The growing complexity of policy decisions in such areas as education and manpower necessitates increased research, which in turn requires an adequate data base and adequate methodology. Recognition that the variables affecting the vocational and educational choices of high school graduates are interrelated and require examination from several…

The purpose of the research described in the report is twofold. First, it is to analyze the relative benefits and costs of on-line computerized placement systems. The techniques developed for such an analysis which might be useful in evaluating other manpower programs are presented. Second, it is to provide a prototype model which shows how…

The study derives a model of the unemployment insurance (UI) system and its relationship to the labor market, estimates it with data from the Detroit Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, and evaluates its potential use to forecast UI benefit amounts, UI insured unemployment, and UI exhaustions. It further uses the model to analyze policy issues…

This volume contains tables of item analysis results obtained by following procedures associated with the Rasch Model for those reading tests used in the Anchor Test Study. Appendix I gives the test names and their corresponding analysis code numbers. Section I (Basic Item Analyses) presents data for the item analysis of each test in a two part…

To better plan and evaluate vocational education programs at the state level, a mathematical formula was evolved for allocating resources to local education agencies (LEA's) which would reflect: (1) manpower needs, (2) vocational education needs, (3) relative ability to pay, and (4) excess costs. A "curricular priority matrix" and a…

One objective of the research was to identify career ladders with the greatest potential for improving retention. This study revealed that a regression model, which takes into account airmen career status and months of service while holding constant aptitude differences, can be used to display cross-sectional attitude data in a longitudinal…

The first in a series of three articles, successful instructional materials from a 15-year software development effort are analyzed and characterized with special attention given to educational experiences intended to shape students' perceptions of the fundamental nature, interconnectedness, and usefulness of mathematics. The software programs…

A cooperative activity involving eight sixth grade students over five days focused on inventing static representations of motion. In generating, critiquing and refining numerous representations, strong metarepresentational competence was found. An intricate blend of the children's conceptual and interactional skills, their interest in and sense of…

Data from the Second International Mathematics Study for 3,724 eighth graders are used to demonstrate the potential of multilevel factor analysis (MFA) methodology. Issues related to between-class and within-class decomposition of achievement variance and the change in this decomposition over the course of the eighth grade are revealed through…

Two previous meta-analyses of the test-coaching literature have yielded conclusions that differ with respect to aptitude test scores. This study attempts to resolve differences in the conclusions of these two analyses by J. A. Kulik, R. L. Bangert-Drowns, and C. L. C. Kulik (1984) and K. Pearlman (1984) by using the methods of F. L. Schmidt and J.…

As part of the military recruiting effort, the Department of Defense sponsors surveys of the national youth population to help design recruiting and advertising strategies. This report develops and applies a method of using the information contained in national youth surveys to estimate the probability that respondents taking the Armed Forces…

Investments in schooling are often regarded as essential for economic development, implying that such investments have high rates of return in developing countries. This paper examines the accuracy and usefulness of estimates of rates of return to formal schooling based on the standard human capital model of G. Becker and J. Mincer. Focus is on…

This study compares the fit of the 3-parameter model to the Ability Removing Random Guessing (ARRG) model on data from a wide range of tests of cognitive ability in three representative samples. When the guessing parameters under the 3-parameter model are estimated individually for each item, the 3-parameter model yields the better fit to…

The purpose of this research was to develop and test a method of identifying groups of students participating in a mandated statewide norm-referenced testing program who have undergone highly specific training in preparation for, or coaching during, test administration. The implementation of the analysis procedure was intended not only to identify…

This report contains the Proceedings of the 1982 Item Response Theory and Computerized Adaptive Testing Conference. The papers and their discussions are organized into eight sessions: (1) "Developments in Latent Trait Theory," with papers by Fumiko Samejima and Michael V. Levine; (2) "Parameter Estimation," with papers by…