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School attachment has received considerable attention in K-12 literature but it is relatively unexplored at the post-secondary level. The university attachment scale (UAS) is a new instrument designed to bridge this gap and previous research suggests transfer students score lower on group attachment than non-transfer students. However, these findings are limited to a population of primarily residential and traditional 4-year university students. This study re-examines the factor structure of the UAS at an institution with a large transfer student population and compares the latent means between traditional (N = 561), transfer (N = 372) and online (N = 50) students. These results of this study and their implications for higher education are discussed. (Contains 5 tables.)

Education research rarely lends itself to large scale experimental research and true randomization, leaving the researcher to quasi-experimental designs. The problem with quasi-experimental research is that underlying factors may impact group selection and lead to potentially biased results. One way to minimize the impact of non-randomization is through the use of propensity scores. First developed by Rosenbaum & Rubin (1983b), these scores allow researchers to balance non-equivalent groups though matching on a singular scalar variable. The present paper will present the theoretical framework behind propensity scores along with a heuristic data set to demonstrate propensity score calculation and evaluation. Appended is: "PASW (v17.0) Syntax for Propensity Score Matching using Matching within Calipers." (Contains 4 tables.)

In General Linear Model (GLM) analyses, it is important to interpret structure coefficients, along with standardized weights, when evaluating variable contribution to observed effects. Although often used in canonical correlation analysis, structure coefficients are less frequently used in multiple regression and several other multivariate analyses. This paper discusses and demonstrates the role of structure coefficients in multivariate analyses by: (1) illustrating structure coefficients in the univariate context with multiple regression; and (2) using canonical correlation analysis to demonstrate structure coefficients in the multivariate context. A small heuristic data set is used to make the demonstration concretely accessible for applied researchers. (Contains 4 tables, 3 figures, and 22 references.) (Author/SLD)

Prior to conducting a statistical analysis, sufficient data screening methods should be used for all research variables to identify miscoded, missing, or otherwise messy data. The primary purpose of these exercises was to demonstrate the role of data screening techniques and their potential to improve the performance of statistical methods. A heuristic data set was used to make the discussion more concrete, and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to screen the data. Overall, cleaning raw data by determining normality and linearity problems, outlier influences, and missing value presence proved to increase the R squared values if only by very small increments. One of the most interesting findings in this exercise was the performance of the regression models when outliers were taken into consideration, without respect to any additional data cleaning procedures. These screening procedures, if used properly, assist the researcher in optimizing data so that the analysis procedure will produce the most accurate and efficient estimates. Two appendixes contain SPSS syntax for the analyses. (Contains 1 table, 9 figures, and 15 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study examined research in training and development to determine effect size reporting practices. It focused on the reporting of corrected effect sizes in research articles using multiple regression analyses. When possible, researchers calculated corrected effect sizes and determine if the associated shrinkage could have impacted researcher interpretations. Three human resource development journals were examined from 1998 to 2001, 16 issues for each journal. Regression effects were usually reported, but the inclusion of corrected effects was less frequent. When these effect sizes were reported, they were rarely placed on some theoretical or practical context in relation to previously observe effects. The reader was generally left to draw his or her own conclusion about the practical impact of the effect in the research. (Contains 3 tables and 38 references.) (SLD)

Despite repeated discussions of the dangers of covariance corrections, the use of analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) continues in situations that should preclude its use. Because the use of ANCOVA is particularly appealing in much counseling research (in which groups are often intact and sample sizes are often small for treatment interventions), the purpose of this paper was to examine the use and misuse of ANCOVA in the counseling literature. The use of ANCOVA was examined in three counseling journals from 1997 through 2001. The Journal of Counseling and Development, Counselor Education and Supervision, and the International Journal of Play Therapy were selected for the study. Overall, ANCOVA was used in 21 of the 250 articles reviewed. Researchers primarily used univariate applications of ANCOVA, and generally used intact groups and unbalanced cells. Most did not comment on some basic assumptions associated with ANCOVA, including the very important homogeneity of regression assumption. Recommendations for improved use of ANCOVA are presented. (Contains 2 tables and 32 references.) (SLD)

The Learning Style Inventory (LSI; Kolb, 1976; 1985 ) is a commonly used measure of learning styles based on Kolbs Experiential Learning Model. The psychometric soundness of LSI scores has been critiqued historically. This study reviewed the literature on the LSI and evaluated the psychometric properties of Kolbs original and revised versions of the LSI. Researchers identified 110 articles that used the LSI. Fifty-nine articles made no mention of reliability, and slightly fewer than a third of these reported reliability for the obtained scores appropriately. Findings indicate that continued use of the LSI should be considered questionable. Reliabilities can vary as researchers administer the instrument across different settings. Thus reliability generalization may be warranted to examine score reliability meta-analytically across studies. Based on the work of L. Vacha-Haase, this study discusses the possibility of examining the variance of measurement error across studies as part of the literature review. (Contains 2 tables and 68 references.) (Author/SLD)

Reporting and interpreting (corrected) effect size indices can help readers of scientific reports understand the importance of those results more fully instead of just determining the likelihood of results assuming the null hypothesis. This study explored the frequency of effect reporting and interpretation in quantitative studies in Communication Education, the flagship instructional communication journal of the National Communication Association. More than half of the 14 studies identified as using statistical analysis (57%) reported effect sizes, and the majority of these (88%) interpreted these effects. The paper discusses the implications of effect reporting and interpretation and present some examples of effect interpretation. (Contains 26 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study examined the personality types of emergency certification teachers as predictors of classroom management and self-efficacy beliefs. Participants were 120 teachers pursuing teacher certification through an emergency permit teacher education program at a mid-sized Texas university. They all held at least a Bachelor's degree, were in their first year of teaching, and were pursuing teacher certification. All were assigned to a public school mentor. Each respondent completed a demographic form and three questionnaires: the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, the Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory, and the Hoy and Woolfolk (1993) Revised Teacher Efficacy Scale. Data analysis indicated that there was a limited relationship between personality and classroom management and efficacy beliefs. For the small effect observed, however, extraversion versus introversion was the salient personality variable, and relationships were in expected directions. Marginal score reliabilities may have attenuated the observed effects. Emergency certification teachers tended to be more extraverted, and they also tended to report higher teaching efficacy. (Contains 27 references.) (SM)

An academic year-long teacher research initiative was implemented in an alternative education school in a large school district in the southwestern United States. Quantitative and qualitative methodologies were used to examine participatory teacher research as an active, collaborative means of professional development for teachers, including its effect on teacher efficacy and empowerment. Participants were eight teachers and three instructional assistants who remained with the teacher research project until is was completed. Results indicate growth in both general and personal teaching efficacy from pretest to posttest. Collaboration was consistently related to general teaching efficacy. Perceptions of school climate were related to personal teaching efficacy at posttest. No relationship was observed between empowerment and efficacy. (Contains 3 tables and 64 references.) (Author/SLD)

Appropriate use of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) requires a series of thoughtful analytical decisions. Adequate reporting of an EFA would allow external evaluation of the decisions made by the analyst. This paper briefly reviews some of the decisions necessary in an EFA. It provides an empirical review of reporting practice in three educational research journals, and notes several errors in both EFA use and reporting. Three journals were identified for the study: (1) American Educational Research Journal; (2) Journal of Educational Research; and (3) The Elementary School Journal. Examination of 14 total volumes across the journals resulted in the coding of 49 EFAs for the current study. Several errors of use and reporting omissions were noted in the study, and recommendations for improved practice are presented. (Contains 4 tables and 59 references.) (SLD)

The purpose of this paper is to discuss one promising and proven way some colleges of education (COEs) have attempted to develop academic climate and facilitate graduate student research activity. The focus is on the role of student-organized internal research conferences in the transformation of student to social scientist. The benefits these internal conferences offer to both students and faculty in particular and COEs in general are discussed. To accomplish this objective and to illustrate the impact internal research conferences can have on the scholarly development of graduate students, the researchers' experiences as participants in such conferences are presented as case studies, offering the views of a current student and a former student turned faculty member. (Author/SLD)

A promising new teacher self-efficacy instrument, the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (OSTES) (M. Tschannen-Moran and A. WoolfolkHoy, in press) was critically evaluated regarding its development and submitted to confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Participants were 183 inservice teachers in Texas and Washington, DC, most of whom taught primary grades. The hypothesized three-factor structure was not supported by the CFA, but a two-factor correlated structure was retained, which consisted of the Efficacy in Student Engagement and Efficacy in Instructional Practices factors. The third factor, Efficacy in Classroom Management, was eliminated in the strongest two-factor model. Recommendations are made to: (1) further refine the OSTES by removing the third factor; (2) seek increased use of CFA methodology in teacher efficacy instrumentation and (3) foster stronger exploratory factor analytic strategies, particularly regarding factor retention. The instrument is attached. (Contains 2 tables, 5 figures, and 51 references.) (SLD)

This study examined the multivariate relationships between teacher efficacy and task analysis variables as predictors of classroom beliefs about control, focusing on these relationships in preservice teachers. Preservice teachers from a required educational psychology course volunteered to participate in the study. They completed three instruments: the revised Teacher Efficacy Scale, a short form of the Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory, and the Means-End Teaching Task Analysis. Data analysis indicated that more efficacious student teachers were less interventionist regarding instructional and people classroom management beliefs. Task analysis was unrelated to management beliefs. However, preservice teachers exhibited a clear dichotomy regarding their locus of control for task analysis elements. The task analysis suggested differential locus of control for elements that helped teaching (attributed to the self) and elements that hindered teaching (attributed to external constraints). (Contains 43 references.) (SM)

The appropriate use of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) necessitates thoughtful researcher judgment concerning a number of analytic decisions. This paper reviews some of the fundamental decisions necessary to conduct an EFA and examines reporting practice in published research across four journals. In general, insufficient information was given in published applications of EFA (n=60) to allow external verification of the results. Researchers often used poor strategies to determine the number of factors to retain. In one-third of the cases, a confirmatory factor analysis was warranted rather than EFA. Other errors in reporting and practice were noted. Several recommendations for improved EFA reporting practice are given. (Contains 4 tables and 105 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study examined the factorial invariance of scores from the Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory (ABCC) (Martin and others, 1998) for 243 undergraduate preservice teachers. Although the original ABCC was developed with inservice teachers, use of the instrument to study the classroom beliefs of preservice teachers had not been studied. Confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test competing hypothesized models concerning score structure. Results indicate overall poor fit of the data across models, calling into question the usefulness of the ABCC with preservice teachers. (Contains 1 figure and 28 references.) (Author/SLD)

The Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) (F. Richardson and R. Suinn, 1972) was submitted to a reliability generalization analysis to characterize the variability of measurement error in MARS scores across administrations and to identify possible study characteristics that are predictive of reliability variation. The meta-analysis was performed with 67 studies that met study criteria. In general, the MARS and its variants yielded scores with strong internal consistency and test-retest reliability estimates, although variation was observed. Adult samples were related to lower score reliability compared to other age groupings. Inclusion of total score standard deviation in the regression models resulted in roughly 25% increases in R squared effects. (Contains 3 tables and 44 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study explored the personality types of beginning emergency permit teachers to determine whether those pursuing alternative certification displayed patterns in personality type. It also investigated the predictive relationship between personality types and teachers' beliefs concerning control in classroom management. Participants were 120 teachers pursuing teacher certification through an emergency permit teacher education program at a mid-sized Texas university. Participants were administered the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (which measured personality type, the Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory, and a revised version of the Teacher Efficacy Scale). Results indicated that the teachers were somewhat dispersed in personality types, but they tended to emphasize the sensing and thinking dimensions. Regression analyses suggested that personal teaching efficacy was a stronger predictor of instructional classroom management than personality type. However, personality type was a stronger predictor than efficacy of people management beliefs. Results indicated a slight tendency for the emergency certification teachers to be interventionist in their classroom control orientations. (Contains 51 references.) (Author/SM)

Founded in social cognitive theory, teachers' self-efficacy beliefs have been repeatedly associated with positive teaching behaviors and student outcomes. However, the concept of teacher efficacy has been complicated by issues related to construct validity and measurement integrity. The study of teacher efficacy now stands on the verge of maturity, but developmental growth will probably be contingent on the development of strong theoretical models and effective instrumentation to assess theoretical constructs. The purpose of this article is to: (1) review the theoretical foundations of teacher efficacy briefly and evaluate historical attempts to measure teacher efficacy critically; (2) discuss important substantive implications stemming from efficacy research that may advance the field; (3) present recent measurement advances; and (4) highlight several methodologies that have been underutilized in development of teacher efficacy instruments. (Contains 1 figure and 78 references.) (Author/SLD)

This paper introduces a new self-efficacy instrument for science teachers and presents confirmatory factor analysis results for 247 elementary school teachers. Building on previous research on the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI) (I. Riggs and L. Enochs, 1990), the new instrument, the Self-Efficacy Teaching and Knowledge Instrument for Science Teachers (SETAKIST), hypothesizes that science teacher self-efficacy exists in two constructs: teaching efficacy and knowledge efficacy. The second factor is based largely on the work of Lee Shulman. An appendix contains the SETAKIST instrument. (Contains 2 figures and 40 references.) (SLD)

Because reliability is a function of scores, and not tests per se, it is inaccurate to hold that a given test will yield scores with the same reliability across samples. Therefore, score reliability should always be reported and interpreted in both measurement and substantive studies. In an effort to facilitate this outcome, this paper is intended to provide an interpretive framework for applied researchers and others seeking a conceptual understanding of score reliability. The paper reviews some basic tenets of classical test theory, discusses the salient factors that affect reliability estimates, with emphasis on coefficient alpha, and present several suggestions toward a better understanding, and improved use, of score reliability. (Contains 6 tables, 1 figure, and 43 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study investigated who preservice teachers considered responsible for the moral development of their students. The study involved a qualitative examination of the journal responses of 30 preservice teachers to two questions: the extent to which schools are moral environments and the extent to which it is the teacher's responsibility to foster moral development in his or her students. Student teachers' journals addressed the role of the school or community, the teacher, and the parents. Respondents believed that schools are moral environments, essentially due to the inherent morality of the teaching process. They saw teachers as moral leaders and moralizing agents who should take some responsibility for developing students' belief systems. Student teachers felt that teachers must assume responsibility, though they were divided into four groups as to how and why. Not all respondents believed that schools and teachers should assume the role of moral development. Many indicated that the home environment or the parent was very responsible for moral development of the child. Secondary education majors tended to feel that schools had failed in the goal of being moral. (Contains 26 references.) (SM)

While consistently related to positive teacher behaviors and student outcomes, teacher efficacy as a construct is currently the subject of debate. The present study examined a new model of teacher efficacy (Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, & Hoy, 1998) that proposes to more clearly define important variables and integrate two theoretical traditions in the study of teacher efficacy. A new instrument was developed to assess a means-end task analysis and context specific efficacy, both important parts of the model. Task analysis and both global and context specific efficacy were measured in 109 emergency certification teachers since task analysis may be more explicit for novice teachers. Factor analyses of the global and context specific efficacy measures suggested subtle but important distinctions in constructs related to efficacy. Canonical correlation analysis indicated the importance of personal teaching competence to instructional efficacy judgments and external locus of control to classroom management efficacy. Although task analysis was not found to be a significant predictor of either global or context specific efficacy, exploratory results suggested potential value of task analysis in future assessments of teacher efficacy. General support was found for the Tschannen-Moral et al. model. (Contains 32 references.) (Author/SM)

Teacher efficacy has proven to be an important variable in teacher effectiveness. It is consistently related to positive teaching behaviors and student outcomes. However, the measurement of this construct is the subject of current debate, which includes critical examination of predominant instruments used to assess teacher efficacy. The present study extends this critical evaluation and examines sources of measurement error variance in the Teacher Efficacy Scale (TES), historically the most frequently used instrument in the area. Reliability generalization was used to characterize the typical score reliability for the TES and potential sources of measurement error variance across studies. Other related instruments were also examined with regard to measurement integrity. The 52 articles selected yielded 213 useful observations, and 86 reliability coefficients. Findings suggest that the psychometric difficulties of the general teaching efficacy subscales are problematic with regard to measurement error, but that the TES, with one subscale exception, yielded the most variable reliability coefficients of all the instruments. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 83 references.) (SLD)

This paper describes the development and construct validation of a new instrument of teacher efficacy, the Sources of Self-Efficacy Inventory (SOSI), which was created to address shortcomings in previous measures that purported to measure this construct. Development of the SOSI was based on a model of teacher efficacy posited by M. Tschannen-Moran, A. Woolfolk Roy, and W. Roy (1998) that described four important areas of efficacy building information as proposed by A. Bandura (1997). The SOSI was examined with a sample of 252 undergraduate students in an educational psychology course. Factor analysis of the 35 SOSI items yielded 4 interpretable factors that contained many of the target items. However, many items were associated with non-intended factors, and it was apparent that item and subscale revision was necessary. Results of a confirmatory factor analytic study of another teacher efficacy instrument, the Teacher Efficacy Scale, are presented to further explore the teacher efficacy construct. An appendix presents items from the SOSI. (Contains 2 tables and 21 references.) (Author/SLD)

Best practice is now understood by many to include reporting effect sizes when submitting manuscripts for publication since some (and potentially more) journals in the education field require, or strongly encourage, authors to report magnitude of effect measures with their statistical interpretation discussion. Therefore, it is important that researchers familiarize themselves with various effect size measures and how to interpret them. This paper reviews many of the effect size statistics available, including both corrected and uncorrected measures such as eta squared, omega squared, epsilon squared, the Wherry formula, the Herzburg formulas (both fixed and random models), and the Lord formula. These statistics are explained and demonstrated with heuristic data. Several recommendations are presented to facilitate appropriate interpretation of effect sizes, including the consideration of estimate bias, fixed or random effects design use, and whether analyses were conducted using univariate or multivariate statistical approaches. One table shows actual calculations using general linear model analyses. (Contains 42 references.) (SLD)

This paper addresses the state of the art regarding the use of statistical significance tests (SSTs). How social science research will be conducted in the future is impacted directly by current debates regarding hypothesis testing. This paper: (1) briefly explicates the current debate on hypothesis testing; (2) reviews the newly published report of the American Psychological Association Task Force on Statistical Inference; (3) examines current trends in reporting practices in journals; and (4) presents recommendations for researchers to advance scientific inquiry in the social sciences. (Contains 64 references.) (Author/SLD)

Researchers investigated the optimum length of teacher inservice activities where increasing teacher efficacy was the goal. Participants were elementary science teachers from seven teacher enhancement projects conducted from 1992-99. The length breakdown of each program was: 1992--6 weeks; 1994--6 weeks; 1995--4 weeks; 1996--4 weeks; 1997--4 weeks; 1998--3 weeks; and 1999--2 weeks. In each of the projects, teachers completed the Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument (STEBI) on the first and last days of the inservice workshops. The STEBI examined personal science teaching efficacy (PSTE) and science teaching outcome expectancy. Data analysis indicated that there was no statistically significant difference between the mean PSTE gain scores on the three contrast variables among the four groups of teachers whose PSTE pretest scores were greater than or equal to 50. This may be due to the fact that teachers already scored high on the PSTE scale. Among teachers whose pretest PSTE scores were less than 50, there were significant gains when comparing the mean gain scores from teachers in the 2- and 3-week sessions and teachers in the 4- and 6-week sessions. It was found that inservice intervention programs had the greatest impact on the efficacy of those teachers who began the program with the lowest efficacy. Given the consistent relationships demonstrated between teacher efficacy and positive student outcomes, inservices impacting teachers' low efficacy are worth close examination. (Contains 32 references and 8 tables.) (SM)

Researchers consistently fail to report reliability estimates for data used in their studies. This lack of reporting hinders appropriate evaluation and interpretation of data and may lead to inappropriate conclusions. Because reliability is inured to scores obtained from a test, and not the test itself, it is important to report score reliability in both measurement and substantive studies. Failure to report reliability estimates is a practice that plagues social science research and may undermine results across studies. Reliability generalization (RG) is a meta-analytic method that looks at the reliability of scores from tests and helps to determine what is causing measurement error across studies. RG has the potential to help researchers use specific tests more accurately and to help identify specific sample characteristics and other factors that influence and affect score data. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the sample dependency of score reliability, emphasize the importance of measurement, even in substantive studies, and explain the premises and procedures of RG. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 29 references.) (Author/SLD)

This study investigated 30 preservice teachers' journals for examples of the knowledge base for teaching, expectations for professional collaboration, and depth of reflectivity when discussing these issues. Content analysis was conducted on six journal questions intended to generate thought patterns in relation to professionalism in teaching. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression were used to examine the data. Analysis revealed a dearth of substantive examples of the new knowledge base and collaboration. However, when examples were evident, they consistently predicted depth of reflectivity, suggesting an integrated growth of professionalism in the preservice teachers. (Contains 31 references.) (Author/SM)

Despite a clear relationship between feedback in experiential settings and heightened efficacy, it is unclear whether general feedback occurring outside purely experiential settings impacts preservice teachers' self-efficacy. This study investigated the relationship between self-efficacy in preservice teachers and simple but salient feedback from a non-experiential source. Preservice teachers were placed in matched pairs according to teaching experience, then assigned to either a treatment group or a control group. The treatment group read a stimulus paragraph designed to bolster beliefs about efficacy, rated their agreement with it, wrote their opinion about why preservice teachers are considered effective, and completed the Teacher Efficacy Scale. The control group followed the same protocol but read an unrelated paragraph. Results suggest that the stimulus paragraph had minimal effect on teacher efficacy, and that the minimal effect was primarily due to changes in general teaching efficacy. The results indicate that self-efficacy is strongly experientially based. (Contains 37 references.) (SM)

Basic issues in understanding Item Response Theory (IRT), or Latent Trait Theory, measurement models are discussed. These theories have gained popularity because of their promise to provide greater precision and control in measurement involving both achievement and attitude instruments. IRT models implement probabilistic techniques that yield statistics to help describe the interplay between the testing item and the respondent in terms of the unobservable latent traits that cause a given response to an item. The one-parameter IRT model, often referred to as the Rasch model, is illustrated using heuristic data. In IRT examinee ability and item difficulty estimates can be obtained that are theoretically independent of each other; therefore, that they can be used across samples of different abilities and items of varying difficulty. IRT transforms classical test theory proportions into logits, converting item difficulties and person abilities into the same linear metric across the distribution. In the Rasch model, this calibration process theoretically makes the ability statistic (theta) item-free and item difficulties ("b") examinee-free. (Contains 10 tables, 4 figures, and 9 references.) (Author/SLD)

This paper explains how analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and related statistical corrections work and discusses difficulties with the use of these corrections under certain circumstances. ANCOVA is essentially a regression of a covariate variable on the dependent variable from the entire sample ignoring group membership, at least, if ANCOVA assumptions are perfectly met. Small heuristic data sets are used to illustrate when ANCOVA can and cannot be used correctly in educational research. ANCOVA generally can be used correctly with randomly assigned groups, but may not be needed in that situation. When groups are not randomly assigned, ANCOVA often cannot be used correctly. It is a paradox that ANCOVA often cannot be used when "correction" is most needed. For ANCOVA, meeting the homogeneity of regression assumption is critical in determining its viability as a statistical tool. An appendix contains a computer program for the ANCOVA heuristic analysis. (Contains four tables, five figures, and eight references.) (Author/SLD)