The nine-volume Survey Kit is designed to help readers prepare and conduct surveys and become better users of survey results. All the books in the series contain instructional objectives, exercises and answers, examples of surveys in use, illustrations of survey questions, guidelines for action, checklists of "dos and don'ts," and…

The level of confidence in pass/fail decisions obtained with computer adaptive tests (CATs) was compared to decisions based on paper-and-pencil tests. Subjects included 645 medical technology students from 238 educational programs across the country. The tests used in this study constituted part of the subjects' review for the certification…

In this study, a questionnaire was designed to assess Montessori teachers' reported likelihood of intervention in some 25 common situations in Montessori classrooms for 3-6 year olds, as well as to obtain limited background information on the teachers. Subjects were 422 Montessori teachers including 30 from Trinidad (where the questionnaire was…

Two studies were carried out to evaluate the quality of multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) model parameter estimates obtained from the computer program NOHARM. The purpose of the first study was to compute empirical estimates of the standard errors of the parameters. In addition, the parameter estimates were evaluated for bias and the…

High and low self-monitors were given the task of applying for a position that was or was not a good fit with their personality. Subjects were 97 introductory psychology students who had previously taken the 18-item Self-Monitoring Scale (SMS). They took the SMS again--as if it were being used to decide whether they would be offered a very…

From 1970 to 1985, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) underwent major modifications caused by: (1) the addition of the Test of Standard Written English (TSWE) to the College Board's Admissions Testing Program (ATP); (2) the passage of test disclosure legislation; (3) the institution of test sensitivity reviews; and (4) the use of item response…

Scholastic achievement tests and mental ability tests normally consist of a set of multiple choice items, all of which are assumed to measure school-relevant cognitive abilities. The presumption, in a given test situation, is that the answers/solutions to the given tasks represent cognitive capabilities on the part of the examinees. The purpose of…

This report examines the findings from a series of evaluations of efficacy programs in selected elementary and middle schools in Peoria (Illinois), Detroit (Michigan), Los Angeles (California), and the Ravenswood School District in East Palo Alto (California). An efficacy program initiated in Sacramento is targeted as a research site, but no data…

In January 1990, the Leon County (Florida) School District decided to develop an attitude survey focusing on effective school components and school improvement areas. Using focus groups, this survey was accomplished through a steering committee of parents, students, teachers, and community members, with input from school and district…

The effects of two cover letter manipulations and their interactions with demographic variables on response to the initial mailing of a survey were investigated. The two manipulations, type of appeal and type of respondent group identification, were intended to affect respondents' perceptions of their social responsibility and position. In all,…

Issues of the relative costs of multiple choice tests and alternative types of assessment are explored. Before alternative assessments in large-scale or small-scale programs are used, attention must be given to cost considerations and the resources required to develop and implement the assessment. Major categories of cost to be considered are…

The Society and Mass Media section of the proceedings contains the following 16 papers: "The Relationship of Mass Media and Interpersonal Channels to Societal and Personal Risk Judgments" (Cynthia-Lou Coleman); "Freedom of Expression: How Much Will the Public Tolerate?" (Daniel Riffe and Charles F. Aust); "Economic…

This evaluation of an attempt by the Papua New Guinea Department of Education to establish Generalist Teaching (GT) in provincial secondary schools from 1973 to 1977 is based on survey and case study data. Generalist Teaching was introduced to schools by means of two department circulars proposing reorientation of grades 7 and 8 curricula from…

Considerations for identifying the stages of cultural learning of individual students of English as a second language (ESL) are discussed. It is suggested that culture shock, or the shock of the new, is a common experience for those learning a second language in a second culture, and that anger, unhappiness, frustration, and even illness may…

This report is based on data gathered from the National Education Association's (NEA) survey, "Computers in the Classroom," which involved 1,028 elementary and secondary school teachers' responses to a questionnaire gathering information about their knowledge of computers, instructional experience with computers, and opinions regarding a…