An investigation of the Iowa tests of basic skills for sex bias: A developmental look

Results of the Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, and Mathematics Concepts subtests for third-, sixth-, and eighth-grade students who took Form 5 of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills in the 1976 school year were analyzed for sex bias. Statistical significance was found for each subtest for all of the grade levels. Follow-up analyses considered skill classification, sex-stereotypicalness, and item location of the items contributing to the statistical significance. No trends for these factors were found within each grade level for the four subtests considered. For all subtests, fewer items are identified at the third-grade level than for sixth or eighth grade, and these items, in general, favored boys. For the older students, when items are found to function differently for boys and girls, nearly half favor each sex. On the whole, little evidence for sex bias was found for the four subtests and three grade levels examined.     

The effect of imaginative play actions on language development in five-year-old children

The study, using 60 five-year-olds, investigated forms of play: (a) self-action, (b) puppet-action, and (c) control treatments and differences between the sexes on aural language recall scores using semantic, absolute, and syntactic criteria. The results of the preliminary analyses between treatment groups and sex differences on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and the Harris-Goodenough Draw-A-Man Test indicated no significant main or interaction effects. The subjects in treatment groups and boys and girls were relatively homogeneous on receptive language IQ and motor coordination, respectively. With 3 × 2 factorial analysis of variance experiments run on aural language recall for each of the three criteria, several significant results were noted: (a) Using the semantic criteria for scoring aural language recall, self-action play yielded significantly higher mean scores than either puppet-action or control groups. (b) Using the semantic criteria to score aural language recall, girls yielded significantly higher scores than boys. (c) Using either the absolute or syntactic scoring criteria, the results of the analysis indicated no significant main or interaction effects on aural language recall.     

The significance of best-friend relationships in adolescence

Research is summarized that documents the nature of the best-friend process in adolescence. Similarities and differences between the sexes are detailed. Female relationships are described as more intense, demonstrative, exciusive, and nurturant than male. Females depend heavily on the friend as a confidante with whom to process their mutual experiences and psychological reactions, apparently in an effort to understand and develop their own personalities. While males also confide at an intimate level, male relationships are more likely to be based on enjoyable companionship and similarity in attitudes, with less emphasis on continual analysis of experience. For both sexes, but especially for females, the relationship is important enough to development that lack of a close friend should be viewed as a deficit that responsible adults should help a student to remedy. Resources are cited that may be utilized by school personnel in helping the unfriended to make more effective contact with potential friends.     

Profile analysis of standardized intelligence test performance of very high IQ children

Practitioners are frequently faced with the need to evaluate the intellectual skills of individuals with very high levels of functioning. Due to the statistical rarity of these persons, few tests have sufficient range of scores for a detailed analysis of intraindividual differences in performance. This paper describes a method using age equivalents and standard scores to recreate the full range of variability in the scores of high-functioning individuals. The method allows for a more complete interpretation of performance that can lead to better educational and therapeutic programming.     

跨文化研究在线学习教育学——反思和比较中英高校在线学习合作项目的经验

本文旨在研究如何实现有效的跨文化协作,比较中英两国如何理解和组织在线学习。研究者依据现象解释学设计研究方法,对比和反思了参加跨文化合作开发在线学习课程的经历和体验,讨论了这一基于项目的协作交流如何促进了对在线学习的理解。最后,本文总结了一些可供开展后续相关探索活动的尝试性结论。     

Comparing preservice,elementary, and junior high teachers' perceptions of school psychologists: Two decades later

One hundred eighty-one experienced teachers (elementary and junior high), and 189 preservice teachers were surveyed regarding their perceptions of school psychologists. The survey instrument used essentially the same categories as Styles in 1965, including: (a) level of training, (b) effectiveness, (c) qualifications for tasks, and (d) usefulness in specific duties. Analysis of the survey data showed there were significant differences between preservice and experienced teachers' effectiveness ratings of school psychologists on eight tasks typically performed by school psychologists. Significant differences also were found between preservice and experienced teachers on their ratings of school psychologists' qualifications to undertake specific tasks, although almost half of the experienced teachers were unable to rate the effectiveness of school psychologists. There was a small, but significant, negative relationship between the amount of contact with the school psychologist and the perceived effectiveness. Limitations inherent in survey methodology and the need to foster greater teacher awareness of the school psychologist's role are discussed.     

Prediction of academic achievement with the McCarthy screening test and metropolitan readiness test

There is a need for accurate, efficient assessment of children's readiness, to provide information concerning strengths and weaknesses of children and to identify those children who may be at risk for school failure. This necessitates determining the relative usefulness of instruments in predicting later school achievement. This study examined the efficacy of the McCarthy Screening Test (MST) and Metropolitan Readiness Test (MRT) to predict academic readiness at the end of kindergarten and achievement at the end of first grade. Eighty-eight children were screened upon entering kindergarten, using the MST. As a measurement of academic readiness, the MRT was administered at the end of kindergarten, and the Scott and Foresman Achievement Test (SFAT) was administered at the end of first grade as a measure of achievement. Regression analyses indicated that the MST significantly predicted children's scores on the MRT and SFAT. Additionally, the MRT was a significant predictor of the SFAT.