This article examines the training needs of educators working in the further education (FE), adult education, and Second Chance sectors in the Republic of Ireland. The research on which it is based was funded jointly by the European Union Leonardo da Vinci Programme and the Department of Education and Science of Ireland and took place from 1998 to…

More than a dozen statistical models have been developed for the purpose of cognitive diagnosis. These models are supposed to extract a much finer level of information from item responses than traditional unidimensional item response models. In this paper, a general diagnostic model (GDM) was used to analyze a set of simulated sparse data and real…

This study describes the reading and test-taking strategies that test takers used in the Reading section of the LanguEdge courseware (ETS, 2002a). These materials were developed to familiarize prospective respondents with the new TOEFL®. The investigation focused on strategies used to respond to more traditional single selection multiple-choice…

The Standardized Letter of Recommendation (SLR), a 28-item form, was created by ETS to supplement the qualitative rating of graduate school applicants' nonacademic qualities with a quantitative approach. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the following psychometric properties of the SLR using the Rasch rating-scale model: dimensionality,…

As the pedagogical-effectiveness of information technology (IT) in mathematics education is carefully established the topic of discourse among mathematicians and mathematics educators is no longer a dispute about whether or not to use IT in the teaching and learning of mathematics but a shift to some debate about the when and how of its usage.…

To ascertain the current status of Holocaust knowledge and attitudes of prospective teachers and to inform the development of a web-based educational resource for teachers of the Holocaust, an exploratory analysis was conducted at a public university in Florida. Data were obtained from prospective teachers (N = 464) who completed a knowledge test,…

Understanding effective school leadership as a function of culture building through quantitative and qualitative analyses is the purpose of this paper. The two-part quantitative phase of the research focused on statistical measures of culture and leadership behavior directed toward culture building in the school. The first quantitative part…

This paper describes an initial effort to provide a carefully reasoned, factually based, systematic analysis of teacher pay in comparison to pay in other occupations available to college-educated workers. It also reports on the sensitivity of these salary comparison estimates to differences in certain characteristics of the labor force, such as…

The Composite Indicator of Changes (CIC) in average salaries and wages paid by public school systems is designed to reflect overall changes, to compare salary trends among various categories of personnel, and to analyze salary trends in an individual school system and among groups of school systems. Annual updates of the CIC are computed from data…

For more than three decades, the courts have attempted to resolve the effects of desegregation on educational quality and educational access. This report reviews a recent court ruling on the 26-year-old desegregation case, Mapp versus Board of Education, in relation to emerging demographic patterns in the Chattanooga (Tennessee) Public Schools…

A 20-year retrospective study indicates that the Cleveland Scholarship Program (CSP) has been significant in enabling lower income students to complete a college education at rates higher than those reported for the United States as a whole. CSP provides advisors who work individually with financially disadvantaged seniors in all Cleveland (Ohio)…

This study investigates the self-concept of 37 Cambodian children who have recently resettled in Richmond (Virginia) after experiencing war, turmoil, and refugee camp life in Southeast Asia. The study group consisted of 19 Cambodian males and 17 Cambodian females, whose ages ranged from 5 to 14 years. About 17 percent of the respondents were in…

This trainer's guide is intended to assist supervisors of work-based career training projects in helping students learn how to obtain, analyze, record, and present statistical information, specifically, information related to people's failing to turn up for court appointments. The guide is one in a series of core curriculum modules that is…

This collection of 10 selected conference papers report the results of language testing research. Titles and authors are: "Computerized Adaptive Language Testing: A Spanish Placement Exam" (Jerry W. Larson); "Utilizing Rasch Analysis to Detect Cheating on Language Examinations" (Harold S. Madsen); "Scalar Analysis of…

The issues, options, and procedures for annually measuring overall payment error in the Pell Grant program are specified in detail. Guidelines for establishing a definition of Pell Grant payment error are provided, and the design issues related to error measurement are examined. A comparison is made of options for selecting a study sample and for…