Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is a frequently used multivariate analysis technique in statistics. Jennrich and Sampson (1966) solved a significant EFA factor loading matrix rotation problem by deriving the direct Quartimin rotation. Jennrich was also the first to develop standard errors for rotated solutions, although these have still not made…

The article is aimed at a partial problem of science process skills development--the evaluation of educational outcomes. In comparison to evaluation of obtained knowledge, the skills development is not so easy to be objectively evaluated. The article provides a proposal of an evaluation tool and describes the first results of its research…

Accommodations influence the measurement of student proficiency. However, with discrepant research findings, it is difficult to evaluate the effects of these practices on the measurement of performance of students with special needs. In this article, we present results from an experimental study investigating the effects of item characteristics…

Criticizes the statistical methods used in a previously published article that compared a commercially produced computer program with traditional teaching methods. Measures of instructional effectiveness are described, the assignment of student pairs is examined, and the use of blocking variables with analysis of variance is discussed. (LRW)

The purposes of this study are to describe and evaluate the ways in which social conflict associated with racial, economic, political and ecological policies and practices are presented in social studies textbooks for grades three, five and nine. Using a five-step content analysis scheme fifty-eight textbooks adopted for 1971-72 by eight states…

Interracial/interethic choice patterns of 398 third and fourth grade children are measured utilizing various methods, including both projectively-based and reality-based paradigms. Attempts are made to establish the equivalence or nonequivalence of the different methodologies used to assess interracial choice patterns. Results indicate that all…

This report was designed to respond to two major methodological shortcomings in the item bias literature: (1) misfitting test models; and (2) the use of significance tests. Specifically, the goals of the research were to describe a newly developed method known as the "plot method" for identifying potentially biased test items and to…