Considerable research has been conducted on the effect of anxiety on academic achievement. The most consistent finding is that high anxiety is associated with low performance, particularly at the elementary school level. To explain this situation, some researchers have hypothesized that anxiety debilitates students' attention span or time-on-task…

Prior research in a single clinical training setting has shown Cason and Cason's (1981) simplified model of their performance rating theory can improve rating reliability and validity through statistical control of rater stringency error. Here, the model was applied to clinical performance ratings of 14 cohorts (about 250 students and 200 raters)…

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…

An analytic procedure, efficiency analysis, is proposed for improving the utility of quantitative program evaluation for decision making. The three features of the procedure are explained: (1) for statistical control, it adopts and extends the regression-discontinuity design; (2) for statistical inferences, it de-emphasizes hypothesis testing in…

This essay provides commentary on the place of mathematics in the study and practice of educational administration. The incidence of mathematical topics in the writing of the field is explored, and their isolation from each other and from the body of literature is pointed out. Possible areas of synthesis are sought from the traditional use of…

A psychometric model called Saltus, which represents the qualitative aspects of hierarchical development in a form applicable to additive measurement, was applied. Both Piaget's theory of cognitive development and Gagne's theory of learning hierarchies were used to establish the common features of hierarchical development: (1) gappiness--the…

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…

This paper discusses specification and interpretation of human capital models of women's earnings when data on actual work experience are available. It uses the segmented earnings function framework developed by Jacob Mincer and Solomon Polachek and considers the effects of data errors, issues involving data interpretation, consequences of model…

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…

This description of a methodology for examining the supply of educated manpower and the demand for their services consists of two major sections, which are devoted to the supply and demand of educated manpower respectively. In the first section, the supply of educated manpower and the demand for educational inputs are considered, the main…

This document consists of two modules. The first studies a variety of multicandidate voting systems, including approval, Borda, and cumulative voting, using a model which takes account of a voter's intensity of preference for candidates. The voter's optimal strategy is investigated for each voting system using decision criteria under uncertainty…

The study of the same people at several occasions is known by various names: panel studies, multi-wave, multi-variable models, cohort analysis, and gain score analysis. The use of econometric concepts, path analysis, and structural equation analysis to study multi-wave, multi-variable models became widespread in methodological practice in the late…

The response of Asian Americans to the American system and to discrimination and the success they have achieved through their method of response is researched in this study. The relationship between the high Asian American investment in education (in terms of years of schooling completed) and observed income distribution is analyzed. Census data…

To eliminate maturation as a factor in the pretest-posttest design, pretest scores can be converted to anticipate posttest scores using grade equivalent scores from standardized tests. This conversion, known as historical regression, assumes that without specific intervention, growth will continue at the rate (grade equivalents per year of…

This paper outlines the design and use of two linear models as decision-making tools in a school district. The problem to be solved was the allocation of resources for both clerical and custodial personnel. A solution was desired that could be quantified and documented and objectively serve the needs of the district. A clerical support model was…