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…

This report explores the student background characteristics that might be associated with success or failure in calculus and evaluates the effectiveness of remedial mathematics education. The sample consisted of two groups at the University of California, Santa Cruz: (1) all students (105) who took first quarter calculus in spring, 1985; and (2)…

This study tested an integrative longitudinal model of the early schooling process on three first-grade outcomes for 1,539 poor urban ethnic minority children (1,470 Black; 69 Hispanic). The model views educational attainment as a function of readiness characteristics upon entry into kindergarten and intervening kindergarten and first-grade…

Factors that affect the decision of a high school senior to attend or not to attend college were studied, using a path analysis model. Data were drawn from the 1980 High School and Beyond national survey of 58,000 high school sophomores and seniors, which was sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics. The study sample was 14,287,…

This report identifies and analyzes forces in the schooling process that create delays in completions, that limit attainment, that foster the drop out rate and that reduce chances for higher education among Puerto Ricns in metropolitan areas in the U.S., as revealed by statistics from the 1970 census. In this study, an explanatory set of social…

Path analysis was used to explore the relationships among a number of variables related to student persistence. The subjects were freshmen in the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota. Variables that showed the largest total effects on persistence were college grade-point average and high school rank. (Author/MLW)

Tries to develop a method for empirical evaluations of the impact of a school system on measurable cognitive and affective outcomes in students. Concentrates on the Partial Least Squares (PLS) methodology, and illustrates the potential of PLS for system analysis. (BW)

Problem behavior theory predicts that adolescent problem behaviors are manifestations of a single behavioral syndrome. This study tested the validity of the theory across racial groups. Results indicate that multiple pathways are necessary to account for the problem behaviors and they support previous research indicating system response bias in…

Genetic and environmental etiologies of individual differences in tests of intelligence and school achievement were investigated in a study from the Colorado Adoption Project. A multivariate conditional path model was fitted to general cognitive ability and reading performance data from 119 adoptive and 120 nonadoptive families. (SLD)

This paper focuses on developing a relatively simple method for analyzing web-logs. It also explores the challenges and benefits of web-log analysis. The study of student behavior on this site provides insights into website design and the effectiveness of this site in particular. Another benefit realized from the paper is the ease with which these…

A structural model of school learning was tested to examine both direct and indirect influences of previous grades, quality of instruction, motivation, quantity of instruction, and homework on Hispanic-American eighth-grade students' academic achievement, while controlling for background variables. The model was analyzed with path analytic…

This research study involved a systematic investigation into the relationships among: (1) the techniques used by search analysts during preliminary interviews with users before engaging in online retrieval of bibliographic citations; (2) the amount of new information gained by the user as a result of the search; and (3) the user's ultimate…

Characteristics and attendance patterns of persisters and dropouts from college and vocational/technical schools were studied, and a model of the persistence process was tested using data from the National Longitudinal Study (NLS), which surveyed high school seniors in 1972, with followup surveys in 1973 and 1974. Student persistence was defined…

The logic of using a gain score approach versus longitudinal causal models is studied in this secondary analysis of a complex data base. The gain score model used by the Federal Reserve Bank and the School District of Philadelphia in their "What Works in Reading?" study is successively refined using the LISREL structural equation…

Data from the Gallup Polls of Public Attitudes Toward Education, administered in 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1983, were re-analyzed using multivariate analysis methods. An attempt was made to determine what segments of the public demonstrated support or non-support for the public schools. Survey responses were available for over 1500 people for each…