Obvious and Subtle Contributions of Merlin C. Wittrock to Programmatic R&D

We describe some of Merl's more subtle contributions that extended beyond his own prodigious scholarly record, his high-quality teaching, and his mentoring of students. The context of our remarks on Programmatic R&D focuses on his contribution to the University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Education. Merl was the first director of the Center for the Study of Evaluation. When leadership passed to his then associate director, Marvin C. Alkin, Merl focused on his greater interest in the area of learning. His work on generative theory, referenced throughout this issue, was adapted with our own interests in complex learning and measurement. His work influenced the research agenda of the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing. A great debt is owed to Merl Wittrock for helping to articulate and model the kinds of research that took theory into usable practice.     

THE EFFECTS OF MANIPULATED ITEM WRITING CONSTRAINTS ON THE HOMOGENEITY OF TEST ITEMS1

Described are the effects of four sets of instructions on the observed item inter- correlations of current events and subtraction items. The four conditions were: (a) general objective, (b) behavioral objective, (c) behavioral objective plus test item, and (d) behavioral objective plus item-form. Two tests, one in each subject matter, constructed by selecting four items generated from each of the experimental conditions, were administered to 51 seventh grade children. Not found were the expected tendencies toward greater homogeneity among items produced under the three conditions employing behavioral objectives.     

Test Interpretation Competence: A Comparison of Microskills and Mental Practice Training

To study the effects of behavioral versus mental rehearsal in acquiring test interpretation skills, we randomly assigned students in a counseling-related testing course to one of two training groups or to a delayed-control (DC) group. The treatment groups received identical instructions, modeling, feedback, and review of target skills but practiced in either a microskills (MS) or mental practice (MP) mode. Ratings of videotaped interviews of the MS and MP trainees did not differ but were superior to the DC group's ratings on measures of general counseling and test interpretation skills. Those in the MS group had more confidence in and perceived greater benefits from their training than did those in the MP group. Implications are discussed, and a suggestion is made for combining MS and MP training methods.     

Parental and Stakeholder 'Voice' in Schools and Systems

With the expansion of education, the growth of the middle class and their awareness of the nexus between educational opportunities and socio-economic success, countries have come to perceive parents as stakeholders in, not just the recipients of, education. With the growing stakes involved, the need to have parental agreement on the broad lines of educational reform has become a more pressing political objective. This article suggests that it is important to examine 'voice' in the context of these broader trends as well as in the specific context of assessing whether education is becoming more 'demand-led'. It examines the exercise of 'voice' in schooling at the 'micro' level of schools and more broadly in the extent to which school systems at the macro level encourage the expression of diverse educational demands.
Alongside the formal opportunities and encouragement of parental participation, the practice reveals problems and limitations. In some countries parents tend to believe that the issues on which their engagement is sought are the relatively simple, practical ones rather than fundamentals, and that there may even be active discouragement of parental involvement. Evidence in some countries worryingly suggests that the level of parental interest is not high. There are the familiar equity questions to consider arising from inequalities in parental interest/involvement.     

Comparative Effects of Teaching Basic Counseling Competencies Through Brief Microskills Practice Versus Mental Practice

Students enrolled in an introductory counselor education course who lacked training and experience as interviewers were randomly assigned to one of two short-term attending and responding skills training groups or a wait-control (WC) group. Brief microskills practice (MS) and mental practice (MP) training methods were used in the two treatment groups. All students conducted posttraining simulated counseling interviews, and their videotapes provided data for analysis of the quality of their interview competence and their proficiency with attending and responding skills. MANOVA and follow-up analyses of data from independent ratings of the videotapes indicated that MS was superior to MP and WC on attending skills, MP led to superior performance on responding skills, and neither MP nor MS led to significant differences in perceived competence on qualitative dimensions.     

Teaching Feminist Counselor Responses to Novice Female Counselors

This article describes an innovative teaching method to teach novice counselors 4 counselor responses based on selected goals of feminist counseling. Using a workshop format and ongoing group supervision, graduate student counselors were taught 4 counselor responses: empowerment, decreasing the power differential between client and counselor, taking a gender role perspective, and placing client issues in a sociocultural context. An evaluation of the teaching approach showed that counselors were able to apply feminist counselor responses in counseling sessions with clients and that these clients reported experiencing these responses.     

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