This study examined science textbooks over time to better understand the "science content" expectations that the U.S. educational system deems appropriate for 8th and 9th grade science students. The study attempted to answer the questions: (1) What specific science content has been presented via the textbook from 1952 to 2008? (2) Within…

An ethnographic, descriptive research methodology was used to explore the service delivery of three U.S. charter schools (one independent and two dependent secondary public charter schools) in Southern New England, United States as they relate to grade nine mildly disabled special needs students. Field research was also conducted in Costa Rica and…

Outreach mathematicians are college faculty who are trained in mathematics but who undertake an active role in improving primary and secondary education. This role is examined through a study where an outreach mathematician introduced the concept of complex variables to junior high school students in the United States with the goal of stimulating…

Seemingly endless tinkering and adjustment of the structure of education in the United States over the past century have led to the adoption of different school forms (grouping particular grades into separate schools) at different times. These different school forms necessitate transitions between schools (e.g., from a middle school to a high…

This article compares prevalence estimates of substance use and delinquent behavior in Washington State, United States and Victoria, Australia, two states chosen for their different policy environments around problem behavior. Few comparisons of international differences on rates of multiple problem behavior exist, and most are based on methods…

This article reports and discusses the findings of an initial inquiry into secondary school students' comprehension strategy use during small-group, peer-led discussions of literary text. One classroom of ninth-grade English students in the midwestern United States participated in the inquiry. Data consisted of the verbatim transcripts of four…

This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of a ninth grade transition program at a suburban high school in Louisiana. Student data were analyzed from two groups of first time freshmen who indicated a need for help in mathematics: one without a transition program and one with a transition program. Academic data included standardized test…

This study draws from a social domain framework to explore judgments of parental authority in a Mexican origin familial context. The sample included 277 ninth-grade youth (M = 14.53 years, SD = 0.61) and one of each of their parents. The average age of mothers was 39.88 years (SD = 5.85), and for fathers it was 41.65 years (SD = 5.51). As…

The purpose of this research is to compare American and Albanian students' achievement in Algebra 1 and to identify the educational practices that influence students' achievement in each country. The study compared algebraic solving abilities of 242 ninth-grade American students in Grand Forks (U.S.) and 219 students in Durres (Albania). The data…

This is an exploratory study to determine whether the way in which attitudes about citizenship actions were measured would predict American students' endorsement of those actions. In a split-half design, half of the student respondents completed a questionnaire in which they rated the extent to which various citizenship actions were important; the…

Students who successfully complete grade nine are substantially more likely to graduate from high school than are students who fail the freshman year. However, many middle grades students are not academically prepared for ninth grade. This report addresses five questions that can help school leaders ensure that middle grades students know the…

A study of 188 ninth grade American and Mexican boys and girls found significant similarities in their perception of the characteristics of the ideal man and woman. However, boys emphasized physical characteristics more than girls, and many cross-cultural differences are reported. (FMW)

ACT data suggest that the readiness of the nation's high school students for college-level reading is far too low. But ACT data also show that, while it is important for students to be able to comprehend both explicit and implicit material in texts, as well as to understand how various textual elements (such as main ideas, relationships, or…

Many studies have reported gaps between Latino and non-Latino adolescents in academic and political outcomes. The current study presents possible explanations for such gaps, both at the individual and school level. Hierarchical linear modeling is employed to examine data from 2,811 American ninth graders (approximately 14 years of age) who had…

Most comparative studies about China were challenged by many sinologists and educators for not grounding on representative samples. This research is mainly based on a Chinese data base collected from a random sample of more than 10,000 9th-grade students in the Second International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)…