The State Planning System (SPS) is a policy-oriented management tool intended to help analyze the interrelated effects of alternative policies and their relationships to state goals. Two pilot-test case studies are described--the SPS tuition policy evaluation conducted in Colorado, and New York's SPS evaluation of the applicability of large scale…

This paper tests four models of the effect of the size of a subgroup of an organization on the proportion of attraction choices made by members of the subgroup that are given to other members of the subgroup. The data base consists of friendship and respect choices made by members of the Maryland State Police force. The four models are: simple…

A decision-theoretic procedure is outlined which provides a framework within which Bayesian statistical methods can be employed with criterion-referenced tests to improve the quality of decision making in objectives based instructional programs. (Author/DEP)

A work-scheduling model for Corrections Officers at State Correctional Institutions is described. This is a real-life model that was developed to deal with a problem of unacceptably large expenditures for overtime work by state prison guards. The problem involves more than 200 constraints and more than 800 variables. It is felt the model can be…

Models of the motion of an object through space are discussed. The material begins with the simplest view possible in which gravity is the only force examined. Discussion progresses to an examination of the drag force, which is the resistive air force of the wind. Suggestions for further improvements are made at the conclusion of the presentation.…

This document consists of four units. The first of these views calculus applications to work, area, and distance problems. It is designed to help students gain experience in: 1) computing limits of Riemann sums; 2) computing definite integrals; and 3) solving elementary area, distance, and work problems by integration. The second module views…

As part of an effort to reassess its enrollment forecasting methodology and techniques, the Florida Division of Community Colleges conducted a national survey of state directors of community/junior colleges to identify successful forecasting practices. A conceptual framework for analyzing responses was developed from a review of the literature on…

To test for item bias, it must be determined whether an item fits the model. Two approaches to defining bias within the framework of the Rasch model are examined. One compares within-group fit mean squares and the other utilizes a between-group fit statistic. Results from both approaches overlap somewhat, but are distinct in many different but…

This study examined the appropriateness of the use of criterion referenced tests as a means of controlling an individual student's advancement to the next level of instruction or retention in the current unit in the PLATO Air Force Base Computer-Based Education project at Chanute. The study was also concerned with program evaluation, which…

This Study Guide on Contemporary Problems, Number 8, is one of a series prepared by the American Association for the Advancement of Science representing part of the 1974-75 National Science Foundation Chautauqua-Type Short Courses for College Teachers Program. This is a test edition and contains evaluation forms to be completed by the users and to…

A logistic model was used to generate data to serve as a proxy for an immediate retest from item responses to a fourth grade standardized reading comprehension test of 45 items. Assuming that the actual test may be considered a pretest and the proxy data may be considered a retest, the effect of regression was investigated using a percentage of…

A Monte Carlo simulation was used to ascertain the degree of inflation that can occur in regression estimates when samples contain randomly occurring instances of a pattern among correlations called cooperative suppression. Ten thousand samples of scores on three variables were randomly drawn from a population in which the correlations among the…

Recent theoretical and empirical study has considerably refined knowledge as to the dynamics of peer processes operative within secondary schools, but has tended to neglect models incorporating reciprocal effects. This situation results partly from a scarcity of appropriate data, and partly from limitations of older methodologies of estimating…

Cognitive development and various educational implications are discussed in terms of Donald Saari's model of the interaction of a learner and the enviroment and the constraints imposed by the inefficiency of the learner's cognitive system. Saari proposed a hierarchical system of cognitive structures such that the relationships between structures…

The three-, two- and one-parameter (Rasch) logistic item characteristic curve models are compared for use in a large multi-section college course. Only the three-parameter model produced clearly unacceptable parameter estimates for 100 item tests with examinee samples ranging from 594 to 1082. The Rasch and two-parameter models were compared for…