Reports findings on perceptions of 686 secondary school teachers in northern England who were surveyed about aspects of their careers. Finds that work centrality was value driven. Concludes that teacher workaholics tend to be driven by their values rather than their perceptions of reality. (DB)

This article reviews the principal methods economists and cost benefit analysts use in evaluating research. Two common approaches are surplus measures (combinations of consumer and producer surpluses) and productivity measures. Technical difficulties and political and organizational constraints are discussed for these measures. (SLD)

Argues that knowledge of statistics is becoming increasingly important for economics students. Presents a lesson to improve the learning of statistics and communication skills using short cases that include an economics problem and real data. Describes how students work in teams with computers for analysis and preparation of written reports. (DSK)

Comparison of language proficiency gains in Russian study abroad in Russia looked at homestay versus dormitory residence. Statistical analysis of the American Council of Teachers of Russian students records database, which contains proficiency data on 2,500 study-abroad participants, was used to compare gains made in speaking, listening, and…

A study using a path-analytic model compared first-year college students enrolled in remedial-type mathematics courses with counterparts enrolled in nonremedial coursework. Results revealed that students enrolled in nonremedial courses entered the institution with many advantages over those enrolled in remedial mathematics. Background variables…

Examines and compares current trends in applied linguistics (AL) research methods in China and the West. Reviews AL articles in four Chinese journals, from 1978-1997, and four English journals from 1985 to 1997. Articles are categorized and subcategorized. Results show that in China, AL research is heading from non-empirical toward empirical, with…

Analyzes differences in self-reported Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression inventory results among ethnic Hawaiian and non-Hawaiian high school students, using different forms of latent variable structural equation models. Finds a high degree of invariance between students on depression. Discusses issues about common features and…

Investigated reliability of the Family Narrative Consortium (FNC) scales for measuring the effect of social context on construction of family narratives. Analyzed data from four FNC studies to determine reliability of scale dimensions of narrative coherence, narrative interaction, and relationship beliefs. Found that the scale was a set of…

Examines the effects of text practice and prosodic modeling on the reading rate, accuracy, expressiveness, and comprehension of disabled readers. Each subject read the first half of a set of stories three times under one of four experimental conditions. While reading performance improved across all conditions, substantial additional gains were…

Explores the rationale for college subsidies in most world economies, treating precollege achievement as an insurable risk. Contract theory considers optimum insurance contracts for this risk and views public finance of college education as providing the insurance. The theory yields conditions on optimum taxes and fees. Rationing by…

Describes the statistical test of chi-square analysis. Explains how this test can be used in biology instruction. Examples from blood typing are used. (PR)

Presents one approach to handling the trade-off between reducing uncertainty in environmental assessment and management and additional expenses. Uses the approach in the evaluation of three alternatives for a real time river water quality forecasting system. Analysis of risk attitudes, costs and uncertainty indicated the levels of socioeconomic…

Describes a collaborative writing project in which students must identify key variables, search and read relevant literature, and reason through a research idea by working closely with a partner. The end result is a polished laboratory report in the APA style. The class includes a peer review workshop prior to final editing. (MJP)

Describes a new analytical tool, data envelope analysis (DEA) model, which can provide better understanding of the efficiency of academic research libraries. Reports the results of a study using 1994-1995 Association of Research Libraries statistics together with expert judgments, in terms of constraints, to make the model more applicable to the…

The Wisconsin Emerging Scholars Program (WESP) is a nonremedial, multicultural workshop approach to learning calculus that emphasizes community and collaboration. This approach is designed to foster substantial participation of underrepresented ethnic minority students and alleviate the problems of isolation and lack of support in a large,…