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Behavioral research workers often conceive of regression in the limited sense of the linear, additive model in which the independent variables have a straight-line relation to the dependent variable and do not interact. The variables are categorial variables and continuous variables. In stepwise regression, a series of regression models is tried, each model including a different set of variables. The Regression models are simple regression, multiple regression, and stepwise multiple regression. Many researchers are more familiar with the analysis of variance (ANOVA) approach, and because in many situations regression analysis offers some advantages over ANOVA. Generalized regression has at least three advantages over ANOVA: the use of continuous variables, less data processing time, and direct, comprehensive estimates of the magnitude and significance of the independent variable effects. Regression of ungrouped scores not only analyzes all the accountable variance, but saves the investigator the bothersome task of establishing suitable cutting points.

Competitions are used by many teachers at the grassroots level to develop the talents of their gifted students. Each year the top Mathematics, Chemistry, and Physics Olympiad students are identified and assembled into national teams that compete against teams from around the world. This article summarizes findings from the American Olympiad study. Our investigators analyzed data from 345 adult Olympians and found that 52% earned doctorates, and these individuals pursued careers in technical areas that benefit the nation. So far these Olympians have published 8,629 publications, and many of the Olympians have assumed positions in universities or research institutions that contribute to the productivity of the United States. Their success supports competitions as a viable alternative for developing the talents of the gifted.

This article summarizes research findings of a study that examined the effects of a sales management training program conducted at Digital Equipment Corporation. The authors used a typology of training outcomes developed by Kirkpatrick (1959a, 1959b, 1960a, and 1960b) to assess students' satisfaction, learning, and field implementation of skills taught in the class. In addition, they estimated the costs of the program and the actual increase in sales that can be attributed to the implementation of the skills in the workplace. The results indicate that properly conceived and carefully implemented programs have a positive net effect on the corporation's financial position.

In the 1940s, Lewis Terman (1954a, 1954b) studied “life success” of 730 gifted men at the midpoint of their careers and found that success is associated with stability and absence of disturbing conflicts. In this article, we use retrospective data (N = 624) from the academic Olympians in 3 countries (USA, Germany, and Finland) to study factors that are responsible for actualizing the Olympian's talent. The results, analyzed in 3 age cohorts, support the findings of the original Terman study. In the youngest age cohort (16 – 22 years), we found that most of the females were in the A group. For the second (23 – 29 years) and third (30 – 54 years) age cohorts, the findings show that the Olympians in the A group have higher motivation than those in the C group. Results showed that a conducive home atmosphere promoted best Olympians' long-term academic productivity.

Schools will be most successful in their educational mission when they integrate efforts to promote children's academic, social, and emotional learning (Elias et al., 1997). There is general agreem...

Based on earlier research on eminent men by Walberg (1981) and others, we used a biographical rating form to assess the early traits, conditions, and experiences of 256 eminent women identified by historians, other scholars, and distinguished practitioners in such fields as music, politics, science, and the visual arts. Between 1 and 6 biographical writings were consulted to complete the ratings concerning the first 13 years of life. The results generally replicate previous studies: Girls, who were to become eminent, were intelligent, hardworking, and persevering. Many had been encouraged by their parents, teachers, and others. Given the consistency of findings on childhood and youth conditions that make for adult eminence, it is worth thinking carefully about the educational implications. Yet, for several reasons, the research by us and others cannot be considered sufficiently definitive for prescribing child-rearing practices for adult eminence.

This special issue of the Peabody Journal of Education concerns one of the most challenging reform issues of our times?K-12 school choice. Along with school finance and accountability associated with the federal No Child Left Behind Act and state accountability systems, choice is much debated and sorely in need of both solid research and well-informed fed eral, state, and local policies. This issue represents some of the most re cent empirical research that can inform policymakers, practitioners, and researchers. This issue brings together a multidisciplinary group of researchers whose diverse analytical and methodological perspectives provide fresh understanding on the design, implementation, and effects of various types of school choice initiatives. Such an effort is central to the mission of the National Research Center on School Choice, Competition and Student Achievement, in which Kenneth Wong is the founding director and Her bert Walberg is a project investigator. This Institute for Education Sciences

The program of research on teacher–student relationships described in this issue is an important part of the field of classroom learning environments, although it has its own distinctive and significant features. The questionnaire on teacher interaction (QTI), the main instrument used in this research, follows the strong tradition in learning environments research of using the perceptions of the participants in the classroom. Although this research program originated in the Netherlands, it now is truly international and the QTI has been translated into and validated in over a dozen languages. Not only has past research consistently replicated the advantages of positive teacher–student relationships in terms of promoting improved student outcomes, but positive teacher–student relationships also are worthwhile process goals of education. In the future, it would be desirable for the QTI to be used more frequently by teachers as a feedback instrument for guiding improvements in their classroom relationships with their students, and that qualitative data-collection methods are used more often in conjunction with the use of the QTI in research on teacher–student interaction.

One of Lewis Solmon’s research interests is whether parents can choose the best schools for their children. This paper shows how economic principles predict parents would do a better job choosing schools for their children than do experts in government agencies. Three types of empirical research relevant to the hypothesis are reviewed: surveys showing parents rate schools the same as experts (showing they have sufficient information to choose correctly); surveys showing most parents choose schools on the basis of their perceived academic quality (showing they are choosing in the child’s best long-term interests); and data showing student academic achievement gains are higher in schools of choice than in traditional public schools. We conclude that Solmon’s belief that parents can choose the best schools for their children is corroborated by economic theory and empirical research.

As part of a quarter-century investigation of eminent men and women, the childhood psychological traits and conditions of eminent African American women were contrasted with those of other eminent women in a variety of fields. African American women's eminence appears fostered by psychological traits and conditions generally similar to those that benefit other eminent men and women. African American women, however, appeared significantly more often advantaged with respect to several psychological traits, including independence, perseverance, single-mindedness, and alertness to novelty. Given the discrimination and limited opportunities for African Americans and women during the first half of this century, eminence among the women in the sample probably required outstanding force of character.

This article reports on research designed to respond to a set of problems normally associated with the assessment of school performance. It is more concerned with specific resource effects in specific schools than with effectiveness and efficiency in the use of individual school resources in the assessment of a system 's performance over time. The emphasis is on the overall performance of the entire set of elementary schools in the Chicago Public School System rather than on the resource use in each school. Joining standard regression techniques with the results of data envelopment analysis, the basic questions asked are the following: Are there discernible changes in the performance of Chicago elementary schools following the fundamental school reforms of 1988-1989? Are these changes in the desired direction? The results suggest encouraging improvement in schooling outcomes over the period of study.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has identified an elaborate set of indicators by which to judge aspects of education systems. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the education-related features of 28 high-income countries in terms of three blocks of indicators relating respectively to the contexts, processes and results of each system. Factor analyses showed that several aspects of the OECD model are more complicated than previously thought. For this reason, the OECD faces a choice of enriching the range of indicators or pruning some components to gain parsimony and greater country participation in data collection. The article demonstrates that to the extent that the OECD model holds, education context variables appear to influence costs, resources and school processes. In turn, processes appear to influence results including achievement though in some cases weakly and in other cases surprisingly. Although further changes in the OECD model deserve consideration t...

In this investigation 143 creativity researchers completed a survey to rate the importance of various traits and developmental influences on creative achievement. They also rated the importance of various topics for future research. Sixteen composite variables were formed from the traits and developmental factors. Behaviors in the Motivational Composite were rated as most important for recognized creative achievement, followed by Problem Finding and Questioning Skills, and traits reflecting Adaptive Cognition. The ratings of the Developmental survey items suggested that Education and Learning were most important for achievement, followed by Cultural and Social factors, and then Family and Early Background. The top five ranked topics for future research included actual creative behavior, motivation and drive, imagery, imagination, and creative products. Group differences were explored, but few differences were found in, comparisons of ratings from researchers who had experience; teaching creativity courses and those who had published a book or article, and those who had not. Similarly, only slight group differences were found for ratings of important research topics. Differences in self-reported creative interests (i.e., writing and music) were related to selected ratings of creative achievement variables and important research topics. In general, the results suggested that researchers believe creativity to be a complex or syndrome which draws from cognitive, affective, social, and perhaps even physical realms. The lack of group differences implies a homogeneity of opinion and consensus with respect to the importance of traits, developmental factors, and research topics.

The childhood traits and conditions of 21 eminent American women scientists were compared with those of 235 eminent women in other fields. As girls, those who became eminent scientists were much more like, rather than different form, other girls who became eminent. All girls were, for example, precocious and hard working. In early life, however, young scientists did exhibit several distinguishing traits from girls who became eminent in other fields. They were more concentrated on science and engaged in scientific activities; they were also more bookish and scholarly. Many lived in rural areas and were allowed or encouraged to pursue nature study, reading, and writing. Case studies of two women scientists exemplify early traits and opportunities that distinguish girls who became eminent women scientists.

Analysis of qualitative—usually verbal—information from interview transcripts, field notes, and other sources has required huge amounts of labor. Some critics, moreover, maintain that such analysis is less than reliable, objective and tabula rasa. A new computer program, however, allows precisely repeatable analysis without a priori frameworks and without tedious and subjective categorizing of passages. The program finds repetitive association of words or ideas that characterize the verbal research corpus which evaluators may display and interpret. This article explains the Walberg program and illustrates its use in an evaluation of a collaborative botanic education project sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

The purpose of this study is to identify student ideas about the effect of computers on writing. Neural network analysis was employed to analyze 30 essays on this topic by community college students. The analysis showed co-occurring sets of words that could be classified into six idea clusters: evolutionary, futuristic, resource, cognitive process, teaching, and traditional. Each cluster suggests general ideas that pervade the essays; the resource cluster, for example, refers to spell checking, electronic dictionary use, and saving to diskette. The clusters of meaning confirm hypotheses that students simultaneously admire and fear the use of computers for writing.

This article concerns the effects of learner control in computer-assisted instruction (CAI). After reviewing previous reviews of research on the topic, twenty-four studies of learner control were subjected to meta-analysis. The results of both the review and meta-analysis are equivocal. Several reviews indicate that learner control works less well with younger, less able students. Other reviews indicate that, given optimal conditions, learner control can work with any students. The meta-analysis, however, yielded an average effect size that was small and negative suggesting that the average student would be slightly better off without it. Although learner control has theoretical appeal, its effects on learning seem neither powerful nor consistent.

Achievement test scores were analyzed in relation to individual- and school-level factors in a national sample of about 2,000 tenth-grade students participating in the Longitudinal Study of American Youth in order to investigate the relative importance of school and individual factors in the determination of science learning. Hierarchical linear analyses showed that individual measures accounted for most of the variance. Previous achievement was the preponderant influence on subsequent achievement. Nonetheless, initial science attitude, instructional time, home environment, and exposure to mass media were also significant individual-level influences on science achievement.

The paper describes the traits and life experiences that appear to have influenced the success of 21 eminent women in the visual arts. Key familial, school and social childhood conditions provided support and encouragement during the childhoods of women who became outstanding artists. As children, artists were creative, versatile, vital, energetic, sensitive, and found joy in their work. Corroborating previous findings, early achievement predicted later accomplishments. As in the lives of eminent authors, musicians, philosophers, and other illustrious groups, early intensive concentration in one's field of accomplishment, often to the near exclusion of other activities, is associated with high levels of accomplishment.

The role of science museums in science education is changing. This article examines the science museum literature in light of the new emphasis for museums to become a unique partner with schools and colleges to enhance science literacy. Museums provide opportunities for students to be active participants in learning by manipulating real objects in a stimulating setting thus enhancing conceptual learning in the classroom. Both components of learning are important for understanding of complex science concepts. Much of the literature pertaining to learning in museums is anecdotal and craft wisdom, indicating that more collaborative research efforts are needed in the area of science education in museum settings. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

During the past half century, three pronounced trends in state policy have occurred: Districts and schools have dramatically risen in enrollments; states have steadily raised their share of revenues for public schools; and local shares have declined. Yet organization theory and evidence suggest that these trends would make public education less efficient. This hypothesis is tested in 38 states that voluntarily cooperated in administering the National Assessment of Educational Progress mathematics examination to random within-state samples of eighth-grade students. Both correlations and regressions (controlling for per-student expenditures and student demographics) show that achievement is inversely related to both size indexes and state funding share. Achievement is inversely but insignificantly related to per-student funding.

Time measures critical dimensions of curriculum and of learning. Curriculum's other dimensions are the depth and breadth of subject matter content. Other things being equal, the depth, breadth, and amount of curriculum determine the volume of learning. For psychologists, learning's other dimension is the quality of instruction or pedagogy. The linkage of learning with time is one of the most consistent findings of educational psychology. In a recent review of the literature, Walberg (1988) found that 88% of the more than 100 studies showed positive influences of time on learning. The average effect of increased time was comparable in advantage of superior over mediocre quality of instruction. Thus, time deserves major consideration in curriculum policy. As a rising tide lifting all boats, increased and efficient time use allows greater depth and breadth in all curriculum areas. Along with effective teaching (Waxman & Walberg, 1991), productive time engenders learning. Time should be a central concept in curriculum theory and practice. If the principal question of curriculum is, "What knowledge is most

S A PERIOD OF EDUCATIONAL reform is ending, more radical restructuring is beginning. Dissatisfied with current progress, the industrialized countries of Western Europe, North America, and the Pacific want more efficiency from their education systems. Similarly, investors in the third world such as the World Bank compare the benefits and costs of loans for building schools, hospitals, and roads to find out which is the best investment. In the United States, educational consumers-business and civic leaders, citizens, and parents-demand evidence from educators of learning value for money spent. The views of U.S. educators and those they serve increasingly diverge. A recent U.S. poll showed that 86 percent of school superintendents gave the schools a rating of good or very good, while 77 percent of business executives rated them fair or poor (Allstate, 1990). One-third of superintendents but 92 percent of the business executives thought Japan has a better school system. Both groups recognized family problems and low motivation of students and teachers as underlying problems, but higher percentages of executives cited low academic standards, poorly trained teachers, and a lack of emphasis on basic skills.