Assessing Longitudinal Change: Adjustment for Regression to the Mean Effects

Pascarella (J Coll Stud Dev 47:508–520, 2006) has called for an increase in use of longitudinal data with pretest-posttest design when studying effects on college students. However, such designs that use multiple measures to document change are vulnerable to an important threat to internal validity, regression to the mean. Herein, we discuss a brief history of regression to the mean and illustrate a straightforward procedure to make adjustments to initial pretest scores for regression to the mean effects utilizing a method developed by Roberts (in: G. Echternacht (Guest ed.) New directions for testing and measurement, 1980). Analyses are shown with both unadjusted and adjusted pretest scores, illustrating dramatic differences in conclusions about whether students change across time.

Influences of Institutional Expenditure Patterns on the Development of Students' Leadership Competencies

The central purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the expenditure patterns of over 300 colleges and universities and changes in students' perceptions of their leadership abilities over a 4-year period. Our findings, unlike those of most earlier studies, suggest that institutional expenditure patterns do have a statistically significant, albeit modest, influence on the growth of students' leadership abilities. These atypical findings, in the context of prior studies, may be due to conceptual and methodological attributes of this study that sought to alleviate the deficiencies in previous research noted by Wenglinsky, namely, the use of path analytic procedures to examine the indirect and direct effects of institutional expenditure patterns and distinguishing among different types of expenditure categories. The implications of these findings for those who study the effects of college on students and those responsible for promoting student learning are discussed.     

Influences of the Normative Environment of Peer Groups on Community College Students' Perceptions of Growth and Development

Grounded in Weidman's (1989a) socialization model and Pace's (1979b) theoretical conception of quality of effort, this study examines the effects of peer groups on community college students perceptions of general educational gains. Peer groups were defined as the aggregate student body within an institution. The sample consisted of a national sample of community college students who had responded to the Community College Student Experiences Questionnaire. Given the nested structure of the data, hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine institutional- and student-level effects. Dominant influences on students' perceived gains were from the quality of effort exerted by students. Aggregates of individual-level measures were used as indicators of the peer environment and had little impact on individual-level estimates.     

An assessment of the construct validity of the CCSEQ Quality of Effort scales

A substantial body of research indicates that the greater the effort and time expended by students in the opportunities afforded by their colleges, the greater the likelihood of academic and personal growth, satisfaction with the institution, and persistence within the educational system. The most extensive effort exerted in operationalizing the concepts of involvement and integration was that of C. Robert Pace in his development of theCollege Student Experiences Questionnaire, which was the basis for the development of theCommunity College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CCSEQ). This study examines the construct validity of the eight Quality of Effort scales resulting from the CCSEQ for students involved in all administrations of the instrument from 1990 through 1994. Results indicate that the Quality of Effort measures can be used to make valid and reliable inferences regarding students' efforts and involvement, and that the validity of the inferences is not conditional on whether the students are in vocational or transfer programs, attending full-time or part-time, or of majority or minority ethnic status.     

Early career outcomes of baccalaureate recipients: A study of native four-year and transfer two-year college students

This study explores differences in the job status, stability, and satisfaction of recent four-year college graduates with varying lengths of attendance at two-year institutions. A longitudinal design with controls for salient pre-college characteristics is employed. Results of the multivariate analysis of covariance indicate no differences in the early career outcome measures between students whose undergraduate preparation was solely in four-year colleges and those whose preparation was at both two- and four-year colleges. The administrative and research implications of these results are discussed.     

Headsprout® Early Reading for children with severe intellectual disabilities: a single blind randomised controlled trial

Research evaluating phonics reading programs for children with severe intellectual disabilities (ID) is limited. The current study investigated whether using an online reading program (Headsprout^® Early Reading; HER) as supplementary reading instruction for children with a severe ID leads to improvements in reading skills as compared to children not receiving this additional instruction. Fifty-five children from a special school were randomly allocated into the HER group or a waiting list control group. For six months, children in the intervention group received HER as supplementary instruction, whereas children in the control group received only ‘reading as usual’ teaching. Pre- and post-intervention tests on standardised reading measures were conducted. Analysis of data from outcome measures indicated that the HER group made improvements at post-intervention in comparison with the control group, with medium effect sizes on two domains from the main outcome measure. These results support the case for a larger research trial of HER for children with severe ID.     

An individualised curriculum to teach numeracy skills to children with autism: programme description and pilot data

Teaching mathematics to children with autism is an area with limited research evidence. In this study we developed a teaching manual based on Maths Recovery, a numeracy programme designed for typically developing children. Six children with autism participated in the study and received daily numeracy teaching over a 20‐week period. Our aims were to explore whether Maths Recovery can be used as a numeracy curriculum for children with autism and to evaluate the progress the children make after a period of intensive teaching. Using a pre‐test post‐test design we found that the adapted Maths Recovery numeracy curriculum was successfully incorporated within each child's individualised teaching programme, and that all six children improved their mathematical ability over the course of the intervention. Our data show promising results and support the rationale for larger evaluation studies.     

Sexual violence in organized sport in Germany

Although the topic of sexual violence in sport has gained considerable attention in recent years, prevalence rates of sexual violence experience in German athletes are not yet available. Therefore, the current study aimed to address this by assessing prevalence rates in a comprehensive sample of German elite athletes. Overall, 1529 German elite athletes over 16 years of age from 128 different sports took part in an online survey. Mean age was 21.6 years; 56% were female. Participants were presented with seventeen different sexual violence situations (from sexist jokes to forced penetration) and asked to indicate how often they had experienced each particular situation in the sport setting. Results revealed that 37.6% of the athletes had experienced at least one sexual violence situation in organized sport; 11.2% reported a severe form of sexual violence. Female athletes were affected significantly more often than male athletes, and persons with a sexual orientation other than heterosexual more often than heterosexuals. No significant differences could be found with regard to age, level of performance, type of sports, dis-/ability or migration background of the athletes. These results indicate that sexual violence is a problem that needs to be addressed across elite sports in Germany. Prevention concepts need to be developed and applied across sports contexts.     

The advantage of distributed practice in a blended learning setting

Education and Information Technologies - Ongoing digital transformations facilitate the conduct of online courses and distance learning. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the role of...     

Faculty Emphases on Alternative Course-Specific Learning Outcomes in Holland’s Model Environments: The Role of Environmental Consistency

This study examines variability in the extent to which faculty members in the disciplinary-based academic environments of Holland’s theory emphasize different student learning outcomes in their classes and whether such differences are comparable for those in “consistent” versus “inconsistent” environments. The findings show wide variation in the extent to which faculty members in four of the academic environments of Holland’s theory emphasize the alternative student learning outcomes and that such differences vary based on the level of consistency or inconsistency in the environmental profiles of the environments. The implications of these findings for future research using Holland’s theory to understand longitudinal patterns of change and stability in the attitudes, interests, and abilities of college students as well as variability in the patterns of professional attitudes and behaviors of college faculty are discussed. Attention is also devoted to the policy development and practical implications of these findings for academic advisors, career counselors, and other college and university leaders.