This study examines the pattern and extent of actual vs. perceived math achievement gaps (test scores vs. self-ratings) among Koreans, Korean-American immigrants and Korean-American natives. The study links TIMSS 2007 8th grade math data and ECLS-K 2007 8th grade math data together for matched sample (Korean ethnicity) comparisons. In terms of…

The purpose of the current study was to examine features of adolescent reading comprehension trajectories and make within-person and between-person analyses of growth that occurs during the high school grades. Racial and socioeconomic group differences of the adolescent reading trajectories were also investigated and compared. This examination…

This article describes the grim sentiments from the U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, when reviewing the poor results from the U.S. performance on the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). He noted a straightforward and stark picture of educational stagnation--that fifteen-year-olds in the U.S. today are average in…

Prototype work can support the creation of data visualizations throughout the research and development process through paper prototypes with sketching, designed prototypes with graphic design tools, and functional prototypes to explore how the implementation will work. One challenging aspect of data visualization work is coordinating the expertise…

The School Composition and the Black-White Achievement Gap study was undertaken by the National Center for Education Statistics to present both descriptive and associative information on the relationships among the percentage of students in a school who were Black (referred to as "Black student density" or "density"), the…

We examined the age of onset, over-time dynamics, and mechanisms underlying science achievement gaps in U.S. elementary and middle schools. To do so, we estimated multilevel growth models that included as predictors children's own general knowledge, reading and mathematics achievement, behavioral self-regulation, sociodemographics, other child-…

Using data from the 2011 (Chinese) Student Academic Achievement Evaluation, we examined whether within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement exist across science subjects, how consistent they are, and whether there are relationships between school average science achievement and within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement.…

Students from low-income backgrounds face a variety of social and economic challenges that make it more difficult for them to achieve their potential. 2 To make matters worse, low-income students often attend public schools that receive less funding than schools serving more affluent students. It is also clear that some states do a far better job…

In recent years, smartphones and tablets have been rapidly adopted by consumers worldwide. Within the United States, a growing number of school districts have incorporated tablets into classroom instruction. As mobile technology becomes further integrated into households and classrooms, parents, teachers, and students might need information for…

Michigan has a problem. By several measures, the achievement of students attending its K-12 educational system has not kept pace with other states. Although Michigan's student achievement has improved over the past decade, the improvement has been modest, and achievement in many other states has easily surpassed that in Michigan. Furthermore,…

We examined instructional processes in classrooms where students with and without disabilities received mathematics instruction to understand the relationship among key instructional process variables and achievement as measured by interim and end-of-year summative assessments. Teachers (N = 78) completed instructional logs daily and administered…

This article features Robert M. Finley Middle School, a school that is considered by the entire Glen Cove, New York, community as important and successful. Gaps in student achievement have decreased significantly and all student achievement has improved over the last five years in this school, where nearly half of the 652 students are from…

The United States is becoming more racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse, yet the educational attainment of various student groups has been very uneven. For decades, educators and policymakers have been focused on minimal competencies rather than advanced achievement. Specifically, federal and state education policies have focused on…

This study is a longitudinal look at the different mathematics placement profiles of Black students and White students from late elementary school through 8th grade. Results revealed that Black students had reduced odds of being placed in algebra by the time they entered 8th grade even after controlling for performance in mathematics. An important…

School Composition and the Black-White Achievement Gap explores public schools' demographic composition, in particular, the proportion of Black students enrolled in schools (also referred to "Black student density" in schools) and its relation to the Black-White achievement gap. This NCES study, the first of its kind, used the 2011 NAEP…