Educational outcomes are affected by student level, classroom level, and school level characteristics. The fact that educational data are multilevel in nature poses serious analysis questions. Though strong arguments can be made for focusing on a single level of analysis, such studies have several basic limitations: the choice of analytic level…

Several models for enrollment projections have been developed based on past performance. One of these, a computer-assisted model developed at the California State University at Northridge, was tested for possible use at Los Angeles Pierce College (LAPC). From three to five previous comparable college terms are used in the model to predict…

The first step of the data analysis with respect to the eventual application of the various new methods in latent trait theory is here initiated. The data are a set of approximately 500 item responses of each of 7,439 examinees to the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, Form 6, on one of three difficulty levels, which correspond to the ages of 11, 12 and…

It is shown that empirical mental test P - P plots are approximately equal to theoretical item-item curves, at least for long tests administered to many people. This result is important because it leads to (1) a distribution free method for estimating points on item-item curves; (2) a general method for defining estimates of item parameters; and…

The knowledge and mental processes called on in mathematics can be used to improve composition. Three desirable requirements of an analogy to be used in teaching writing are that it should bridge the art of writing and science, should be readily accessible to the mind of the average student, and should allow the student to employ an architectural…

Decisions to terminate training for subjects involved with discrete trial experiments in discrimination learning should utilize a probability criterion rather than a deterministic criterion. Furthermore, these decisions should be based upon the number of correct and error responses made by the subject, with the decision made to terminate training…

One aim of criterion-referenced testing is to classify an examinee without reference to a norm group; therefore, any statements about the dependability of such classification ought to be group-independent also. A population-independent index is proposed in terms of the probability of incorrect classification near the cutoff true score. The…

The purpose of this paper is to derive explicit estimates of the parameters of a latent structure model when the skills represented by the test items are hierarchically related. Two special cases are described, which may be used as an approximation to the Dayton and Macready model and also provide initial estimates in an iterative estimation…

This paper discusses a model to optimize cash management in school districts. A brief discussion of the cash flow pattern of school districts is followed by an analysis of the constraints faced by the school districts in their investment planning process. A linear programming model used to optimize net interest earnings on investments is developed…

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK IS TO DESCRIBE LEARNING AIDS THAT MAY BE MADE BY A TEACHER OR CHILDREN FOR USE IN MATHEMATICS PROGRAMS IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. THESE AIDS ARE OF TWO TYPES--MANIPULATIVE AND VISUAL. DESCRIPTIONS IN THIS BOOK INCLUDE (1) THE PURPOSE OF THE TEACHING AID IN A MODERN MATHEMATICS PROGRAM, (2) EXAMPLES OF ITS USE, AND (3) ITS…

This paper attempts to provide a general equilibrium framework for comparing the merits of alternative methods of raising the income of the employable poor. The strategy is to specify a complete and interacting set of factor markets, parameterize alternative program types in a manner convenient to this specification, and then solve the system of…

This study concerns concrete manipulatives for use in mathematics education, specifically in the realm of negative numbers and the operations on them. The author presents a review of relevant theory, practice, and research and develops guidelines regarding characteristics of manipulative materials. He concludes that present practice in teaching…

To the data analyst, outliers can present both a problem and an opportunity. Stray or outlying observations can severly distort estimates of a distribution's central tendency (like the mean) and estimates of one variable's relationship to another (like the regression coefficient). These problems are frequent and serious, and as a result,…

Slightly over 180,000 draftees were surveyed 10 months after leaving the military to gain data regarding training, employment, occupation and wages if working, marital status, education, Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score, age, race, military occupation, and home. Differences in earnings functions among smaller, homogeneous labor markets…

The true state of the system described here is characterized by a probability vector. At each stage of the system an action must be chosen from a finite set of actions. Each possible action yields an expected reward, transforms the system to a new state in accordance with a Markov transition matrix, and yields an observable outcome. The problem of…