bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Content Effects on Word Problem Performance: A Possible Source of Test Bias?
Authors: Chipman Susan F. , Marshall Sandra P. , Scott Patricia A.
Published: March 2008

Gender differences in mathematics test performance that favor males are rarely found on tests of computation or other mathematical symbol manipulations. These differences appear primarily in tests that are labeled as tests of “mathematical reasoning” and consist largely of word problems. The content of the word problems’ cover stories is a possible source of gender bias. Some have suggested that students are discouraged from solving problems for affective reasons when the content of the problem is sex-typed for the opposite sex; cognitive science research on problem-solving processes suggests that familiarity of content would be likely to affect problem-solving performance. To test these hypotheses, an experiment was conducted in which underlying mathematics problems were clothed in four different cover stories: masculine, feminine, neutral familiar, and neutral unfamiliar. No effect of sex-typing was found; there was a highly significant but small effect of familiarity. Ratings of problem characteristics were also collected, primarily to guide and confirm the realization of the design intentions.
Generative Teaching: An Enhancement Strategy for the Learning of Economics in Cooperative Groups
Authors: Kourilsky Marilyn , Wittrock Merlin C.
Published: March 2008

The purpose of this study was to increase the learning of economics among lower socioeconomic level public high school students by teaching them to use generative comprehension procedures in their economics classes’ cooperative learning groups. In a randomly assigned two-treatment design, it was predicted and found that generative learning procedures in cooperative learning classes increased (p < . 0001) the learning of economics by sizable amounts compared with a control procedure that used only cooperative learning methods and that produced smaller increases. Students’ confidence in the correctness of their answers increased (p < . 0001), and the level of misinformation decreased (p < . 0001) as a result of generative teaching procedures. These facilitative effects of generative teaching occurred for both males and females.
Access to Print for Children of Poverty: Differential Effects of Adult Mediation and Literacy-Enriched Play Settings on Environmental and Functional Print Tasks
Authors: Neuman Susan B. , Roskos Kathy
Published: March 2008

This study examined the effects of adult mediation and literacy-enriched play settings on environmental and functional print tasks for 177 minority preschoolers reared in poverty. Eight Head Start classrooms were assigned to one of three conditions: (a) a literacy-enriched generic ‘‘office” play setting with an adult (referred to as “parent-teacher”) encouraged to actively assist children in learning about literacy; (b) a literacy-enriched office play setting with a parent-teacher asked to monitor the children in their literacy play, without direct intervention; and (c) a nonintervention group. Prior to, during, and following the 5-month intervention, the frequency of each child’s handling, reading, and writing of environmental and functional print was assessed through direct observation. Videotaped samples of the office play setting, collected weekly throughout the study, examined children’s uses of print and functional items and their interactions with peers and parent-teachers. Following the intervention, each child was administered environmental and functional print tasks. Results indicated that although no differences were found for children’s understanding of the functions of print items, parent-teachers’ active engagement with children in the office setting significantly influenced their ability to read environmental print and label functional items. Qualitative analyses further detailed activities and strategies used in representative play frames. These findings suggest that adult interaction in literacy-enriched play settings may represent an important opportunity for assisting minority children who live in poverty to think, speak, and behave in literate ways.
Grade Retention and Problem Behavior
Authors: Gottfredson Denise C. , Fink Carolyn M. , Graham Nanette
Published: March 2008

This study explores the causal nature of the well established association between grade retention and later adolescent problem behaviors including delinquency, drug use, and dropout. It uses multiple regression to examine retention effects on theoretical variables which might link retention to problem behavior in a sample of mostly African-American sixth and seventh graders intivo urban middle schools. The study compares the retained (n = 197) to the promoted (n = 204) students on measures of the theoretical intervening variables 11 months after retention. The retained students scored in the more negative direction on all measures taken prior to the retention decision, but these differences were diminished 11 months after the retention decision. Regression analyses imply that retention reduced rebellious behavior in school and increased attachment to school. These effects were small but statistically significant. No evidence of negative effects of grade retention was found on the theoretical predictors of problem behavior examined in this study.
Putting Practice Into Theory: Changes in the Organization of Preservice Teachers’ Pedagogical Knowledge
Authors: Jones M. Gail , Vesilind Elizabeth M.
Published: March 2008

This study investigated changes in the organization of preservice teachers’ knowledge about teaching. The research questions included: (a) How do student teachers’ concepts of effective teaching change through time? (b) What experiences and factors do student teachers report as influencing changes in the organization of their concepts? Twenty-three seniors in middlegrades teacher education drew concept maps, completed card sorting tasks, and participated in structured interviews four times during the senior year. The findings indicated that student teachers reconstructed their knowledge related to teaching during the middle of student teaching and attributed these changes in knowledge organization primarily to student teaching experiences. Using a constructivist perspective, the authors discuss how anomalies experienced by student teachers interacted with prior knowledge. Two concepts—flexibility and planning—emerged as key concepts that changed rapidly. Flexibility was initially associated with preparation for class; then toward the end of student teaching, this concept was related to differentiating instruction for students’ needs and taking advantage of the teachable moment. Planning was initially described as a concept related to planning lessons and obtaining materials; then by the middle of student teaching, it became associated with the unpredictability of classroom events. By the end of student teaching, planning became a complex concept that connected lesson planning, maintaining class management, and meeting students’ needs.
Gender and Science Learning Early in High School: Subject Matter and Laboratory Experiences
Authors: Burkam David T. , Lee Valerie E. , Smerdon Becky A.
Published: March 2008

This study used a large and nationally representative, longitudinal database, NELS:88, to identify important factors related to gender differences in 10th-grade science performance. It built on an earlier study focusing on 8th-grade science performance, wherein gender differences were found to be related to (a) subject matter (life versus physical science), (b) student ability level, and (c) frequency of hands-on lab opportunities. The moderate unadjusted advantage for 8th-grade boys on the physical science test widened by the 10th grade. The gender differences were smaller on the life science test and favored males among students of average and above-average ability and females among the less able students. Hands-on lab activities—relatively infrequent in high school science classes—continued to be related to all students’ performance, but especially to girls’. These findings suggest the importance of the active involvement of students in the science classroom as a means to promote gender equity. Implications for the underrepresentation of women in physical science careers are discussed.
The Process of Dropping Out of High School: A 19-Year Perspective
Authors: Garnier Helen E. , Stein Judith A. , Jacobs Jennifer K.
Published: March 2008

In this study, nested latent-variable causal models were contrasted to compare the direct and indirect relationships of distal family and child and proximal adolescent factors to dropping out of high school. The sample included 194 Euro-American conventional and nonconventional families in a 19-year longitudinal study. The findings showed that dropping out of high school is a multiply-determined process, with early influences beginning in childhood, that involves family as well as child and adolescent factors. Early family nonconventionality with higher commitment to lifestyle values was associated with a lower probability of dropping out; cumulative family stress, lower high school achievement and motivation, lower sixth-grade school performance, and adolescent drug use were associated with a higher probability of dropping out. Family lifestyles and values are related to children’s developmental pathways through childhood exposure to drug use, child ability prior to school entry, and early school performance. Nonconventional lifestyles with a higher commitment to lifestyle values may offer long-term protection for children from school failure.
Reading for Meaning: The Efficacy of Reciprocal Teaching in Fostering Reading Comprehension in High School Students in Remedial Reading Classes
Authors: Alfassi Miriam
Published: March 2008

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of strategy instruction on reading comprehension. The main objective of strategy instruction is to foster comprehension monitoring. The study examined whether reciprocal teaching methods (strategy instruction) were superior to traditional methods of remedial reading (skill acquisition) in large intact high school remedial classes. This setting was chosen because it is a more natural setting for the implementation of reciprocal teaching than settings used in previous studies. With a methodology similar to that used in the pioneering work of Palincsar and Brown (1984) , 53 students in five intact reading classes who received strategy instruction were compared to 22 students in three control-group classes. The results indicated that in this challenging setting strategy instruction was superior to traditional reading methods in fostering reading comprehension as measured by experimenter-designed reading tests. Consistent with previous research, no differences were found between the groups on two standardized measures of reading.
Prospective Teachers’ Problem Solving in Online Peer-Led Dialogues
Authors: Wade Suzanne E. , Fauske Janice R. , Thompson Audrey
Published: March 2008

In this self-study of a secondary teacher education course, the authors investigated whether there was evidence of critically reflective problem solving on the part of prospective teachers who participated in a peer-led online discussion of a teaching case about English-language learners. They also examined what approaches to multicultural education the peer-led dialogues suggested. Using the tools of discourse analysis to analyze the dialogue, they found some evidence of reflective problem solving. However, few students engaged in critical reflection, which entails examining the sociopolitical consequences of solutions and promoting social change through community action projects. Furthermore, many responses reflected deficit theories, stereotypical thinking, and technical-rational problem solving. Interwoven with the analysis of the students’ discussion is a self-study dialogue reflecting on the instructor’s curriculum and pedagogy. The self-study addresses what the authors have learned about how teacher educators foster critically reflective problem solving regarding issues of language, culture, and race.
Research news and Comment: A Pedagogy of Possibility: Reflecting Upon Paulo Freire’s Politics of Education
Authors: McLaren Peter
Published: March 2008

[W]hat I have been proposing from my political convictions, my philosophical convictions, is a profound respect for the total autonomy of the educator. What I have been proposing is a profound respect for the cultural identity of students—a cultural identity that implies respect for the language of the other, the color of the other, the gender of the other, the class of the other, the sexual orientation of the other, the intellectual capacity of the other; that implies the ability to stimulate the creativity of the other. But these things take place in a social and historical context and not in pure air. These things take place in history and I, Paulo Freire, am not the owner of history.
Race of Examiner Effects and the Validity of Intelligence Tests
Authors: Graziano William G. , Varca Philip E. , Levy Jodie C.
Published: March 2008

Recent empirical evidence for the influence of examiner’s race on examinee’s performance on intelligence tests is reviewed. Studies are classified as either adequate or inadequate and as either complete or incomplete, based on design and sampling procedures. In addition, methodological flaws are noted (e.g., confounding race of examiner with order of examination) and outcomes are critically evaluated. In general, the current literature offers little support for the hypothesis that examiner’s race, per se, has a systematic effect on examinee’s performance on intelligence tests. Conceptual and methodological issues are discussed, and suggestions are made for future research.
Limitations of Recent Research Relating Piaget’s Theory to Adolescent Thought
Authors: Nagy Philip , Griffiths Alan K.
Published: March 2008

Educators have been interested in Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development as a means of linking developmental level, concepts that can be grouped, and instructional strategy. Also, considerable effort has been directed to acceleration of the child’s developmental level. Many researchers, wishing to generalize to large numbers, have turned away from Piaget’s technique to group paper-and-pencil tests. Attention has been focused on the psychometric properties of these tests and their statistical links with other constructs.

This review takes the following perspectives. First, there is a questionable relationship between the observed products of mental effort and their underlying mental strategies. There is evidence of a many-many rather than a one-one relationship between solution and strategy. Second, when viewed from its own experimental statistical perspective, much of the research suffers from serious methodological flaws. Third, attempts to prescribe instructional strategies that accelerate intellectual development have borne little fruit. The review closes with suggestions for a redirection of emphasis on the application of Piaget’s theory to education.
The Role of Play in Social-Intellectual Development
Authors: Christie James F. , Johnsen E. P.
Published: March 2008

The past decade has witnessed growing interest in the role of play in child development, prompting numerous research studies on the effects and correlates of playful behavior. This paper reviews these studies in an attempt to assess the current status of this important area of inquiry. The paper begins with a discussion of the role of play in major developmental theories. Next, a number of experimental and correlational studies are reviewed. These studies are classified in terms of their major correlates or dependent variables: (a) creativity, (b) problem solving, (c) language development, (d) logical skills, and (e) social knowledge. The designs of the studies are critically examined, and problems of internal and external validity are noted. Recommendations are made for future research.
A Framework for the Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Adjunct Questions and Objectives
Authors: Hamilton Richard J.
Published: March 2008

Recent formulations in cognitive psychology have significantly modified our view of the prose learning process. Both the structure of the prose passage and learner characteristics have been shown to consistently influence the learning of prose. Given these recent formulations, a reevaluation of the research on the effectiveness of adjunct aids in a prose learning setting should provide for a better understanding of the usefulness of these aids. The present article evaluates the effectiveness of adjunct questions and objectives in a prose learning setting. A framework that includes the above formulations is used to organize and direct the analysis and discussion of results. The framework proved to be very useful in (a) the identification of processes responsible for the effects of the two adjunct aids, (b) the explanation of unusual and/or discrepant results, and (c) the generation of recommendation for future research
A Meta-Analysis of Selected Studies on the Effectiveness of Bilingual Education
Authors: Willig Ann C.
Published: March 2008

A meta-analysis of selected studies on the efficacy of bilingual education was conducted and the results were compared with a traditional review of the same literature. When statistical controls for methodological inadequacies were employed, participation in bilingual education programs consistently produced small to moderate differences favoring bilingual education for tests of reading, language skills, mathematics, and total achievement when the tests were in English, and for reading, language, mathematics, writing, social studies, listening comprehension, and attitudes toward school or self when tests were in other languages. The magnitude of effect sizes was influenced by the types of programs compared, language of the criterion instruments, academic domain of the criterion instruments, random versus nonrandom assignment of students to programs, formula used to calculate effect sizes, and types of scores reported in the studies. Programs characterized by instability and/or hostile environments were associated with lower effect sizes. The synthesized studies contained a variety of methodological weaknesses which affected the magnitude of the effect sizes. Initial group differences—in language dominance, in environmental language exposure, in need for the bilingual program—were not uncommon. In some cases, comparison groups contained bilingual program “graduates.” In others, experimental groups changed in composition during the study through the exiting of successful students and their replacement with newcomers subsequent to pretesting and prior to posttesting. Although the technique of meta-analysis allows for statistical control of methodological inadequacies, the methodological inadequacies in the synthesized studies render the results less than definitive and highlight the need for quality research in the area of bilingual education. Problems inherent in conducting research on bilingual programs are discussed in relation to the outcomes of this synthesis, and guidelines for future research are proposed.
A Meta-Analytic Review of the Effect on Learning of the Interaction Between Prior Achievement and Instructional Support
Authors: Whitener Ellen M.
Published: March 2008

Aptitude-treatment interaction research has been plagued by conceptual and methodological problems that are evidenced in inconsistent results and unreplicated studies. These problems can be addressed, in part, by using meta-analytic techniques. These techniques were used in this study to test the effect of the interaction of prior achievement with instructional support on learning. This aptitude-treatment interaction was tested by assessing how the learning of subjects with different levels of prior achievement is effected by providing organizational and structuring instructional support as opposed to learner-controlled or self-paced instructional support. The results reveal an interaction that is consistent with the interpretation that there are greater differences in learning achievement between subjects with high prior achievement and subjects with low prior achievement when structuring and organizing support are provided and smaller differences between these subjects when instruction is self-paced. Although this study indicates that differences in achievement levels can be reduced through instructional treatment, further research is needed to evaluate other effects, such as total and subgroup mean achievement.
Children’s Anxiety and Phobic Disorders in School Settings: Classification, Assessment, and Intervention Issues
Authors: King Neville J. , Ollendick Thomas H.
Published: March 2008

Children evince specific fears and anxieties that may impede social and academic development at school. Following a brief discussion of normal fears and epidemiological issues, we note the basic features and methodological requirements of a cognitive-behavioral perspective. Clinical and empirical classifications of childhood anxiety disorders are examined, from which the complexity of these disorders is evident. Assessment is viewed as a multimethod, problem-solving approach. Thus, a range of specific assessment procedures is examined, including the interview, self-report instruments, other-report measures, behavioral observations, self-monitoring, and physiological assessment. In reviewing the cognitive-behavioral treatment of childhood fears and anxiety disorders, we stress the need for flexibility and integrative programs in the school setting. Although research findings on the efficacy of fear reduction procedures are encouraging, there are a number of conceptual and methodological limitations. Also, the role of teachers in identifying and managing anxious children awaits full articulation.
Adult Undergraduates in Higher Education: A Review of Past Research Perspectives
Authors: Kasworm Carol E.
Published: March 2008

This review examines past research on adult undergraduates in American higher education. Due to varied beliefs regarding adult students and past higher educational practice, this study utilizes qualitative content analysis to identify key perceptual assumptions and orientations as well as descriptive groupings. Five inductive thematic categories, domains of reality framed by the researchers, are identified. These include: the Image of Implied Deficiency, Image of Student Entry and Adaptation, Image of Description and Characterization, Image of Psychosocial Development, and Image of Equity and Outcome. A discussion of these key perspectives as well as a critical review of past research in the study of adult undergraduate students is presented.
Does Research Support Claims About the Benefits of Involving Parents in Early Intervention Programs?
Authors: White Karl R. , Taylor Matthew J. , Moss Vanessa D.
Published: March 2008

It is widely believed that early intervention programs that involve parents are more effective than those that do not. After discussing the types of parent involvement programs that have been implemented in previous early intervention research and defining the benefits which are allegedly associated with the involvement of parents in early intervention programs, this article presents an analysis of the evidence from previous research regarding the alleged benefits. This analysis shows that there is no convincing evidence that the ways in which parents have been involved in previous early intervention research studies result in more effective outcomes. Possible reasons for the lack of observed benefits are offered, and suggestions are made for future research and practice.
School Recess: Implications for Education and Development
Authors: Pellegrini A. D. , Smith Peter K.
Published: March 2008

In this article the empirical research on the role of school recess is reviewed. Recess is first defined, and then the effects of child-level variables (e.g., gender, age, and temperament) and school-level variables (e.g., recess timing and duration) on children’s recess behavior are reviewed. The implications of recess are discussed in terms of impact on classroom behavior and on measures of social and cognitive competence. It is concluded that recess has important educational and developmental implications. Further research in this area is urgently needed, and some promising areas of inquiry are suggested.
Cognitive and Noncognitive Effects of Multigrade and Multi-Age Classes: A Best-Evidence Synthesis
Authors: Veenman Simon
Published: March 2008

Multigrade and multi-age classrooms, in which students from two or more grades are taught by one teacher at the same time, represent a significant phenomenon in our schools. This article reviews the best evidence concerning the cognitive and noncognitive effects of the multigrade classroom, which is an administrative device used to cope with declining student enrollment or uneven class sizes, and the multi-age classroom, in which children of different ages are grouped together for educational and pedagogical benefits, in elementary schools. Studies in which the cognitive or achievement effects of multigrade and single-grade classes were compared revealed no consistent differences between these two types of classroom organization (median ES = .00). Studies of the noncognitive effects of multigrade and single-grade classes also produced no consistent differences (median ES = +.10). Studies in which the cognitive or achievement effects of multi-age and single-age classes were compared indicated no differences between these two types of grouping (median ES = –.03). And, finally, studies of the noncognitive effects of multi-age and single-age classes produced inconsistent effects (median ES = +.15). It is concluded that there is no empirical evidence for the assumption that student learning may suffer in multigrade and multi-age classrooms.
What We Have Here Is Failure to Communicate: A Rejoinder to Ferguson and Ferguson
Authors: Gresham Frank M. , MacMillan Donald L.
Published: March 2008

The Fergusons’ response to our review of the social and affective characteristics of children with mild disabilities was nonresponsive to the purpose and scope of our review of the empirical literature, as well as to the conclusions we drew from it. Their rebuttal on ways of knowing is typical of a constructivist perspective on the field of disabilities, in which personal anecdotes and opinions are on equal footing with empirical evidence drawn from systematically controlled studies. It is unfortunate that the Fergusons chose to interpret our review from the well-worn and tired perspective of The Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH) on full inclusion, an ideologically driven movement for the severely, not the mildly, disabled. We are concerned that our review provided a pulpit from which constructivists such as the Fergusons could preach their ideological gospel.
Predictors of Principals’ Reliance on Formal and Informal Sources of Information
Authors: McColskey Wendy H. , Altschuld James W. , Lawton Raymond W.
Published: March 2008

Secondary school principals in Ohio were surveyed regarding their reliance on formal and informal information for decision making and potential predictors of such reliance. The two types of reliance were treated as criterion variates in separate canonical analyses. In each case the predictor variate consisted of data from the following four variables: (a)perceptions of oneself as an instructional leader; (b) autonomy in decision making; (c) open-mindedness; and (d) prior research experience. Moderately high canonical correlations and a consistent pattern of predictor variate structure coefficients were observed in both analyses. The findings are important for understanding the use and non-use of evaluation results by principals.
External Pressures for Reform and Strategy Formation at the District Level: Superintendents’ Interpretations of State Demands
Authors: Wills Frances G. , Peterson Kent D.
Published: March 2008

Demands for school-district reform are increasingly presented as externally imposed change, directed by state education departments. This study investigated strategies that superintendents used to develop and implement school-improvement plans in response to state mandates. It explored superintendents’ perceptions of environmental uncertainty and how their interpretations of the environment shaped their decisions to implement change. Six environmental factors were identified as the context for strategic decision making. These included uncertainty related to (a) superintendents’ futures and careers, (b) organizational structure, (c) accountability and participation in the planning process, (d) linkages in school improvement, (e) the economic environment, and (f) the intent of state reform efforts.
Notes: Where Is Reform Taking Place? An Analysis of Policy Changes and School Climate
Authors: Bernstein Lawrence
Published: March 2008

This study analyzes the 1987–1988 NAEP School Questionnaire administered at the 4th-, 8th-, and 12th-grade levels. Relationships between policy changes and school climate, and individual grouping variables defining school poverty, school size, community type, and ethnicity were investigated. The results showed a fairly consistent pattern across all three grade levels in how schools ranked on the various grouping dimensions in their reporting of policy changes and school-related problems. Large, urban disadvantaged schools with predominantly non-White populations tended to report the most policy changes and school-related problems, suggesting that reform is taking place in those schools where it is most needed.
Notes: Combining Measurement-Driven Instruction With Authentic Assessment: Some Initial Observations of National Assessment in England and Wales
Authors: Torrance Harry
Published: March 2008

Recently assessment has been singled out as a key mechanism for monitoring and intervening in the educational process. In particular, claims are being made that new forms of assessment will be able to drive teaching and learning in more positive ways than was originally associated with narrower testing programs. This note reports on initial evidence from the National Assessment in England and Wales and highlights a number of problems in implementing new approaches to assessment in the context of national testing.
The Educational Justification of Historically Black Colleges and Universities: A Policy Response to the U.S. Supreme Court
Authors: Wenglinsky Harold H.
Published: March 2008

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) have recently come under attack from the Supreme Court and the U.S. Department of Education, which have told states that they must either find an educational justification for the schools’ continued existence, or close them. Applying multivariate statistical techniques to a nationally representative sample of students attending HBCUs and Traditionally White Institutions (TWIs), this study finds that the schools may have an educational justification in that African American HBCU students are more likely than their counterparts at TWIs to pursue a postgraduate education and become professionals. African American HBCU students are, however, no more likely than their counterparts at TWIs to experience high levels of social interaction with faculty and other students, nor are they more likely to aspire to community activism.
Notes: High Standards and Cultural Diversity: Cautionary Tales of Comparative Research—A Comment on “Benchmarking Education Standards” by Lauren B. Resnick, Katherine J. Nolan, and Daniel P. Resnick
Authors: Louis Karen Seashore , Versloot Bert
Published: March 2008

A recent article by Resnick, Nolan, and Resnick (1995) analyzed the curriculum and examination system for mathematics in France and the Netherlands. The focus of the article was on how the two countries create and maintain “world class standards” in mathematics. However, the authors overlook the real process by which a country like the Netherlands, which has legal autonomy for individual schools, creates a national consensus around high standards for student learning. This contribution describes the formal, legal status of curriculum and examination standards and also the process by which high standards emerge and are maintained over time. Some attention is also paid to new trends in high-stakes examinations. The Dutch approach toward a balance between local autonomy and national, high standards has considerable relevance to the U.S. setting.
Estimation of the Box Correction for Degrees of Freedom from Sample Data in Randomized Block and Split-Plot Designs
Authors: Huynh Huynh , Feldt Leonard S.
Published: March 2008

It has been suggested that when the variance assumptions of a repeated measures ANOVA are not met, the df of the mean square ratio should be adjusted by the sample estimate of the Box correction factor, ɛ. This procedure works well when ɛ is low, but the estimate is seriously biased when this is not the case. An alternate estimate is proposed which is shown by Monte Carlo methods to be less biased for moderately large ɛ.
Balancing - Analysis of Variance by Another Name
Authors: Appelbaum Mark I. , Cramer Elliot M.
Published: March 2008

In Report 7 (1971) of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, an analytic technique known as balancing was introduced. The stated purpose of this technique is the elimination of confounding in multifactor survey studies in which some attributes are not equally represented in all cells of the survey sample design. The likely impact of the NAEP reports is great, and it is vital that the nature of the analyses and their relationships to other known analytic techniques be clearly understood.

This report shows that the estimation procedure used in balancing is the equivalent of that employed in the nonorthogonal analysis of variance in an additive model. The nature of weighting schemes for the definition of marginal populations is considered in detail as well as the implications of these various schemes to interpretation of results. The results on weighting schemes and interpretations apply to both balancing and a much broader class of analyses.
Type IV Errors and Analysis of Simple Effects
Authors: Betz M. Austin , Gabriel K. Ruben
Published: March 2008

Games (1973) , Levin and Marascuilo (1973) and Marascuilo and Levin (1970 , 1976) have raised a number of issues pertaining to the analysis of simple effects in designs with two factors. This paper presents procedures for analyzing interactions and simple effects in two-way designs with suggestions for implementation in aptitude-treatment interaction studies. It is shown how to choose a composite hypothesis so as to avoid type IV errors, control the experimentwise error rate for the family implied by the composite hypothesis and determine type I and type II error rates for hypotheses based on fewer degrees of freedom implied by a composite hypothesis. A numerical example is used to illustrate the concepts. Apriori approaches are also considered and compared.
Measuring the Appropriateness of Multiple-Choice Test Scores
Authors: Levine Michael V. , Rubin Donald B.
Published: March 2008

A student may be so atypical and unlike other students that his or her aptitude test score fails to be a completely appropriate measure of his or her relative ability. We consider the problem of using the student’s pattern of multiplechoice aptitude test answers to decide whether his or her score is an appropriate ability measure. Several indicators of appropriateness are formulated and evaluated with a simulation of theScholastic Aptitude Test. Applications to investigations of alignment errors, exceptional creativity, suboptimal test taking strategies, and unauthorized access to test items are noted.
Robustness Regions for Dichotomous Decisions
Authors: Vijn Pieter , Molenaar Ivo W.
Published: March 2008

This expository paper intends to give educational researchers suitable access to a method for investigating the stability of their dichotomous decisions under changes of assumptions. Inferences and decisions based on statistical models typically involve model assumptions, such as normality and independence of observations. In statistical decision theory, one also has to specify loss functions, and in a Bayesian analysis a prior distribution has to be specified. In the case of dichotomous decisions (passing or failing a student, choosing between two teaching methods, rejecting or retaining a hypothesis), the total set of all such assumptions/specifications for which the decision would have been the same is the robustness region (section 2). Inspection of this (data-dependent) region is a form of sensitivity analysis which may lead to improved decision making. Section 1 discusses earlier forms of sensitivity or robustness analysis, both data-dependent and a priori. Examples of robustness regions deal with mastery decisions (sections 3 and 4), evaluation of a teaching experiment (section 5), and aptitude treatment interaction (section 6).
Estimation in Parallel Randomized Experiments
Authors: Rubin Donald B.
Published: March 2008

Many studies comparing new treatments to standard treatments consist of parallel randomized experiments. In the example considered here, randomized experiments were conducted in eight schools to determine the effectiveness of special coaching programs for the SAT. The purpose here is to illustrate Bayesian and empirical Bayesian techniques that can be used to help summarize the evidence in such data about differences among treatments, thereby obtaining improved estimates of the treatment effect in each experiment, including the one having the largest observed effect. Three main tools are illustrated: 1) graphical techniques for displaying sensitivity within an empirical Bayes framework, 2) simple simulation techniques for generating Bayesian posterior distributions of individual effects and the largest effect, and 3) methods for monitoring the adequacy of the Bayesian model specification by simulating the posterior predictive distribution in hypothetical replications of the same treatments in the same eight schools.
Testing and Estimation in the Block Compound Symmetry Problem
Authors: Szatrowski Ted H.
Published: March 2008

Known results for testing and estimation problems for patterned means and covariance matrices with explicit linear maximum likelihood estimates are applied to the block compound symmetry problem. New results given include the constants for G.P.E. Box’s approximate null distribution of the likelihood ratio statistic. These techniques are applied to the analysis of an educational testing problem.
On Describing an Incidence Sample
Authors: Boodoo Gwyneth M.
Published: March 2008

Parameters used to describe an incidence sample are estimated using the theory of generalized symmetric means and generalizability theory. The former is used to compute estimates of the mean and variance components in an ANOVA framework, while the latter is used in obtaining generalizability coefficients. Standard errors of the variance estimates are obtained. The procedure is illustrated using data from two competency-based tests given to eighth grade students in mathematics and reading.
Random Versus Nonrandom Coefficient Models for Multilevel Analysis
Authors: Tate Richard L. , Wongbundhit Yuwadee
Published: March 2008

It has been argued recently that adequate representation of the multilevel processes of interest in many educational settings will often require models with coefficients that are random rather than nonrandom. Computer simulation results presented here demonstrate the extent to which the two most common multilevel or contextual analysis procedures may mislead when data are, in fact, generated with a random coefficients process. In contrast, correct results are obtained with a third method, which has been recently proposed but not used yet in substantive research.
Bayesian Analysis for Binomial Models with Generalized Beta Prior Distributions
Authors: Chen James J. , Novick Melvin R.
Published: March 2008

The Libby-Novick class of three-parameter generalized beta distributions is shown to provide a rich class of prior distributions for the binomial model that removes some of the restrictions of the standard beta class. The posterior distribution defines a new class of four-parameter generalized beta distributions for which numerical posterior analysis is easily done. A numerical example indicates the desirability of using these wider classes of densities for binomial models, particularly in an interactive computing environment.
The Method of Unweighted Means in Multivariate Analysis of Variance
Authors: Betz M. Austin , Elliott Steven D.
Published: March 2008

The method of unweighted means in the multivariate analysis of variance with unequal sample sizes is investigated. By approximating the distribution of the hypothesis SSCP with a Wishart distribution, multivariate test statistics are derived that are analogous to the usual ones except the eigenvalues and hypothesis degrees of freedom are adjusted in accordance with the discrepancies in sample size. Monte Carlo methods are used to show the approximate test statistics are accurate over a range of conditions. Conditions are given under which the method of unweighted means yields exact results. A numerical example illustrates the technique.
Validity Studies Based on a Universal Criterion Scale
Authors: Braun Henry I. , Szatrowski Ted H.
Published: March 2008

Most institutional validity studies are based on registered students, although the validity of the predictors in the population of all applicants is the ideal. A natural subset of this population that is also of interest to admissions committees consists of registrants together with applicants who are attending competing institutions. Although the latter have obtained criterion scores, the data cannot be pooled easily because of different grade scales. In “The Scale-Linkage Algorithm: Construction of a Universal Criterion Scale for Families of Institutions,” we showed how to construct a universal criterion scale for a family of comparable institutions. Here the results are applied to the direct estimation of validity for various groups of applicants and to the testing of the assumptions underlying the more familiar extrapolation methods. Data from American Schools of Law are used to illustrate the procedures.
Manifest and Latent Markov Chain Models for Categorical Panel Data
Authors: Langeheine Rolf
Published: March 2008

The starting point of this paper is a 3 × 3 × 3 table of repeated behavior ratings of children, which has been previously analyzed by Plewis (1981) using manifest discrete time and continuous time Markov chain models. Potential reasons for the ubiquitous misfit of the manifest discrete time Markov chain model are outlined. It is proposed, instead, to make use of more recent developments in latent discrete time Markov chain modeling that simultaneously address the main problems of heterogeneity, measurement error, stationarity, and order effects.
Multivariate Variance Component Analysis: An Application in Test Development
Authors: Longford Nicholas T.
Published: March 2008

This paper presents a multilevel variance component analysis of data from the pilot year of pretesting of an educational test. The multilevel nature of the data is induced by the clustering of students within colleges and by having multivariate observations (scores) on students. The presence of a multidimensional trait underlying the scores is formulated as a hypothesis about the full rank of a variance matrix.
Derivations of Observed Score Equating Methods That Cater to Populations Differing in Ability
Authors: MacCann Robert G.
Published: March 2008

For anchor test equating, three linear observed score methods are derived for populations selected to differ in ability. Version A uses the slope, intercept, and standard error of estimate assumptions of selection theory. Version B uses the slope and intercept assumptions and assumes that the equated tests (X, Y) are equally reliable and congeneric. Both employ the synthetic population. Version C requires similar assumptions to Version A but does not use the synthetic population. Each version requires that the correlations of the tests with the selection variable be known. Five further sets of assumptions are made for each model, yielding 15 methods, which are then related to existing equating methods in the literature.
When Do Item Response Function and Mantel-Haenszel Definitions of Differential Item Functioning Coincide?
Authors: Zwick Rebecca
Published: March 2008

A test item is typically considered free of differential item functioning (DIF) if its item response function is the same across demographic groups. A popular means of testing for DIF is the Mantel-Haenszel (MH) approach. Holland and Thayer (1988) showed that, under the Rasch model, identity of item response functions across demographic groups implies that the MH null hypothesis will be satisfied when the MH matching variable is test score, including the studied item. This result, however, cannot be generalized to the class of items for which item response functions are monotonic and local independence holds. Suppose that all item response functions are identical across groups, but the ability distributions for the two groups are stochastically ordered. In general, the population MH result will show DIF favoring the higher group on some items and the lower group on others. If the studied item is excluded from the matching criterion under these conditions, the population MH result will always show DIF favoring the higher group.
Standardized Discriminant Coefficients Revisited
Authors: Nordlund Daniel J. , Nagel Rollin
Published: March 2008

The reasons and methods for standardizing discriminant function coefficients are reviewed, and the recommendation of Mueller and Cozad (1988) to use the pooled within-groups variance estimate is reexamined. It is demonstrated that using either total or pooled within-groups variance estimates to standardize discriminant function coefficients can be justified on purely mathematical grounds. We argue that using total variance estimates to standardize discriminant function coefficients is a more consistent and parsimonious approach than using pooled within-group estimates.
A Multilevel, Multivariate Model for Studying School Climate With Estimation Via the EM Algorithm and Application to U.S. High-School Data
Authors: Raudenbush Stephen W. , Rowan Brian , Kang Sang Jin
Published: March 2008

In many studies of school climate, researchers ask teachers a series of questions, and the responses to related questions are averaged or summed to create a scale score for each teacher on each dimension of climate under investigation. Researchers have disagreed, however, about the analysis of such data: Some have utilized the teacher as the analytic unit, and some have utilized the school as the unit. In this article, we propose a three-level, multivariate statistical modeling strategy that resolves the unit-of-analysis dilemma and unifies thinking about the analysis in such studies. A reanalysis of U. S. high-school data illustrates how to estimate and interpret: (a) the level of interteacher agreement on each climate dimension; (b) the internal consistency of measurement at the teacher and school levels; and (c) the correlations among “true” climate scores at each level. A linear model analysis utilized teacher control over school and classroom policy and teacher morale as bivariate latent outcomes to be predicted by school-level variables (e.g., sector, size, composition) and by teacher-level variables (e.g., education, race, sex, subject matter). Implications for conceptualization, design, analysis, and interpretation in future studies of school climate are considered.