The use of futures research to improve a college's ability to deal with changes brought about by social, economic, political, and technological developments is discussed, with attention to new planning strategies and forecasting methods. While traditional long-range planning tracks and forecasts the institution's internal development, strategic…

Based upon prior research in the College of Business and Public Administration and the first year of the university testing program at an upper division, midwestern university, implications for testing of older transfer students are drawn. Students should be tested before, or during, their first term of academic history. If remediation is not…

Employed were a small sample of fifth graders to examine techniques for assessing the validity of psychosocial maturity (PSM) and the scales used to measure it. Three validation techniques were examined: (1) Data obtained from self-report scales, teacher ratings, and peer ratings were used to generate three multitrait-multimethod matrices (total…

This study concerns the development of a measure of educational need and its use in a State school support formula in New York. The study assumes that public schools should operate positively to further equality of opportunity and that schools are able to affect achievement levels and rates of learning. The present State-aid formula is not…

Factors affecting measuring ability in machine shop practices at the high school level were investigated. A sample of 157 male students enrolled at four metropolitan high schools in Chicago was administered four tests devised specifically for this study (one each on measuring ability, numerical ability, mechanical knowledge, and kinesthetic…

The purpose of this report is to describe the results of a series of studies conducted on the relationships between census information and school achievement in the Chicago Public Schools. These studies were designed as an exploratory investigation to determine the extent to which grade-level achievement averages could be predicted using data from…

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of the American College Test (ACT) in predicting academic achievement of students from an area which is culturally, economically, and educationally depressed. The population, chosen from 6 community colleges serving the Appalachian region of Kentucky, consisted of 1,127 full time (12 or more…

The Ontario Test of English as a Second Language (OTESL) is a battery of instruments and procedures for evaluating the English proficiency of second language speakers in postsecondary institutions in Ontario (Canada). A Post-Admission test measures performance in reading, listening, and writing. An Oral Interaction Test is based on tasks of…

The analyses of J. E. Hunter (1983) were replicated with an expanded data set. The Hunter study, the basis of the Validity Generalization system used by the United States Employment Service, contained 515 General Aptitude Test Battery validation studies. The data set in this study included these and additional studies to bring the data set to 755…

The use of Bayesian decision theory to solve problems in test-based decision making is discussed. Four basic decision problems are distinguished: (1) selection; (2) mastery; (3) placement; and (4) classification, the situation where each treatment has its own criterion. Each type of decision can be identified as a specific configuration of one or…

To eliminate maturation as a factor in the pretest-posttest design, pretest scores can be converted to anticipate posttest scores using grade equivalent scores from standardized tests. This conversion, known as historical regression, assumes that without specific intervention, growth will continue at the rate (grade equivalents per year of…

The major portion of this report reviews a recent study that replicated and extended earlier research by Schalock, Beaird, and Simmons (1964, ED 003 620) on the use of situation reaction tests (using motion picture representations of classroom situations as test stimuli) to predict teaching behavior in the classroom. Chapters I and II summarize…

This study represents a segment of an evaluation of the effects of two diametrically-opposed instructional strategies on inner-city kindergarten children who had varying preschool experiences. The child- and parent-oriented "enrichment" approach was used in one school while the teacher- and goal-oriented "direct instructional"…

The suppressor variable, a variable wholly uncorrelated with a criterion, but which nevertheless improves prediction because of its relationship with a predictor, is critically examined. For a suppressor so defined, formal identities are shown with part, partial, and multiple correlational procedures. It is demonstrated that if maximum prediction…

If any one fact has emerged consistently in the International Project for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) studies of educational achievements, it is that achievement is related to a variety of factors in the home background of children. This is true so far as differences in the achievements of single students within a country are…