The role common region (CR) plays in acquiring scientific information from node-link displays was studied by testing 88 subjects under conditions of knowledge maps demonstrating or not demonstrating CR. Field-dependent subjects scored better than the field-independent subjects for maps demonstrating CR, whereas the opposite was true for maps not…

Class emphasis on learning goals and incentive structures and their relationship to students' use of learning strategies were studied with 1,037 students in 54 college classes who rated the importance of goals and incentive structures. Findings suggest that goals and incentives affect strategy use. (SLD)

Two experiments involving 226 college students were conducted to determine the relative effectiveness of increasing students' incentive motivation for studying and prescribing a text-processing strategy for them to use in studying. Findings suggest that the use of students' acquired learning strategies depends on their motivational levels. (SLD)

Demographic, attitudinal, and response-completion differences were investigated for initial and delayed respondents to a mail survey targeting 600 elementary and secondary school teachers. Overall response rate was 71.2 percent. Twenty-five nonrespondents were interviewed. Delay of response was associated with lower interest in the topic and lower…

Using a national database of nearly 10,000 teachers, the dimensionality of teachers' decision participation, school climate, sense of efficacy, and job satisfaction and their relationships were explored. Dimensions of decision participation did not emerge as best predictors of teachers' sense of efficacy or job satisfaction. (SLD)

Five authors representing diverse perspectives comment on the revised "Program Evaluation Standards" approved by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Standards are considered in light of their development; measurement issues; program evaluation; evaluation in the local education agency; and the context of evaluation utilization. (SLD)

A graphic procedure is presented for studying differential item functioning (DIF) that is designed to provide diagnostic information for psychometricians and educators. The procedure provides a signature of each test item that can be used with a summary statistic to flag items with DIF. Advantages and limitations are noted. (SLD)

In a study with 167 college students of the effect of adverse learning conditions on achievement, action-oriented college students performed better than state-oriented students on a lecture-based achievement test despite low-expressive instruction and prior perceived academic failure. State-oriented students also experienced more negative…