The purpose of this paper is to explain how the Swedish citizen has developed his (or her) judgment concerning quality of life, attributable to real and simulated civilizations. It builds on a previous research report (B. Bierschenk, 1997) about three model societies that have been studied with the assumptions that: (1) competition implies…

While it is imperative that attempts be made to assess the predictive accuracy of any prediction model, traditional measures of predictive accuracy have been criticized as suffering from "the base rate problem." The base rate refers to the relative frequency of occurrence of the event being studied in the population of interest, and the…

Many arguments have been made against allowing examinees to review and change their answers after completing a computer adaptive test (CAT). These arguments include: (1) increased bias; (2) decreased precision; and (3) susceptibility of test-taking strategies. Results of simulations suggest that the strength of these arguments is reduced or…

This book provides architects, interior designers, developers, and child-care professionals with detailed information on the planning and design of child care centers. Part 1 examines the current state of child care in the United States and offers an overall philosophical concert--the spirit of place--as the framework for all center design. Part 2…

This book offers assistance to those wishing to introduce children to the best literature, for it highlights memorable works and their creators and, as an added bonus, provides glimpses into the history and eponymous figures behind the Newbery and Caldecott Awards. The book uses a calendar arrangement of more than 1,000 "fun facts" as it…

This study examines the core literature in high school book rooms. Has the core literature changed over time with changing demographics? The review of the literature established the existence of a core literature, and that most high school students read from a fairly small list of books. The literature review reveals that students are not happy…

Sharing poems that celebrate books and reading throughout the school year can foster enjoyment of poetry as well as appreciation for reading. A variety of easy to read poems exist that vary from old and new, long and short, free-flowing verse and rhymed verse, and for young children as well as older children. Such poems can be read at odd moments…

This publication provides general background information and questions trustees and search committee members might ask as they interview search consultants to help in the search for presidents of institutions and it profiles search firms so that trustees and search committee members can make initial assessments as they look for consultants. A…

Competition exists when vendors of a service are available to meet the demands of customers. In the education sector, parents and children are consumers, and schools and districts are the suppliers. Theoretically, more competition should translate into higher quality schooling and enhanced educational outcomes. This digest reviews the literature…

In 1990 the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), and the National Education Association (NEA) published "Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students." Standard 1 of this document states, "Teachers should be skilled in choosing assessment methods appropriate for…

This paper applies specific information item selection using a method developed by T. Davey and M. Fan (2000) to a multiple-choice passage-based reading test that is being developed for computer administration. Data used to calibrate the multidimensional item parameters for the simulation study consisted of item responses from randomly equivalent…

Although teachers have been encouraged to use tradebooks as part of the science curriculum, not much is known about the factors--including teachers' assumptions--that influence the decisions about the books they choose to use. This paper explores some of these issues by asking groups of elementary school teachers to choose from a large set of…

This literature review emphasizes teaching from a multicultural perspective with a focus on integrating multiethnic literature into the core curriculum. Multiethnic literature has been defined as literature dealing with peoples of diverse backgrounds within the United States, including African Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, and…

This examination of data selection preceding multivariate analysis compares results grained with "gentle" and "draconian" variable elimination. To acquire comparable results, two stages of statistical exploration into an integrated model of motivation, learning strategies, and quality of teaching were used. The goal of the…

There has been a recent surge in the popularity of youth fantasy books; this can be partially attributed to the popularity of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. Librarians and others who recommend books to youth are having a difficult time suggesting other fantasy books to those who have read the Harry Potter series and want to read other similar…