A Tribute to Robert L. Ebel: Scholar, Teacher, Mentor, and Statesman

The authors describe the significant contributions of Robert Ebel to educational measurement theory and its applications. A biographical sketch details Ebel's roots and professional résumé. His influence on classroom assessment views and procedures are explored. Classic publications associated with validity, reliability, and score interpretation are described in terms of their contributions to the field and their relevance to current practice. An analysis of the diversity of Ebel's contributions over his career projects a model of "psychometric statesman" for contemporary measurement specialists to emulate.     

Old books

Lectures on Preaching. By Phillips Brooks. E. P. Dutton and Co., New York, 1902; pp. 291. Delivered and first published in 1876.     

Children's physical activity and physical self-perceptions

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between physical self-perceptions and physical activity in Canadian school children aged 10–14 years. The sample consisted of 220 boys and 246 girls in grades 5–8. Physical activity was assessed by 7-day recall using the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children. Selfperceptions of physical conditioning, sports competence, strength, body appearance and general physical selfworth were measured by the Physical Self-Perception Profile (PSPP). We found that boys were more physically active than girls and had higher perceptions of sport competence and strength. All PSPP scales were significantly correlated with physical activity in both boys and girls. Structural equation modelling procedures found the hierarchical PSPP model provided a good fit to the observed data, with little evidence of diff erences between the sexes. Analysis of five alternative structural models of the relationship between the PSPP and physical activity found the most parsimonious model to have significant pathways from both physical conditioning and sport skills to physical activity. Models for the sample as a whole, for boys and for girls were similar, accounting for an R 2 of 0.27–0.29 for physical activity. Our results demonstrate that physical self-perceptions, especially physical conditioning and sport skills, are significant correlates of activity in this population.     

Unsettled questions in the political economy of the arts

Reprinted fromThe Three Banks Review September 1971 pp. 3–19, by kind permission of the Royal Bank of Scotland plc. Lionel (Lord) Robbins (1898–1984) was Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics from 1929–1961 and Emeritus Professor unit 1980. He was actively involved in the arts, higher education and journalism, holding a number of prestigious posts.