Students' graph comprehension may be affected by the background of the students who are the readers or interpreters of the graph, their knowledge of the context in which the graph is set, and the inferential processes required by the graph operation. This research study investigated these aspects of graph comprehension for 152 first year…

This article examines the impacts of Arkansas charter schools on the academic achievement of participating students. Our findings are that charter schools have small but statistically significant, negative impacts on student achievements for both math and literacy. Such negative effects, however, tend to decline with the number of years of charter…

A two-year study that attempted to measure patterns of pupil attributions for success and failure in mathematics is reviewed. An attribution pattern variable (ATTPAT) was created to categorize individuals studied into three groups. The first group had an attribution pattern thought to lead to generalized low expectancies for success. Students…

A summary of the technical problems encountered in performing Bayesian m group regression is given. Grade-point averages for students entering a vocational-technical program are predicted using ability assessments from the Career Planning Profile (CPP), a development of The American College Testing Program (ACT). The theory derived by Lindley (see…

Georg Rasch has developed a new one-parameter latent trait model to explain the performance of examinees on achievement tests. The model can be viewed as a special case of Birnbaum's two-parameter logistic model where all items are assumed to have equal discriminating power. Birnbaum's model permits items to vary in discriminating power. Both…

Statistical models for school effectiveness rankings are assessed. An analysis of linear models with fixed regression parameters and models with separate regression parameters for each school is presented. In the first case, the regression lines are parallel and the ranking of the schools is the same for all student backgrounds. In the second…

In studies involving matrix sampling on items, it is often the case that there are too few responses per individual to use latent trait item response models. A model is formulated wherein individual level variability appears as independent error within the cells of a cross classification of demographic variables. (JKS)

Educators designing procedures for identifying students as learning disabled are faced with serious technical difficulties. A student with a learning disability is one who "has a severe discrepancey between achievement and intellectual ability" in one or more designated areas. The methods of quantifying achievement, intellectual ability,…

To assess the productivity of 167 Houston elementary schools, researchers applied a fractional linear programming procedure called Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to each school's inputs and outputs. School output was measured by third- and sixth-graders' scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS). Input resources comprised pupil…

Two questions are investigated here: What should the unit of analysis be in investigations of educational effects and on what basis should the units be chosen Under what conditions can relationships among measurements on individuals be estimated from the relationships among measurements on aggregates of individuals? Models using standard analysis…

The Consortium on Methodology for Aggregating Data in Educational Research was designed as a collaborative effort by research methodologists from economics, education and sociology. Consortium goals were to delineate what was known about the problems associated with the analysis of data from the multiple levels (pupil, teacher/classroom, school)…

A broad spectrum of methodologies pertinent to studies of schooling effects are reviewed. Methodological issues and problems are addressed according to a three-dimensional conceptual framework: (1) indicators of schooling effects; (2) study approaches; and (3) units of analysis. Problems and uses of status attainment and difference scores as…

The development of the error prone model (EPM) for the 1984-1985 student financial aid validation criteria for Pell Grant recipient selection is discussed, based on a comparison of the 1983-1984 EPM criteria and a newly estimated EPM. Procedures/assumptions on which the new EPM was based include: a sample of 1982-1983 Pell Grant recipients…

The development of a number of error-prone models to select Pell Grant recipients for validation is discussed. The 1983-1984 Pell Grant validation strategy consists of a two-stage approach: selection using Pre-Established Criteria (PEC) followed by selection using Error Prone Modeling (EPM). The database used for model development consists of a…

The Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study (BTES), Phase II, was a research project on effective teaching behavior--what teachers do that significantly affects what and how pupils learn. The purposes of Phase II were to (1) develop an assessment system for measuring teacher and pupil behaviors and other factors which could influence each of them and…