Addition of fiscal response factors to the traditional simulation model of school finance demonstrates that the traditional model underestimates both the costs and impacts of state aid programs at the district level. The study reviews research on fiscal response--defined as school districts' taxing and spending behavior after receipt of state…

Results are described for the first two phases of a study to develop and evaluate models of student progress in a technical training course being offered in a computer managed instructional environment at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado. Several categories of models were developed in Phase I and defined by model type and by the type of variables…

The concept under investigation was the reliability of estimates of mean scores of groups under various assumptions of multiple-matrix sampling when reliabilities are computed according to procedures based on generalizability theory. Four different cases were compared with respect to the generalizability coefficients depending upon whether pupils…

The measurement of change in quasi-experimental educational research was discussed. Problems related to measuring change exist to varying degrees in all research designs; these issues are less troublesome in experimental studies because the investigator can manipulate the interest variables and observe their effects on other variables. Measuring…

A general process for testing the feasibility of applying alternative mathematical or statistical models to the solution of a practical problem is presented and flowcharted. The system is used to compare five models for test equating: (1) anchor test equating using classical test theory; (2) anchor test equating using the one-parameter logistic…

The implications of a mathematical model of test scores are explored where the data are limited to a random sample of items without replacement from an indefinitely large population or item domain in which items are scored either zero or one. The purpose is to obtain an unbiased estimate of a student's proportion of items correct in the item…

The Mastery-Learning test model is extended. Methods for estimating prior probabilities are described. The use of an adjustment matrix to transform a probability of mastery measure and empirical methods for estimating adjustment matrix parameters are derived. Adjustment matrices are interpreted as indicators of instructional effectiveness and as…

The applicability of the Rasch model to data from a typical personality test, the High School Personality Questionnaire (HSPQ), was studied. The data were gathered on Junior High and High School students in the Louisville Public Schools (Kentucky). Item easinesses and person abilities were estimated and compared by age group, within each age…

A technique for detecting and studying item (or test) x group interactions independent of differences in level or dispersion of the groups is described. It involves construction of a scatter plot with two groups represented, one on each axis. Each point in the scatter plot represents the coordinates of a measure of a characteristic for one group…

Expands on research findings about the literacy development of children living in poverty through the use of a large and nationally representative sample of poor and middle-income eighth graders. It explores home and school influences on young adolescents' performance on reading comprehension. (GLR)

The 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) will mark the first time that state-level comparisons will be possible with NAEP data. The 1990 data will contain, as a trial component, state-level assessments of eighth graders in mathematics. Mathematics and reading comparisons for fourth graders will be added in 1992. Statistical…

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…

Planning, quality, and efficiency in universities are addressed in the proceedings of the 1984 forum of the European Association for Institutional Research. In addition to quality and efficiency in higher education, the 12 papers and 22 abstracts cover: evaluation of research and programs, the application of statistical techniques, strategic…

Four different procedures were used for estimating the proportion of persons who would be classified consistently as either passing both of two parallel tests or failing both. These four methods were applied at each of four different mastery level scores for each of three different length tests. Data were based on 50 replications of each procedure…

In evaluation research studies, it often occurs that several program participants (experimentals) drop out of the program prior to completion. Since noncompleters generally differ substantially from completers in many respects, a control group which originally was representative of the participant group will most likely not be representative of…