This study identifies student characteristics that predict participation in Transition Year, an optional developmental year (Grade 10) offered midway through secondary education in Ireland. One thousand eighty five students (51% female; mean age = 15.4 years) completed a questionnaire in Grade 9, providing information on demographic, attitudinal…

The author proposed a model to explain how parental involvement and school engagement related to academic performance. Participants were (671) 9th and 10th graders students who completed two scales of "parental involvement" and "school engagement" in their regular classrooms. Results of the path analysis suggested that the…

As institutions, science and science education alike have rarely included the perspectives and contributions of indigenous peoples pertaining to the natural world. Yet, people worldwide have benefited from the traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous communities. Western science and technology, though broadly worthwhile, have been a source…

Purpose: This study examined the agreement between estimated peak oxygen consumption (VO[subscript 2peak]) obtained from the Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run (PACER) fitness test and equated PACER laps derived from One-Mile Run time (MR). Methods: A sample of 680 participants (324 boys and 356 girls) in Grades 7 through 12…

This study examined the contributions of vocabulary and spelling to the reading comprehension of students in grades 6-10 who were and were not classified as English language learners. Results indicate that vocabulary accounted for greater between-grade differences and unique variance (?R[superscript 2] = 0.11-0.31) in comprehension as compared to…

This report outlines the development, methodology, and results of the split-half administration of the 2015 School Crime Supplement (SCS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS). The National Center for…

"Louisiana Believes," the state's comprehensive plan to prepare students for college and career success, includes a system of related policies and programs that help schools provide students with pathways to future prosperity, give schools the resources to offer these pathways, and reward schools when students achieve their goals. This…

Research has begun to show that certain schoolwide characteristics--such as student-centered learning environments, leadership, and safety--can be important for improving student outcomes. In keeping with these insights, school improvement efforts around the country are becoming less narrowly focused on the performance of individual students and…

Interest in study skills, one of the older realms of educational research, is enjoying a resurgence. Several forces in the field have fueled renewed interest in how learners can best use academic, organizational, and time-management skills to master content. As teacher leaders at a high school, the authors remain in contact with many of their…

Competitions are discussed as a measure to foster students' interest, especially for highly gifted and talented students. In the current study, participants of a cognitive school competition in science were compared to non-participants of the same age group (14-15) who either did not participate in any competition or who participated in a…

Does the mathematical reasoning ability develop with increase in age? How is mathematical reasoning ability differing according to gender? The current study is trying to find answers to these two questions. The study using cross-sectional design, was conducted with 409 (8th, 9th and 10th grade) students attending middle school and high school in…

Background: Inquiry learning in science provides authentic and relevant contexts in which students can create knowledge to solve problems, make decisions and find solutions to issues in today's world. The use of electronic networks can facilitate this interaction, dialogue and sharing, and adds a new dimension to classroom pedagogy. Purpose: This…

Using a sample of schools testing annually in grades 9-11 with a vertically linked series of assessments, a latent growth curve model is used to model test scores with student intercepts and slopes nested within school. Missed assessments can occur because of student mobility, student dropout, absenteeism, and other reasons. Missing data…

Education Policy Innovation Collaborative (EPIC) partnered with the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) to conduct a multi-year study of Michigan's implementation of competency-based education in K-12 schools. This mixed-methods study seeks to investigate the implementation and effectiveness of CBE using data from surveys administered to 21j…

A perceived inability to assess creative attributes of students' work has often precluded creativity instruction in the classroom. The Consensual Assessment Technique (CAT) has shown promise in a variety of domains for its potential as a valid and reliable means of creativity assessment. Relying upon an operational definition of creativity and a…