This correlational study samples twelfth grade (senior) students in one central Midwest high school and examines their participation in credit-based transition programs and their changes in educational aspirations. Surveys and community college data are used to collect quantitative data to address six research questions. Using Hossler and…

As the ongoing national indicator of what American students know and can do, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) in Reading regularly collects achievement information on representative samples of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. The information that NAEP provides about student achievement helps the public, educators, and…

Learning modern genetics is challenging and students have difficulty acquiring a coherent cognitive mental model of abstract concepts such as DNA, bacteria and enzymes. Here we investigated students' mental models of genetics through analysis and interpretation of the discourse that took place while high-school students practised hands-on…

This study tested for deep understanding and critical thinking about basic quantum chemical concepts taught at 12th grade (age 17-18). Our aim was to achieve conceptual change in students. A quantitative study was conducted first (n = 125), and following this 23 selected students took part in semi-structured interviews either individually or in…

The current study aimed at examining the efficacy of technological projects as learning tools by exploring the following questions: the extent to which projects in technology develop students as independent learners; the types of knowledge the students deal with in working on their projects; the role of problem-solving in technological projects;…

This article examines various aspects of school physical characteristics relating to problem behavior among students. We hypothesize that an attractive physical environment will be associated with less truancy, cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use, whereas a negative physical environment will be associated with higher levels of these behaviors.…

The Nation's Report Card[TM] informs the public about the academic achievement of elementary and secondary students in the United States. Report cards communicate the findings of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a continuing and nationally representative measure of achievement in various subjects over time. The 2006 NAEP…

Educational accountability has grown substantially over the last decade, due in large part to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Accordingly, educational researchers and policymakers are interested in the statistical properties of accountability models used for NCLB, such as status, improvement, and growth models; as well as others that are not…

In this report, Joan Herman, director for the National Center for Research, on Evaluation, Standards, & Student Testing (CRESST) recommends that the new generation of science standards be based on lessons learned from current practice and on recent examples of standards-development methodology. In support of this, recent, promising efforts to…

The District conducts a "cross-sectional" analysis of student dropouts annually; it examines dropout rates among students enrolled in various grades at one point in time. A "longitudinal" analysis, also conducted annually, tracks a group of students in the same grade or cohort over a period of several years. Each method…

The AISD Student Substance Use and Safety Survey, administered annually to a random, representative sample of AISD students, provides self-report data on student knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to substance use and school safety issues. This report summarizes results from the 2010-2011 school year.

All children born in Manitoba in 1984 were tracked for 18 years to assess their grade-12 performance on a provincial examination according to a student's socio-economic status. The proportion of youths in families receiving social assistance judged to have passed their language arts exam dropped from 80 per cent to 12 per cent, depending on…

I identify and discuss ways in which different types of connections are described in the South African mathematics National Curriculum Statement and its related documents, particularly at the Further Education and Training (FET) level. I argue that connections are central to the way the discipline of mathematics, its learning outcomes, and…

The purpose of this study was to listen to the students' stories and discover why some students in at-risk populations are able to persist in their education and complete their high school graduation requirements despite the odds against their doing so. The findings of this study revealed that students are influenced by a multitude of factors.…

Boys identified as learning-disabled gifted or twice exceptional, at two different grade levels (5th or 6th grades, and 11th or 12th grades), were asked to read a history text with unknown vocabulary words, internal inconsistencies, and prior knowledge violations inserted to make immediate comprehension difficult. The students were asked to read…