Multiple group discriminant analysis was employed to determine the utility of preenrollment traits and academic performance in identifying freshman students who persisted, stopped out, or withdrew early. After first-quarter academic performance, relatively clear distinctions can be made between students who persist and those who do not.…

This study compares the school climate perceptions of 1,634 ninth-graders in eight secondary schools on the variables of sex, race, and enrollment in schools with low or high suspension rates. (Author/SJL)

Analysis of results of a questionnaire to measure any relationship between mid-management students' perception of their class as a social group or learning environment and their achievement in class indicates that classroom environment is not a factor in achievement. (MF)

Describes a study that measured sense of community in a television-based undergraduate distance education course and in the same course taught by the same instructor in a traditional face-to-face learning environment. Reports results of pretests and posttests, analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, and discriminant analysis. (Author/LRW)

Described is a software package, "Trapeze," within which a routine called LinDis can be used. Discussed are teaching methods, the linear discriminant model and equations, the LinDis worksheet, and an example. The set up for this routine is included. (CW)

A study of research faculty in Texas employed the theoretical framework proposed by Alvin Gouldner, who theorized that the most privileged academics hold the most conservative social and academic views. These "gatekeepers" control professional dogma, and by means of editorships and board memberships establish normative behavior for the…

Using linear discriminant analysis, two samples of Canadian high school students (n=929 and n=968) were tested using measures of self-concept, academic self-concept, and academic achievement. Academic self-concept was more effective than was academic achievement in differentiating between low-track and high-track students. (SLD)

Of 115 adult literacy students interviewed, 59 were contacted 8 months later to collect data on characteristics, academic and social integration, program and goal commitment, and withdrawal decisions. Factor and discriminant analyses identified 14 variables that accurately predicted the present status of 76 percent of completers, persisters, and…

A multivariate approach reexamined Lewis Terman's longitudinal study data comparing the 100 most successful and 100 least successful men identified in the 1920s as having very high intelligence. Results reaffirmed the importance of educational attainment in vocational achievement, though intelligence and amount of early acceleration also predicted…

A surprising validation of expectation experienced during a recognition test induces the perception of discrepancy and a feeling of familiarity. The authors investigated whether that perception also affects memory performance when it is experienced in the original encounter with a stimulus. Target words were presented in a study phase, half in…

Any programme of principal induction must find ways to respond to the diversity of its participants, in terms of their backgrounds and learning needs. New Zealand's national principal induction programme uses a self assessment of each principal's capability in the leadership of teaching and learning as one of its main sources of information about…

In this study we investigated the putative role of cognitive dysfunction, diagnosis (schizoaffective versus schizophrenia disorder), and alcoholism as risk factors for suicidal behavior among individuals with DSM-IV schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders. Subjects received cognitive tests and medical records were reviewed for evidence of a…

The mechanisms of perceptual learning are analyzed theoretically, probed in an orientation-discrimination experiment involving a novel nonstationary context manipulation, and instantiated in a detailed computational model. Two hypotheses are examined: modification of early cortical representations versus task-specific selective reweighting.…

The Basic Interest Scales (BISs) of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII; Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994) have a 35-year history. The BISs are the specific content scales of the SII, as opposed to the SII general content scales, the General Occupational Themes (GOTs), which measure the six Holland (1997) RIASEC themes. Using 17,074…

Using a sample of 350 college students, this study examined the structural and discriminant validity of the Career Factors Inventory (CFI; Chartrand, Robbins, Morrill, & Boggs, 1990), a multidimensional measure of career indecision intended to be scored for two informational indecision components (Need for Career Information and Need for…