As result of several federal policies over the last few decades, accountability measures for student learning and success have increased tremendously. Therefore, many school districts, including East Tennessee School District which was the subject of this study, implemented district-wide benchmark testing such as the Collaborative Assessment…

Earning a postsecondary degree or credential is increasingly important for individuals to succeed in the rapidly changing, global economy. College access programs like Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) serve to increase high school graduation and college readiness for underserved youth. This…

The quality of the teaching force in our public schools has received great attention as one of the approaches to improve student performance, as there exists ample evidence that teacher quality matters for student achievement (see McCaffrey et al., 2004 for a review on this literature). Rivkin, Hanushek, and Kain (2005) find large differences…

Tens of thousands of students in the Houston area switched schools during the school year annually. In moving from one school to another, students often experienced disruptions to their education. This study examined what this mobility meant for students' performance on state accountability tests, high school grade retention, high school dropout,…

Science academic achievement is a key construct for examining students' science learning outcomes. While international comparative assessments like TIMSS and PISA have shown high science achievement of Korean middle school students, there is a lack of comprehensive investigation of factors influencing the achievement using domestic data.…

How does the act of explaining influence learning? Prior work has studied effects of explaining through a predominantly proximal lens, measuring short-term outcomes or manipulations within lab settings. Here, we ask whether the benefits of explaining extend to academic performance over time. Specifically, does the quality and frequency of student…

This research strives to enrich criminological and educational literature by providing a better understanding of relationships among school performance and achievement, attendance, and demographic information based upon the number of exclusionary disciplinary actions within public high schools. Using data on 409 traditional high schools from the…

This study examines teachers' beliefs in relation to their roles with respect to K-12 students with English as an additional language and co-existing disability (SEAL+D) participation in state-mandated accountability assessments. U.S. federal laws of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), last reauthorized as the Every Student Succeeds…

As more states move to universal computer-based assessments, an emergent issue concerns the effect that device type might have on student results. Although, several research studies have explored device effects, most of these studies focused on the differences between tablets and desktops/laptops. In the current study, we distinguish between…

The present study was conducted to explore the differential levels of scientific aptitude among the economically disadvantaged students of Jammu and Kashmir. The objectives of the study were to find out of the achievement in the subject science of economically disadvantaged secondary school students and the levels of scientific aptitude of…

This study used a propensity score approach to estimate treatment effects in a multilevel setting. The propensity score approach involves the estimation of propensity scores for covariate balancing and the estimation of treatment effects. This study aimed at understanding how propensity scores estimated through a simple logistic regression compare…

This paper analyzes the impact of grading practices on the gender gap in student achievement. We examine the gender difference in the difference between teacher grading and scores on national exams to test whether there are gender differences associated with different grading systems. We use data on 21 subjects across humanities and sciences for…

The Conover Solution is a nonparametric method used to analyze relative growth in students' achievement on state tests administered on two or more occasions. However, there has been very little research assessing the robustness of this method in the presence of missing data. Using vertically scaled and non-vertically scaled data from the math…

The purpose of this study was to examine military mobility as it relates to the education and academic performance of elementary school children of active-duty military service members. There are an estimated 1.5 million military dependents from ages 0-18. Nearly 35% of these dependents (521,930) are elementary-aged students between six and eleven…

Throughout history religion has influenced the behavior of adherents, however, little research has been completed determining how these religious beliefs result in changes in academic achievement. This research study, on the relationship between religious affiliation and academic achievement, is constructed on the theory that religious teachings…