Relationships between students' grade-level, epistemic beliefs, metacognition, and science achievement were investigated separately for low and high-achieving schools. A total of 587 students in low achieving schools and 600 students in high achieving schools from fifth, sixth, and eighth grades constituted the study sample. Exploratory and…

The purpose of this sequential mixed methods study was to examine the relationship between classroom climate and student achievement of middle school students. A purposeful sample of 428 middle school students (6th-8th grade) from a large southeastern Texas school district were administered the "Learning Environment Inventory" (LEI) to…

The growth of a STEM-focused economy has intensified the focus on developing kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) students' STEM competencies and on the STEM practices of K-12 STEM teachers. The present study utilised secondary analysis of nationally-representative STEM teacher survey data to examine the ways in which middle grades teachers'…

This study examined the performance of sixth graders in Hong Kong on a number sense three-tier test (NSTTT) and identified their possible misconceptions about number sense. The NSTTT comprises a content tier, which assesses the content knowledge of number sense; a reason tier, which assesses the reasons for the first-tier responses; and a…

The unintended academic and social consequences for students experiencing the transition from elementary to middle school have been well documented. A mixed method study was conducted to examine the perceptions and attitudes of 6th grade students, parents, and teachers from four middle schools in a large suburban school district in Southeastern…

In this study, the associations between social support, reading confidence and English reading amount were examined using a sample of Grade 5 and Grade 6 primary school students (N = 570) in Hong Kong. It was hypothesised that the effect of parent support, teacher support, and peer support on reading amount was mediated by reading confidence. Age…

This study compared the academic achievement and teacher-student relationship of students who remained with the same teacher for two consecutive years in so-called looping classrooms (n = 98), to their peers in traditional one-year classrooms (n = 94). Contrary to prior research on the topic, this study used a strict protocol to ensure that…

The current scales for self-blame are not suitable for school bullying scenarios and most lack validity. This study used a self-developed scale to measure bullied victims' tendency to self-blame and further examined whether victims and bully/victims exhibited different tendencies toward self-blame under both bullied and generalized scenarios. The…

In the present study, we examine the personal belief in a just world (PBJW) for teachers and learners in predominantly Afrikaans-speaking South African schools, and the relationship between teachers' PBJW and their perception of problem behaviour in the classroom. The study is informed by national debates of school violence in South African…

The mothers and fathers (n?=?43) of third- and sixth-grade children were asked to assess their child's academic potential in comparison with the child's earlier competence and with that of her/his peers. In the interpersonal domain, the mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their child's academic potential were related to each other, especially in…

The article deals with the way in which authority was established and interpreted by teachers and students in two Flemish sixth-grade mathematics classrooms. Problem-solving lessons during a seven-month observation period were analysed regarding three aspects of teacher-student interactions that explicitly or implicitly reflect who bears…

This study explores girls' aspirations for their future. The context was an ex-coalmining area where concerns had been raised by the local authority about the levels of girls' achievement. The focus of the research was the views of Year 6 girls as they prepared for their transition to secondary school and Year 11 girls as they prepared for their…

Our study focuses on the correlation of concept map (CMap) structures and learning success tested with short answer tests, taking into particular account the complexity of the subject matter. Novice sixth grade students created CMaps about two subject matters of varying difficulty. The correlation of the complexity of CMaps with the post-test was…

Concept mapping is discussed as a means to promote meaningful learning and in particular progress in reading comprehension skills. Its increasing implementation necessitates the acquisition of adequate knowledge about frequent errors in order to make available an effective introduction to the new learning method. To analyse causes of errors, 283…

In the present study it has been examined how children's creative writing tasks may contribute to teachers' understanding of children's values. Writings of 300 elementary school children about what they would do if they were the boss of The Netherlands were obtained and seemed to reflect different types of values. Most children were concerned with…