Considerations in conducting a study of salary equity for administrative faculty are addressed. The focus is whether there is a systematic difference in salary of administrative faculty based on race, sex, or age after all legitimate factors are removed. After defining the study population, attention is directed to the study model and research…

Production-function analysis, a correlation-based analysis, has been used for years to evaluate whether resources deposited into the educational process yielded a definitive result. For example, it has been used in several state cases as a measure of equity in educational funding. This paper is of the opinion that correlation-based analyses are…

This paper introduces criterion-referenced tests (CRTs), compares them with norm-referenced tests (NRTs), discusses how they can be evaluated and revised, and presents a study of an actual class and textbook test evaluation using CRTs. NRTs have dominated testing methodology since the mid-1970s; an example is the Test of English as a Foreign…

This paper presents a procedure by which institutional researchers can determine whether gender-salary discrimination exists at an institution of higher education. The procedure utilizes a statistical quality control tool, which is referred to as setting the process aim. This procedure is based on the premise that salaries are determined by a…

The research literature provides important guidance to counselors working to keep abreast of the latest thinking regarding best practices and recently developed counseling tools. The purpose of this digest is to highlight a few errors that seem to recur within the literature, and to provide some helpful references that further explore these…

There is a growing sense of frustration among members of the science education research community that results from the fact that the impact of research in science education on classroom practice has been disappointing. In this theoretical paper, the questions of relevance and accountability in science education research are first reviewed and…

The National Science Foundation's Undergraduate Faculty Enhancement Program (UFEP) awards grants on a competitive basis to project directors at colleges and universities, professional societies, industry, and other qualified organizations to conduct regional or national seminars, short courses, workshops, conferences, or similar activities for…

Adequate revenue is essential to the existence of good schools. Recognizing this truth, numerous governors have proposed and many states have adopted tax increases to enhance school funding. The real question is whether education spending increased more than it would have if taxes had not been increased. To answer these questions, the booklet was…

School-effectiveness research has not yet been able to identify the factors of effective and noneffective schools, the real contribution of the significant factors, the true sizes of school effects, and the generalizability of school-effectiveness results. This paper presents findings of a meta analysis, the Dutch PSO programme, that was used to…

This issue describes the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) life-annuity income options and traces the trends in their selection over a 17-year period, 1978-1994. Other income-related choices at or before retirement are also explored. The article emphasizes that participants in defined…

This paper describes a quantitative approach to the study of the culture and improvement of schools. The School Cultural Elements Questionnaire (SCEQ) was developed to measure the aspects of the interpersonal relationships among school staff, which were expected to affect schools' instructional programs. The SCEQ measures six elements of school…

This policy brief examines the role of ethnicity in special education by reporting on a study of the impact of base rates of ethnicity on the identification, placement, and graduation rates of children with disabilities. Emphasis is on system characteristics rather than individual student characteristics. The study explored the relationship…

This report describes the methods and procedures used for the 1994 third followup of the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 eighth graders (NELS:88/94). NELS:88/94 collected information on postsecondary education participation, employment, earnings, family formation, and other activities and experiences relevant to individuals as they…

The context of teaching has changed dramatically in the wake of two national waves of educational reform. This dissertation examined the relationship between elementary principals' use of transformational leadership strategies as determined by teacher reports and the presence of social-organizational factors within the schools. The five…

Interpreting information regarding health risks, crime statistics, and government polls requires some ability to use and interpret probabilities. Studies have shown that even after training or coursework in probability and statistics, people still have many difficulties solving probability problems. The thesis of this document is that helping…