Donald L. Alderman

The Effects of Special Preparation on SAT-Verbal Scores

Students at eight secondary schools were randomly assigned to either a treatment group that was given special preparation for the SAT-V or to a control group whose access to the same preparation was delayed for the purposes of the study. The programs of special preparation were those already in place at the schools. A special administration of the SAT served as the posttest. Special preparation resulted in an overall difference of eight points, on the SAT-V scale of 200–800 points, between the treatment and control groups, corresponding to one additional correct item and stemming primarily from performance on analogy and antonym items.

Evaluation of the TICCIT computer-assisted instructional system in the community college

and Conclusions Introductio n

Feedback as an incentive for responding to a mail questionnaire

The effect of offering respondents feedback on questionnaire results was investigated in a national mail survey of college-bound secondary school students. It was found that offering feedback had a significant positive effect on response rate, but the magnitude of that effect was slightly less than the increase in response rate resulting from a shorter questionnaire and considerably less than a follow-up contact with nonrespondents.

Student Self-Selection and Test Repetition1

Student self-selection in deciding to repeat a test was examined by contrasting the test performance of students taking the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) as juniors and again as seniors with the test performance of students taking the SAT only once as juniors. Estimates of expected test performance on a common initial administration in the junior year were derived from separate equating sections and background variables. Residuals of observed minus expected test scores revealed statistically significant differences between students who took a single administration of the SAT as juniors and students who took the same initial administration but also repeated the test as seniors; the initial observed scores of students later repeating the test were consistently lower than their expected scores for both the verbal and mathematical sections. These results indicate that self-selection occurs when students decide to repeat a test and that score changes among these students reflect negative errors of measurement on the initial test administration as well as other factors.

Faculty Acceptance of Instructional Technology: Attitudes toward Educational Practices and Computer-Assisted Instruction at Community Colleges.

Teacher resistance is often cited as a primary reason behind schools’ reluctance to adopt instructional technology. This study concerns faculty beliefs about educational practices and attitudes toward computer‐assisted instruction at community colleges. The major dimensions of such beliefs and attitudes, as well as faculty comments and responses to specific questions, help in understanding school acceptance of instructional technology. Completed surveys from approximately 300 faculty members at six colleges indicated current opinions about educational practices and provided a baseline of initial attitudes toward CAI. The section on educational practices was subjected to a principal axis factor analysis, which yielded six factors to be rotated according to a varimax solution. The resultant factors were labelled student focus, receptivity to innovation, course objectives, testing, faculty autonomy, and personal interaction. The section on computers and CAI was also factor analysed, and the resultant four fa...

Practical Techniques for Implementing True Experimental Designs

This note suggests that it is sometimes possible to apply true experimental designs in field settings by takmg advantage of the constraints under which programs or experimental treatments must operate. In a research study requiring classical treatment and control groups, practical methods for implementing true experimental procedures in public schools had to be devised and applied. These solutions to a problem often encountered by evaluators are presented here.

The Validity of Written Simulation Exercises for Assessing Clinical Skills in Legal Education1

Four different groups of respondents completed a set of simulation exercises intended to reflect lawyering skills involved in client interviews. The written simulation exercises began with a brief description of a practical situation and required a series of interdependent steps be taken toward resolution of a specific problem in client interviewing. The four response groups were: (a) undergraduate prelaw students; (b) law students without any direct client experience; (c) law students completing programs of clinical legal education; and (d) law professors and attorneys. Scores on the simulation exercises showed successive, significant increases across response groups and seemed independent of academic preparation and ability. These results suggest both the appropriateness of simulation exercises as measures of clinical skills in legal education and the effectiveness of clinical programs in promoting the development of such skills within law schools.