Human Relations Skills Training in Teacher Education: The Link to Effective Practice

Brandt, R. (1985). On teaching and supervising: A conversation with Madeline Hunter. Educational Leadership, 42, 61–66. Hunter, M. (1985). What's wrong with Madeline Hunter? Educational Teacher Leadership, 42, 57–60. Ligon, S.A. (1984). A strategy for helping students with their problems. Teacher Educator, 19, 28–32. Manning, B.H., & Payne, B.D. (1984). Student teacher personality as a variable in teacher education. Teacher Educator, 20, 2–12. Sadker, M., & Sadker, D. (1985). Is the O.K. classroom O.K.? Phi Delta Kappan, 66, 358–361. Smith, B.O. (1985). Research bases for teacher education. Phi Delta Kappan, 66, 685–690.     

Student Development Studies: A Review of Published Empirical Research, 1973–1987

This study is a review of 27 published empirical research articles from 1973–1987 that discuss the implementation and evaluation of theory-based student development intervention programs. While findings show that some student development programs have a positive effect, the total amount of empirical research is meager.     

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN GRADUATE TRAINING, PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATION, AND INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT PRACTICES FOR PERSONNEL DECISIONS

Survey data on 321 psychologists who conduct individual assessments were analyzed to compare practices and opinions of those with differing graduate training (I/O or non-I/O) and professional affiliation (SIOP or non-SIOP). Differences in practice on the basisof training and affiliation occur in licensing, types of assessments conducted, specific testing instruments used, and knowledge of legal guidelines governing selection practices. However, when purpose of assessment was controlled for by examining only managerial selection assessments, few practice differences related to training and affiliation emerged. Implications for the training of individual assessors are discussed, and several practice variations warranting further research are presented.     

Jobs You Won't Find in the Dictionary of Occupational Titles

This article, although written in a whimsical style, points out the value-laden nature of our premier source of occupational information, the Dictionary of Occupational Titles. Other than legal occupations, jobs that are remunerative can be placed into three categories: (a) illegal occupations, (b) underground or counterculture occupations, and (c) occupations “in limbo.”     

THE EFFECTS OF PERCEIVED SYSTEM KNOWLEDGE ON THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN SELF-RATINGS AND SUPERVISOR RATINGS

The viability of self-assessment in the performance appraisal process has been the focus of recent work. Although some contend that self-appraisals can be beneficial, the consistent finding of lenient and inaccurate self-ratings has led others to discount and doubt their usefulness. Recent research (Farh & Dobbins, 1989a,b) has investigated the influence of a variety of factors in improving the accuracy of self-ratings. The present study was conducted to examine the effect of perceived system knowledge (PSK) on the discrepancy between self- and supervisor ratings. Seventy-three employees of two banking institutions participated by completing a questionnaire on their perceived knowledge of the performance appraisal system. The results of moderated regression analyses suggest that the level of knowledge did in fact influence the agreement among subordinates and supervisors. Self-ratings were more congruent with supervisors'ratings when the subordinates reported high levels of perceived system knowledge. Implications of these findings for organizations and areas for future research are discussed.     

STATISTICAL POWER AND COST IN TRAINING EVALUATION: SOME NEW CONSIDERATIONS

Two ways to reduce the costs of training evaluation are examined. First, we examine the potential for reducing the costs of training evaluation by assigning different numbers of subjects into training and control groups. Given a total N of subjects, statistical power to detect the effectiveness of a training program can be maximized by assigning the subjects equally to training and control groups. If we take into account the costs of training evaluation, however, an unequal-group-size design with a larger total N may achieve the same level of statistical power at lower cost. We derive formulas for the optimal ratios of the control group size to the training group size for both ANOVA and ANCOVA designs, incorporating the differential costs of training and control group participation. Second, we examine the possibility that using a less expensive proxy criterion measure in place of the target criterion measure of interest when evaluating the training effectiveness can pay off. We show that using a proxy criterion increases the sample size needed to achieve a given level of statistical power, and then we describe procedures for examining the tradeoff between the costs saved by using the less expensive proxy criterion and the costs incurred by the larger sample size.     

NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN THE USE OF MEASURES OF HONESTY INTEGRITY, CONSCIENTIOUSNESS, DEPENDABILITY TRUSTWORTHINESS, AND RELIABILITY FOR PERSONNEL SELECTION

This paper is the fourth in a series of reviews of the use of measures of honesty, integrity, conscientiousness, dependability, trustworthiness, and reliability for personnel selection (see Sackett & Decker, 1979; Sackett & Harris, 1984; Sackett, Burris, & Callahan, 1989). New developments reviewed include an examination of professional and congressional inquiry into this area of testing, rapid growth of the validity data base, new insight into similarities and differences between different tests, and links to the Big Five personality dimensions. Inquiries into relationships with other constructs, including cognitive ability, moral reasoning, and social desirability are reviewed, as are applicant reactions to these tests. The effects of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the Americans with Disabilities Act are considered.     

ON THE NONCOMPARABILITY OF JUDGMENTS MADE BY DIFFERENT ETHICAL THEORIES

A major focus of ethical argumentation is (and should be) determining the relative merits of proposed ethical systems. Nevertheless, even the demonstration that a given ethical system was the one most likely to be correct would not establish that an agent should act in accord with that system. Consider, for example, a situation in which the ethical system most likely to be valid is modestly supportive of a certain action, whereas a less plausible system strongly condemns the same action. Should the agent perform the action, arguing that the most plausible system supports doing so, or avoid the action, being conservative about the strong condemnation of it from a less plausible system? I argue that, in general, different ethical frameworks see the ethical world in fundamentally different ways, rendering the comparison of degrees of support and opposition of actions between systems intrinsically invalid. One should indeed choose to act in accord with the most defensible system. I believe that this important topic needs more attention than it has gotten to date.