R. V. Hopkins (1982) has criticized the use of means as the unit of analysis in situations where intact groups, such as classes, rather than individuals have been randomly assigned to various treatment conditions. Instead, Hopkins advocated the use of certain analysis of variance (ANOVA) models that, as far as test for treatment effects are…

It is feasible for school districts to develop and use subject area tests as reliable as those previously available only from commercial publishers. Three projects in local item development in a large school district are described. The first involved only Algebra 1. The second involved life science and career education at the elementary level; and…

Two approaches to the measurement of teacher efficacy were investigated to determine whether teachers' sense of self-efficacy is a self-referenced or norm-referenced construct. Two forms of an instrument consisting of 25 teaching problem situations were developed: one required self-referenced responses, while the other required norm-referenced…

The impact of the Early Exit Program (EEP) on Florida schools was studied. Questions asked about those who pass the General Education Development (GED) tests to earn a high school diploma included: (1) whether such students are high achievers who might contribute to a brain drain from the high schools; (2) whether they are low achievers who cannot…

The effect on achievement of the timing of the transition from elementary to intermediate school was investigated. Focus was on determining whether it matters if children transfer to an intermediate school at grade 6 or at grade 7. The Otis-Lennon School Ability Test was administered to grade 5 students in spring of 1981. The sixth and…

Formative evaluation of program implementation and student performance was used to assess a new writing program used in 11 elementary schools in Hillsborough County (Florida). Twenty-one teachers and 600 students in grades 4 and 5 participated. Teachers were interviewed, and students completed an attitude survey. In addition, 4 writing samples…

The effect on passing scores of providing judges with pass/fail data for the various possible cut-off score levels was studied. Passing scores produced by individual judges using a modified version of the procedure of W. H. Angoff (1971) were compared with the same judges' passing scores as revised after considering information on the number of…

The interrater reliability and factor structure of colleague ratings of university faculty were studied for 46 faculty members from 4 departments within the School of Education and Allied Professions at the University of Miami (Florida). Within each department, each faculty member rated every other faculty member using two methods: (1) a global…

Two studies investigated the performance of Florida high school seniors on the Tests of General Educational Development (GED Tests). The GED Test Battery, as revised in 1980, consists of 290 items in 5 subject areas (writing, social studies, science, reading, and mathematics). In the first study, the performance of 1,200 Florida students was…

A curriculum guide and suggested instructional resource materials were developed for a school district program in computer literacy for kindergarten through grade 8. The program was piloted with 43 teachers in 9 elementary schools and 1 junior high school in 1984 in the Orange County (Florida) School District. A structured response questionnaire…

The rank transformation approach to analysis of variance (ANOVA) as a solution to the Behrens-Fisher problem was examined. Using simulation methodology, four parameters were manipulated for the two-group design: (1) ratio of population variances; (2) distribution form; (3) sample size; and (4) population mean difference. As a general solution to…

The Random Normal Scores Test (RNST) has been suggested as a powerful alternative to the use of the parametric analysis of variance (ANOVA) test when the underlying population is non-normally distributed. The major support for this suggestion rests on asymptotic theory. An empirical analysis of the RNST performed under the F and Chi-square…

Regression-based adjustment of student outcomes for the assessment of the merit of schools is considered. First, the basics of causal modeling and multiple regression are briefly reviewed. Then, two common regression-based adjustment procedures are described, pointing out that the validity of the final assessments depends on: (1) the degree to…

The technique of path analysis was used to test the role of student task engagement as a mediating process variable linking teacher behavior and student achievement in mathematics and social studies classes. Study participants included 40 teacher interns and their respective second-, third-, and fifth-grade classes from a school district served by…

The efforts of the Florida Institute for Instructional Research and Practice in designing, developing, and analyzing the subject area knowledge tests of the Florida Master Teacher Program are described. A total of 13 subject area examinations was developed in 1984-85, and 5 additional tests were developed the following year. For each subject area…