To plan cluster-randomized trials with sufficient statistical power to detect intervention effects on student achievement, researchers need multilevel design parameters, including measures of between-classroom and between-school differences and the amounts of variance explained by covariates at the student, classroom, and school level. Previous…

Background: In low-stakes educational assessments, test takers might show a performance decline (PD) on end-of-test items. PD is a concern in educational assessments, especially when groups of students are to be compared on the proficiency variable because item responses gathered in the groups could be differently affected by PD. In order to…

Relating mathematical concepts to graphical representations is a challenging task for students. In this paper, we introduce two visual strategies to qualitatively interpret the divergence of graphical vector field representations. One strategy is based on the graphical interpretation of partial derivatives, while the other is based on the flux…

In this paper, I assess labor market returns of a substantial skill upgrade: college enrollment of the vocationally trained, non-traditional students who do not have the formal entry requirement. Using propensity-score-adjusted regressions and the National Educational Panel Study, I find that these enrollees face high opportunity costs as they…

In this article, the authors present the adaptation and validation processes conducted to render the American "Test of Financial Literacy" (TFL) suitable for use in Germany (TFL-G). First, they outline the translation procedure followed and the various cultural adjustments made in line with international standards. Next, they present…

Research suggests that a country does not need inequity to have high performance. However, such research has potentially suffered from confounders present in between-country comparative research (e.g., latent cultural differences). Likewise, relatively little consideration has been given to whether the situation may be different for high- or…

School systems across the United States have launched the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math recruitment initiatives to interest students in related majors and careers. While an overall interest of high school students in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math majors and careers has increased by over twenty-five percent in the past two…

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a simple multicomponent motivational intervention on the writing performance of a class of low-achieving fourth graders under everyday conditions in schools. An ABAB design was utilized to establish a functional relationship between the independent variable (a treatment involving explicit…

Ever since the classic research of Nicholls (1976) and others, effort has been recognized as a double-edged sword: while it might enhance achievement, it undermines academic self-concept (ASC). However, there has not been a thorough evaluation of the longitudinal reciprocal effects of effort, ASC, and achievement, in the context of modern…

Background: Previous studies have shown that there is a complex relationship between students' computer and information literacy (CIL) and their use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for both recreational and school use. Methods: This study seeks to dig deeper into these complex relations by identifying different patterns of…

Writing essays and receiving feedback can be useful for fostering students' learning and motivation. When faced with large class sizes, it is desirable to identify students who might particularly benefit from feedback. In this article, we tested the potential of Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) for identifying poor essays. A total of 14 teaching…

Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is important throughout the lifespan. The objective was to investigate the transcultural diagnostic validity of the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) in a clinical sample of 451 adults with Intellectual Developmental Disorder (IDD) with and without ASD in Germany, the U.S.A. and Great Britain.…

Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) hold great potential for applications in summative and formative assessment by providing discrete multivariate proficiency scores that yield statistically driven classifications of students. Using data from a newly developed diagnostic arithmetic assessment that was administered to 2032 fourth-grade students…

The study examined associations among adolescents' perceived mother-child and father-child relationship quality (intimacy, conflict, and admiration), perceived peer acceptance, and their values (individualism and collectivism) in a sample of 795 Estonian, German, and Russian 15-year-olds. Adolescents from the three cultural contexts differed in…

Our newly proposed integrated academic self-concept model integrates 3 major theories of academic self-concept formation and developmental perspectives into a unified conceptual and methodological framework. Relations among math self-concept (MSC), school grades, test scores, and school-level contextual effects over 6 years, from the end of…