Communication effectiveness of organizational mission statements

An empirical investigation of mission statement communication effectiveness (readability and tone) was conducted using content analysis. All Fortune 500 companies and American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) in the United States were contacted by letter asking for a copy of their mission statement. Responses were received from 218 companies and 107 universities. Of these, 135 usable mission statements were evaluated. The results indicate that mission statement developers in both corporate as well as university settings need to improve their readability and the tone of their written statements in order to maximize their organizational image.     

GIL Express in Georgia: An Interlibrary Loan/Circulation Hybrid for Circulating Books

This article recounts the history of the GIL Express initiative in Georgia, from its conception in 1994 to present. It describes the method of delivery and record keeping and discusses the strong points and challenges of the service. It concludes with some possible future plans for the service.     

The communication of laboratory investigations by university entrants

The purpose of the study reported here was to analyse the ways in which unversity entrant science students carry out and communicate experimental activities and to identify a model to explain characteristic communication practices. The study was prompted by a need to inform the development of an introductory laboratory course. The students studied shared an educational background characterised by a lack of experience with laboratory work and scientific writing. Seven groups of three students were studied. The investigative strategies of these groups were observed. Laboratory reports were used to identify the ways in which students communicated these strategies. Data are presented that show a discrepancy between the strategies used and those reported. The results suggest that: (i) students' perceptions of the purpose of a laboratory task influence their decisions on what to report; (ii) understandings of laboratory procedures greatly influence their decision on what to report and on how much detail to include in a report and; (iii) knowledge of discourse rules contributes to effective reporting. It is concluded that students' communication of an investigation results from the differential operation of various perceptual filters that determine both the procedural and discourse elements of their reports. It is recommended that the communication of science should be taught explicitly and alongside the procedures and concepts of science. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 839–853, 2000     

Evaluating school psychological reports,part I: A procedure for systematic feedback

This paper provides a rationale for obtaining systematic evaluative feedback concerning the perceived usefulness of school psychological reports and their impact on the development of individual educational plans for referred students. Research data and authoritative opinion are used to support the need for school psychologists to obtain feedback about their reports on a case-by-case basis, rather than to obtain global perceptions of the meaningfulness and usefulness of reports in general. A working copy of a brief evaluation form that can be attached to the report and forwarded to the referral agent is included for the benefit of interested readers.     

The effects of experience and structured feedback on WISC-R error rates made by student-examiners

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of experience in the administration and scoring of the WISC-R, coupled with a structured feedback system, on the types and frequencies of examiner errors. Of the five error groupings, the Total Error rate and the Administrative Error rate were both significantly (.001) decreased as a student acquired more experience in administering and scoring the WISC-R, when provided with verbal and written feedback. On the other hand, Response Scoring Errors, Mathematical Errors, and IQ Errors were not significantly reduced by such procedures. Response Scoring Errors and Administrative Errors consistently accounted for over 75% of the Total Error rate.     

Clinically and theoretically derived WISC-R subtest regroupings: Predicting academic achievement in a referral population

Attention continues to be directed toward the WISC-R as a tool for understanding children's learning problems. The formulation of WISC-R subtest regroupings (apart from the traditional Verbal, Performance, and Full Scale IQs, and the empirically derived factor scores) may provide a basis for score interpretation and the generation of hypotheses regarding children's cognitive strengths and weaknesses. The present investigation analyzed the predicitive utility of several WISC-R subtest recategorizations with regard to academic to achievement as measured by the WRAT. The sample consisted of 105 children who had been referred for psychoeducational evaluation because of classroom learning problems. Stepwise regression analyses indicated that many of the regroupings were significant predictors of academic achievement. Generated regression equations are presented.