Using Statistics to Make Educational Decisions

by David E. Tanner

Overview

An accessible introduction to statistics written specifically for Education students in the changing educational landscape

Government scrutiny and intensified oversight have dramatically changed the landscape of education in recent years. Observers want to know how schools compare, which district is best, which states are spending the most per student on education, whether reforms are making a difference, and why so many students are failing. Some of these questions require technical answers that educators historically redirected to outside experts, but the questions leveled at all educators have become so acute and persistent that they can no longer be outsourced. This text helps educators develop the tools and the conceptual understanding needed to provide definitive answers to difficult statistical questions facing education today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781483314686
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	09/07/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	552
File size:	19 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David Tanner is a Professor in the Department of Educational Research and Administration at California State University, Fresno, where he was the Department Chair from 1990-1995. He received his Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction/Measurement from Texas A&M University, and his areas of interest include educational psychology; statistics and measurement; educational research; quantitative and qualitative evaluation; assessing student achievement; evaluating classroom assessment instruments; and evaluating the performance of teachers and teacher candidates. He has authored several journal articles and the textbook Assessing Academic Achievement (©2001).

Table of Contents

Part A: Developing a Context for Statistical Analysis
Chapter 1: A Context for Solving Quantitative Problems
Chapter 2: Describing Data
Part B: Presenting Data
Chapter 3: Data Distributions: Picturing Data
Chapter 4: Working with the Normal Curve: z Scores
Part C. Examining Differences
Chapter 5: Probability and the Normal Distribution
Chapter 6: t for One, or Two
Chapter 7: Analysis of Variance
Chapter 8: ANOVA with more than One Independent Variable: Factorial ANOVA
Chapter 9: Dependent Groups Tests for Interval Data
Part D. Association and Prediction
Chapter 10: Correlation
Chapter 11: Regression with One Predictor
Chapter 12: Regression with More than One Predictor
Part E. Tests for Nominal and Ordinal Data
Chapter 13: Some of the Chi-square Tests
Chapter 14: Working with Ordinal, More, or Less-than Data
Part F. Tests, Measurement Issues and Selected Advanced Topics
Chapter 15: Testing Issues
Chapter 16: A Brief Introduction to Selected Advanced Topics
Glossary
Appendices: Tables of Critical Values
Appendices: A Primer in SPSS®
Appendices: Solutions to Selected Problems

Editorial Reviews

This text seems to cover the basics of educational decision making. It would make an excellent text for a course preceding the one I am teaching.

Mack C. Shelley

The content is very specific to my design for the course. The book addresses a wide range of prior content affiliation by the student. It reads very well but still provides necessary mathematical rigor for understading the concepts presented...extremely appropriate for most Ed D programs and could also function as an excellent transistion from a mathematics, statistical background into the world of research in the social sciences.

Benjamin Brown

This text seems to cover the basics of educational decision making. It would make an excellent text for a course preceding the one I am teaching.

Mack C. Shelley