 months of marital disruption. The variables affecting these statistics are…

This paper examines whether a geographic skills mismatch exists between the location of less-educated minorities, in particular African Americans, and high-skill job concentrations, and if so, whether it contributes to the relatively poor employment outcomes of this group. It explores these questions by examining data on the recent geographic…

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey for men aged 45 through 59, the paper develops a model of labor supply change or adjustment to estimate the speed of worker response to changes in desired labor supply and to constraints on hours and wages. (MF)

Summarizes an experiment that expanded the types of variables and approaches used in statistical analyses of subject attainment in secondary education. The experiment compared students' grades in a given subject with their expected grades based on performance in other subjects. Considers applications and limitations to this approach. (MJP)

This article describes the results of a three-year investigation into cheating by school personnel. The goals of this research were to measure the prevalence of cheating by teachers and administrators and to analyze the factors that predict cheating. Using data on test scores and student records from the Chicago Public Schools, the authors…

This article reports on a 6-year study that examined the association between pre-admission variables and field placement performance in an Australian bachelor of social work program (N=463). Very few of the pre-admission variables were found to be significantly associated with performance. These findings and the role of the admissions process are…

This study investigates the effect of curiosity in first and second grade children as an individual difference variable in learning in a computer-based interactive learner control environment and discusses the implications for instructional designers and educators. The instruction was an art education lesson containing both facts and concepts. The…

Approaches to studying the relationships between stress and school organizational sources of stress were examined. Rather than sampling a number of schools and school average data indicating school health and stress levels in these schools, simple teacher samples and teacher-level analyses were used. For a sample of 1300 high school teachers in…

To determine the relationship between 16 background variables and students' evaluations of instruction, a questionnaire was completed in 511 undergraduate courses at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Student variables, including grade point average, class size, expected grade, and prior subject interest, rarely explained 10% of…

Confined to existing monetary and human resources, the Navy's Postgraduate Selection Board is responsible for selecting officers for graduate education who will both perform well and develop skills applicable to later Navy billets. Although different methods have been employed for this selection process, most decisions have been based on officer…

Quantitative and qualitative methods were used to study retention and first-semester grade point average at Boise State University (Idaho), a metropolitan university with many commuter students. The quantitative portion of the study was based on questionnaires completed by 235 freshmen; the qualitative part was based on interviews with a…

Determines how academic ability, music experience, and musical aptitude contribute to grade prediction in the written-work, ear-training, sight-singing, and keyboard-harmonics portions of two college freshman music theory courses. Finds Scholastic Aptitude Test mathematics scores the best predictor of grades in written work and ear training.…

Rectifies the unsatisfactory textbook treatment of the finite-sample proprieties of estimators of regression models with a lagged dependent variable and autocorrelated disturbances. Maintains that the bias of the ordinary least squares estimator is determined by the dynamic and correlation effects. (MJP)