This paper presents comparative information on the strength of the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and literacy skills at ages 6-8, drawing on data from France, Germany, Japan, Rotterdam (Netherlands), the United Kingdom, and the United States. We investigate whether the strength of the association between SES and literacy skills in…

Purpose: This comparative study sought to identify best practices concerning symbolic mathematical communication between primary school teachers and students in Japanese, Laotian, and Thai classrooms. Method: The target groups were 18 teachers and 671 students in Grade 1 to Grade 6 mathematics classrooms in Japan, Lao PDR, and Thailand. A total of…

This cross-cultural study investigated country and gender differences among American (U.S.A.) and Japanese students' reading motivation. Fourth-grade students (94 from the United States and 102 from Japan) were administered a reading motivation questionnaire. Study results indicated American students had higher reading motivation than Japanese…

It has become increasingly clear that the early use of decomposition for addition is associated with later mathematical achievement. This study examined how younger children execute a base-10 decomposition strategy to solve complex arithmetic (e.g. two-digit addition). 24 addition problems in two modalities (WA: Written Arithmetic; OA: Oral…

Herein we examine the dominant image of East Asian schools as marked by a darker side of widespread bullying, leading to high rates of youth suicide. First outlining the substantial literature on bullying in the English language, we turn to show how -- paradoxically -- the rates of bullying and suicide are no higher, or in nearly all cases, lower…

This research is based on an approach that looks at cross-cultural research design as a "lens" for a deeper understanding of what goes on in the classroom. The research question is how a cross-cultural study like this one can lead to identifying the cultural script of teaching and help educators reflect on their practice. In this…

This article reports on our use of a "deaf lens" in adapting video-cued multivocal ethnography for the "Deaf Kindergartens in Three Countries: Japan, France, and the United States" project. Beginning with a discussion of how this "deaf lens" shaped the design of the study, research questions, and methodology, the…

This paper reports on a study conducted within VIDEO-LM (Viewing, Investigating and Discussing Environments of Learning Mathematics), a video-based professional development project for secondary mathematics teachers that aims to enhance reflection on practice. The study explored VIDEO-LM sessions where Israeli teachers watched an 8th grade…

Modelling ability is one of the essential elements of the latest educational reforms, and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a curriculum-based assessment which allows educational systems worldwide to inspect the curricular influences. The aims of this study were to examine the role of modelling ability in the…

Our research examined whether adolescents in the United States, China, and Japan differed in their conceptions of a creative person. Participants were American (n = 321), Chinese (n = 235), and Japanese (n = 393) adolescents in 7th and 8th grades who completed surveys at 3 time points. Using an open-ended questionnaire, adolescents were asked to…

The goal of the present study is to examine mainly the associations of contextual variables with stress and teachers' psychological well-being across organizational cultures. The responses (N= 51,782) of a population of primary school teachers from 15 different educational cultures were analyzed. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was implemented…

This paper reports the results of an international comparative study conducted in Switzerland and Japan of an elementary school mathematics lesson. The principal aim of the study was to advance understanding of the cultural specificities of a mathematics lesson in its totality using concrete examples of lesson design and implementation and of how…

This study aims to examine how cross cultural analysis can lead to deeper understanding of the cultural script of teaching, and how teachers learn to transform their teaching script through a research-based transnational learning platform. In this study, emphasis is placed on a cross cultural analysis to view in depth the cultural script of…

In this study, we examined how much change in "TOEFL® Primary™" listening and reading scores can be expected in relation to the time interval between test administrations. The test records of 5213 young learners of English (aged 8-13 years) in Japan and Turkey who repeated the tests were analyzed to examine test scores as a function of…

Primary schooling, where the majority of students start learning formally about social interaction and civic expectations, reflects much about a nations' approach to education and the goals for their citizens. After a brief comparison of the purpose of education in both New Zealand and Japan, through the use of textual and content analysis, this…