Design for a study of American youth

Project talent is a large-scale, long-range educational research effort aimed at developing methods for the identification, development, and utilization of human talents, which has involved some 440,000 students in 1,353 public, private, and parochial secondary schools in all parts of the country. Data collected through teacher-administered tests, included some 2,000 items of information about each student and some 1,000 items about each school. The student information included measures of (1) breadth of general information, (2) interests, (3) information in specific areas, (4) vocabulary, (5) motivational factors, and (6) scientific attitude. Other measures included those concerned with memory for sentences, the ability to use the English language, and tests dealing with creativity and mechanical reasoning. Use was also made of inventories to explore personality, vocational interests, and experiences. This information is in the computer processing stages and will provide data for later reports describing the schools these students attended and the interests, aptitudes, abilities, activities, and plans of the students. Anticipated continuing studies will be made at one, five, ten, and twenty years. (Author/JS).