This review covers the status of languages and literacy in the countries of southern Africa, policies of literacy promotion, and the emerging symbioses among spoken languages and among literacies in mother tongues, national or official languages, and metropolitan languages. Five statistical tables are included. (66 references) (LB)

The article examines the concepts of power and control in research design and applies them to a review of the validity of three studies (EC 600 064-066) evaluating the effectiveness of using Irlen tinted lenses with reading-disabled persons. Internal validity, external validity, statistical conclusion validity, and construct validity are…

Reviews essays on statistical analysis of literature from the journal "Computers and the Humanities." Divides the essays into four groups: the philosophical, statistical analyses of language, literary texts, and themes. Questions whether valid statistical analysis of any text must be based on complete linguistic description. Emphasizes…

Examines the effects of competition and cooperation on learning through computer-assisted instruction (CAI). A questionnaire was administered to 457 Israeli fourth graders who used two CAI arithmetic systems. The characteristics of the systems are discussed, and the results of the survey are correlated to students' gender and achievement levels.…

Describes the PADOK-II project in Germany, which was designed to give information on the effects of linguistic algorithms on retrieval in a full-text database, the German Patent Information System (GPI). Relevance assessments are discussed, statistical evaluations are described, and searches are compared for the full-text section versus the…

Provides example of use of exploratory growth modeling to examine changes over time in functioning of 172 families who underwent treatment in Project Good Start prevention program. Addresses within-family and between-family research questions. Results highlight heterogeneity across families in direction and rate of family function change and its…

Presents findings from a British study of nearly 200 teachers who attended in-service education and training (INSET) courses at 4 British universities. Examines perceptions of course effects on teacher abilities. Finds teachers who felt their skills improved also reported improvements in student attainment. States INSET improves teachers'…

Presents a secondary teaching lesson that uses statistical information about colleges and universities offering a degree in geography. Provides a sequenced lesson plan that asks students to develop a map showing the frequency and distribution of geography programs and interpret the findings. (CFR)

This article shows how the methods of survival analysis (also known as event history analysis) lend themselves to the study of the timing of educational events. Using examples from teacher attrition and student dropout research, survival methods are introduced for building statistical models of the risk of event occurrence over time. (Author/SLD)

Examines the manner in which the data-driven character of child development research limits the validity and penetration of the search for new knowledge and understanding, and imposes a skewed image of what is known about children and childhood by excluding the less objective observations and insights of the clinicians and practitioners.…

Describes a variety of analytic tools available to address questions about development, including growth-curve methods, hierarchical regressions, and both primary and secondary data analysis of project and extant data. Demonstrates some of these techniques using extant data from two projects to examine questions about treatment efficacy and…

An alternative analysis of minority enrollments in U.S. colleges and universities suggests that little progress has been made in minority access to higher education. The current informal backlash against affirmative action and de facto college segregation inhibit racial fairness. Segregation and restricted access should be redefined as being due…

Reports on a study that uses psychometric modeling to rank the appeal of a variety of children's astronomical ideas on a single uniform scale. Findings support the view that alternative conceptions may be markers of progress toward understanding. Contains 82 references. (DDR)

Examined the ability to access patterns of pedagogical knowledge about teaching and learning operating when experienced English-as-a-Second-Language teachers taught, using both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Teachers viewed and discussed videotapes of their own lessons. Analysis of their recollections suggests that a combination of…

Outlines a stepwise regression analysis technique for predicting faculty needs in a small technical university, using King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (Saudi Arabia) for illustration. Validation with microcomputer software suggests the method is an attractive option for college and university planners in forecasting manpower needs.…