This project investigated the probabilistic interactional structure of counseling interviews conducted by two groups of counselors of differing levels of cognitive complexity, and the consistency of that structure within each group across sequences of two interviews. Analysis of the counselor-client interaction patterns between the two groups of…

The effects of luck and misinformation on ability of multiple-choice test scores to estimate examinee ability were investigated. Two measures of examinee ability were defined. Misinformation was shown to have little effect on ability of raw scores and a substantial effect on ability of corrected-for-guessing scores to estimate examinee ability.…

False-positive and false-negative dicisions are the fundamental errors committed with a mastery test; yet the estimation of the likelihood of committing these errors has not been investigated. Accordingly, two methods of estimating the likelihood of committing these errors are described and then investigated using Monte Carlo techniques.…

This paper examines the multivariate multiple regression model and explores its applicability to communication research. The first section discusses partitioning of a data matrix, as a heuristic device for distinguishing among alternative regression models. Section two examines various aspects of univariate multiple regression, including the form…

In discussion of assessment and its applicability to the needs of the Spanish-speaking student population, four types of assessments are presented in the context of the educationally significant testing needed in this area. The focus of this paper is on the use of comprehensive assessment to measure the repertoire of language resources that the…

The pretest-posttest design referred to as Design 2 by Campbell and Stanley (1963) is commonly used in educational research and evaluation. The tenability of the assumption of a zero population difference commonly used with this design is questioned. A nonzero population estimate based on the mean difference observed in test-retest reliability…

This study was designed to compare time allocations to major functions actually performed and idealized by bilingual administrators and principals; to rank specific procedures used in accomplishing these functions; to determine staffing patterns, and program and organizational characteristics; and to isolate personal/professional demographics of…

Four sections of introductory psychology were involved in a study of aptitude-treatment interactions. Two sections were taught with a high-structure curriculum, and two with a low-structure curriculum. Students' preference for structure was measured with the Inventory of Beliefs (IOB). During eight weeks of instruction, observers recorded…

This study was designed to determine differences in the goal orientation of school administrators and parents regarding school reorganization and differences in administrators' and parents' perceptions of the progress being made on reorganizational goals. A research instrument was developed and pilot-tested on a group of parents and then…

Evaluation is as basic to professional development as it is to education. Unfortunately, systematic evaluations of professional development programs are rarely, if ever, undertaken. Professional development has become polluted by extraordinarily presumptuous rhetoric about the intrinsic value of "development." In the recent flurry of…

Noting that the practitioner is confronted with conflicting definitions of "fairness" that claim to avoid "bias" in test usage, this article asserts that "mean fairness" can be achieved by use of multiple regression with the dichotomous variate, group membership, included as a predictor; mean fairness also holds for sub-groupings, based on test…

The taxonomic distance from an "ideal country" is used as a composite index of relative development levels of 50 countries; measuring economic, mass media, and high-level manpower potentials, and showing acceleration of rate of increases, and underlying shifts in rank positions in years 1955, 1960, and 1965. (Author/ND)

This study compared reading readiness profiles of 232 first graders with the reported norms of a decade ago. It is suggested that children are currently entering first grade with greater competencies in understanding language, percieving visual similarities and differences, and comprehending basic number concepts than was the case a decade ago.…

Research supported by Public Health Research Grant MH-10274-4 from the National Institute of Mental Health.