The importance of STEM education has been broadly discussed in many countries around the world. Recent reforms in the U.S. have focused on the integration of STEM-related subjects as an effort to help students to make connections between STEM disciplines and increase their interest in pursuing STEM-related careers. This study reports the effects…

Data from 1,312 middle school students from nine states in the U.S. were gathered in spring 2015 during an NSF grant initiative featuring middle school environmental science curricular activities. Surveys related to STEM dispositions, career interest, climate change, creative tendencies and attitudes toward school were completed by participants,…

This paper proposes to use communalism, an asset-driven strategy effective with Black learners, with racially mixed study groups. This study found that students who studied in racially mixed groups performed better when told that individuals would receive a reward for scoring the highest in their group. Also, the White students' perceptions of how…

The Ohio Off-Grade Proficiency Tests help in monitoring students' progress toward Ohio's adapted model courses of study in reading, mathematics, citizenship, science, and writing. The purpose of this study was to provide item response theory (IRT) parameter estimates and descriptive statistics of the scoring categories of the short-response items…

The relationship of expectations and assessments of friendships among third and fifth graders was studied. Particular attention was given to (1) the relationships between friendship expectation (FE), the assessment of present friendships (FA), and friendship reciprocity (FR); (2) gender, racial, and grade level differences in these same three…

This study of 210 fifth-grade children attempted to assess whether children of varying race, socioeconomic status (SES) and sex differ in their levels of general and area-specific (school, peer, and home) self-esteem. Also investigated was the question of whether children are capable of maintaining differing levels of esteem across the different…

The reliabilities of 6 item bias indices and correlations among them were investigated for each of the 11 tests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). The difficulty and delta indices detected group differences in relative item difficulty. Biserial and point biserial indices detected group differences in item discrimination. The Scheuneman and…

The purpose of this ethnographic study was to examine friendships of early adolescents in a culturally diverse fifth grade class in an urban elementary school in the southeastern United States. The study described and interpreted the experiences of being a friend and having a friend in a culturally diverse classroom. The approach was grounded in…

Students' attitudes and preparation practices regarding standardized tests were studied with students from one elementary school and two middle schools in Atlanta (Georgia). There were 111 fifth graders (35 African American and 76 European American) and 274 eighth graders (204 African American and 70 European American). Students completed a survey…

This study investigated children's sex biased attitudes as a function of the sex, age, and race of the child as well as a geographical-SES factor. Two attitudes were measured on a 55-item questionnaire: Sex Pride (attributing positive characteristics to a child of the same sex) and Sex Prejudice (attributing negative characteristics to a child of…

This study examined selected characteristics and behaviors among fifth grade pupils who ranged in age from 11 to 12 years. The sample (N=975) constituted the entire fifth grade population of a moderate-sized city 45 miles from Atlanta, Georgia. The sample consisted of 160 black students and 815 white students, with 511 boys and 464 girls. A…

The purpose of this study was to determine patterns of gender and ethnic differences in science and mathematics achievement of fifth graders, taking into account student ability, item response format, and strands of learning outcomes. Subjects were 2,551 fifth graders from a large urban area in Ohio. The Ohio Off-Grade Proficiency Test was used.…

The responses of elementary and secondary students drawn from two school districts, one with a student population that is primarily African American and the other with a student population that is primarily Caucasian, were analyzed to examine student perceptions of teacher influence. A total of 682 students (388 fifth graders and 294 eleventh…

Background: The Hawaii Department of Education (HDOE) launched its Hawaii State Assessment (HSA) in spring, 2002, within the context of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) Act of 2001 and its mandates to close the "achievement gaps" between subgroups of students. Thus, it is important to investigate the extent to which student…

As part of the investigation into the achievement differentials between white and black students in Michigan, a study was done of the nature of sense of futility (SOF) at the individual student level and the relationship between the SOF correlates and self-concept ability. The sample included 2 groups of fourth and fifth graders in a random sample…