In spring 2007, four Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) Science and Technology/Engineering (STE) operational tests were introduced at the high school level (grades 9 and 10): Biology, Chemistry, Introductory Physics, and Technology/Engineering. Over 100,000 Massachusetts public high school students in grades 9 and 10 participated…

This article describes a portion of a long-term action-research project investigating the teaching of the science of transportation to high school students using the case study or experiential method. Other aspects integrated with the project-oriented study are the use of Constructivist theory, the Socratic Method, and the incorporation of…

A social developmental framework was applied to test for the socialization of homophobic attitudes and behavior within adolescent peer groups (Grades 7-11; aged 12-17 years). Substantial similarity within and differences across groups were documented. Multilevel models identified a group socializing contextual effect, predicting homophobic…

This article describes both normative changes and individual differences in the gender composition of girls' and boys' friendship networks across adolescence and predicts variations in these changes. It also examines changes in the characteristics (context, age difference, closeness, and support) of same- and other-sex friendships in the network.…

This study examined motivation (prosocial goals), individual characteristics (sex, ethnicity, and grade), and friendship characteristics (affective quality, interaction frequency, and friendship stability) in relation to middle adolescents' prosocial behavior over time. Ninth- and 10th-grade students (N=208) attending a suburban, mid-Atlantic…

This article describes an engaging, data-gathering activity that allows students to explore relationships between latitude and average monthly temperatures of cities in the Western Hemisphere. This data-gathering activity covered interesting and important mathematical ground and engaged students from the start. While students searched for their…

In this study, the authors conducted a mixed analysis of student perceptions of their best high school teachers. The sample of 257 preservice teachers from a College of Education in California described their best high school teacher. From their descriptions, qualitative analysis through the method of constant comparison yielded eight themes:…

Student performance of natives and immigrants differed greatly in the Programme for International Student Assessment 2000 in Germany. This paper analyses the gap in test scores by estimating educational production functions, using an extension study with imputed data. The difference in test scores is assigned to various effects, using a…

The high school transition was examined in an ethnically diverse, urban sample of 1,979 adolescents, followed from 7th to 10th grade (M[subscript age] = 14.6, SD = 0.37 in 7th grade). Twice annually, data were gathered on adolescents' perceptions of school climate, psychological functioning, and academic behaviors. Piecewise growth modeling…

The annual event dropout rate describes the proportion of students who leave school each year without completing a high school program. The event dropout rates for the school year 2005-2006 of 1.99% for grades 7 through 12th and 2.85% for grades 9 through 12th are consistent with the dropout rates for the past four years. The event completion rate…

Enrolment and success rates are very crucial for any educational system in the world but they are more important for the developing countries like Bangladesh. Gender differences in enrolment and success rates are also emerging issues. This study investigated the enrolment and success rate's status in secondary educational system of Bangladesh…

In this paper, two nationwide assessments for elementary and secondary students' educational achievement in Korea were reviewed for their assessment frameworks and the overall results; the Diagnostic Test for Basic Skills (DTBS) of Grade 3 elementary students and the National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA) for Grade 6, 9 and 10…

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…

We used a systems perspective to examine relationships between adolescents' perceptions of overall family system functioning and selected parental behaviors. Self-report questionnaire data from 160 ninth and tenth grade students were analyzed using MANCOVA and discriminant analysis. The results showed two parental behaviors, support and monitoring…

While research shows that low levels of social acceptance and elevated body dissatisfaction increase risks for depressive symptoms among both girls and boys, little is known about protective factors that can mediate these risks. We test the hypothesis that positive team sports involvement mediates the effects of these risks on depression in a…