All prompts are created equal, but some prompts are more equal than others.

Scores assigned to college placement essays by a computer program (PEG) showed high agreement with the evaluations of human readers (r =.82). Further, both types of graders tended to assign higher or lower scores to essays written about particular topics. Content analyses by a second program (MCCA) indicated that themes in essays varied in terms of emphasis on "analytic," "emotional," or "practical" dimensions. Human and machine readers tended to give higher scores for analytic and practical themes, and lower scores for those involving emotion. The ranks of mean prompt-related grades were concordant with the ranks of mean analytic and practical content across topics. Such findings call for the refined standardization of prompts for future testing, and the need for care in the evaluation of existing essays.

Stress-buffering factors related to adolescent coping: a path analysis.

To uncover those factors that buffer the impact of stressful negative experiences on adolescent adjustment, a theoretical model of adolescent stress and coping, with social support and social problem solving proposed as moderators, was investigated using path analysis. The study was conducted with 122 ninth-and tenth-grade nonreferred high school students. Using the LISREL statistical package (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1986), it was found that a recursive loop leading from stress outcomes back to negative stressors did not allow for a successful solution to the model. However, the effects of stressful events on adjustment were mediated by coping resources, which included a combination of problem-solving abilities and social support. Overall, the findings replicated previous investigations that have demonstrated direct relationships among stressful life events, social support, problem solving, and adolescent adjustment. While a successful fit to the theoretical model was not attained, it was concluded that a refined model may provide a more acceptable solution.

Teacher perceptions of differences among elementary students with and without learning disabilities in referred samples.

Current referral and identification procedures for students with learning disabilities (LD) have been criticized on conceptual and procedural dimensions, including difficulties in operationalizing the definition and in making eligibility decisions that are data based. Recognizing these difficulties, the Texas Education Agency appointed a task force to examine various issues associated with the identification, assessment, and programming of students with LD. Task force members recognized the need to identify classroom behaviors that differentiate students with LD from their non-disabled peers. Two scales of 83 items each were devised and piloted in 70 school districts. Five significant factors or subscales were identified through discriminant factor analyses. Two subscales and 18 individual items discriminate students later classified as LD and those referred but not subsequently classified as LD. Results are discussed, with implications for further investigation of behaviors that distinguish students with and without LD.

The incidence of stressful life events of elementary school-aged children.

Certain events, commonly found in the life histories of children, have been characterized as potentially stressful (Rutter, 1981). There is some evidence to support the hypothesis that these events play a role in the etiology of various disorders, although the nature of that relationship is not clear (Dohrenwend & Dohrenwend, 1974). Yet that relationship remains the subject of considerable interest, as can be seen by the number of studies on the influence of stressful life events on children's emotional adjustment and school performance (Boike, Gesten, Cowen, Felner, & Francis, 1978; Felner, Ginter, Boike, & Cowen, 1981; Felner, Stolberg, & Cowen, 1975; Gesten, Scher, & Cowen, 1981; Felner, Stolberg, & Cowen, 1975; Gesten, Scher, & Cowen, 1978; Rolf & Garmezy, 1974; Sandler & Block, 1979; Siegel, 1981). Sandler and Ramsey (1980) have suggested that the role of life events as stressors can be understood to be a function of, among other things, the frequency of occurrence of events. For research and clinical assessment purposes, baseline data on the incidence of stressful life events of children seem to be necessary. In order to collect and organize baseline data, the relevant demographic variables must be identified. It was hypothesized that there might be two relevant demographic variables: age and socioeconomic status (SES). The purposes of this study were to (a) conduct a survey to gather baseline data on the incidence of stressful life events of children, and (b) examine the effects of age and SES on the number of events reported.