Using the High School and Beyond Survey, explores the impact that 10 organizational features have on teachers' sense of efficacy, sense of community, and expectations of student performance in 353 public high schools. Finds that when background variables are controlled, school organizational features had a major influence on all three…

Examines the conditions that facilitated the creation of the first national educational systems in nineteenth century Europe. Performs a longitudinal regression and event-history analysis of educational expansion in 17 Western countries. Suggests that paths to mass education involve linkages among the central state, societal groups, and the…

Discussed are problems encountered when a gas absorption experiment with strong measurement error is used. Notes students either avoid the experiment or report it as defective. Provides ideas to make lab experiments more instructive. (MVL)

Analyzes the linguistic integration of Hispanic immigrants using a longitudinal interpretation of data from the 1976 Survey of Income and Education. Findings suggest that the age at time of arrival and the length of residence explain observed patterns of language shift. (FMW)

Defends the Walsh and Carballo (1986) study of five bilingual education programs in Massachusetts against Rossell's critique of the study. (BJV)

Qualitative and quantitative analyses are reported of the learning processes of 120 Canadian high school students during exchange programs emphasizing multicultural and antiracist education in various Canadian cities. Findings suggest the value of these exchange programs and of locally based policies for multicultural education. (SLD)

Implications of case specificity in two computer-based clinical-simulation examination cases were examined by a classical measurement approach and by a Bayesian analysis of test characteristics. Results from 163 medical students indicate that such examinations cannot be used in high-stakes situations without additional research. (SLD)

Presents findings of a 1988 study of 104 middle school students, examining the relationship between learner style preference and instructional grouping. Identifies preference groups: learning alone, learning with peers, or no preference. Finds that students performed equally well on four social studies lessons when instructional strategy matched…

Investigates how poverty, perceived economic status, coping, and defense behaviors interrelate. Asks if social support moderates this relationship, using sample consisting of 150 Indian men. Finds that perceived economic status is dependent on physical environment and income. Concludes that poverty made coping and defense behaviors more difficult,…

Discusses the use of quantitative collection development and use studies as research tools to evaluate the quality of children's library collections. Four studies, conducted in school and public libraries, that involve analyzing data with statistical tests are reviewed to show how data already being collected can be developed into research…

Discusses the results of a study investigating the similarities between information jobs in university computing centers and research libraries. Findings show a strong relationship between some computing and library jobs, suggesting the creation of a single information job family in classification systems. (15 references) (EA)

A graduate pharmacy course in experimental design for clinical research is described. Students work in groups to design clinically feasible, statistically valid studies on assigned problems. Individual students also perform statistical analyses on data sets generated from similar clinical studies conducted by faculty. Observations about grading…

The usefulness of latent class modeling in addressing several measurement issues is demonstrated via a study of 74 good and 74 poor readers in grades 5 and 6. Procedures were particularly useful for assessing the hierarchical relation among skills and for exploring issues related to item domains. (SLD)

Describes the background, development, and testing of a computer software program designed to teach principles of statistical sampling in social science courses. Compares results of a field test of the program, Introduction to Sampling Error Experiments (ISEE), with traditional instruction. (CFR)

Theory behind modern evaluative bibliometric techniques is reviewed at three levels: (1) policy application; (2) strategic analysis; and (3) tactical analysis. New techniques developed at each level and limitations of each approach are discussed. At all levels, the process begins with assembling data and then moves to a data-based evaluation. (SLD)