Purpose:In an attempt to explore item characteristics that behave differently between boys and girls, this comparative study examines gender Differential Item Functioning in a school culture that is noted to be 'thriving' mathematically. Methodology: Some 24 grade eight mathematics items from TIMSS 2003 and TIMSS 2007 released items, with equal…

Students who study science in single-sex and coeducational schools have attracted lots of attention from the education community. However, changes to students' attitudes toward science as they progress to higher grades in these schools are not clearly understood. The aim of this study was to compare the changes in attitudes toward science among…

Metacognition encompasses knowledge and regulation that, through reflection, sustain problem solving behaviour. How metacognitive awareness is constructed from reflection on metacognitive knowledge and regulation and how these reflections enable metacognitive skills for Mathematics problem solving remain unclear. Three secondary schools…

Exploring why more boys than girls continue to study higher levels of mathematics in senior school when there appear to be no gender differences in achievement in earlier years is worthy of investigation. There are potentially many reasons why this occurs including career aspirations, interest, and attitudes. One factor explored in this study was…

Some U.S. school districts are experimenting with single-sex schooling, hoping that it will yield better academic outcomes for students. Empirical research on the effects of single-sex schooling, however, has been equivocal, with various studies finding benefits, disadvantages, or no effect. Most of this research is marred because families…

Background: Physical education teacher behaviour has been a subject of study in physical education including physical education teacher education for 30 years. However, the research on teacher behaviour has tended to focus on direct teaching behaviour (DTB) to demonstrate the benefits of effective teaching, centred on a technical understanding of…

There is a broad interest in narrowing achievement gaps among all groups of students and improving education by scientifically sound methods. On October 25, 2006, the United States Department of Education published new regulations allowing single-sex education in public schools whenever schools think it will improve student achievement. Thus far,…

It was of interest to determine if earlier research findings, where female students were particularly advantaged by the Team Building Through Physical Challenges (TBPC; Glover & Midura, 1992) program in a coeducational setting, would still be observed in gender-segregated physical education classes. A total of 260 female (n = 127) and male (n…

Cross-national data on 14-year-old children in England, Sweden and the United States are analyzed for sex differences in achievement and attitudes in science and reading. The study identifies school characteristics that are associated with large sex discrepancies. Tables are included. (Author/JLF)

Relative performance of single-sex education and coeducation for 3,265 eighth graders in Thailand was assessed. Scores on standardized mathematics tests indicate that single-sex schools are more effective for females, whereas coeducational schools are more effective for males in improving student mathematics performance. These differentials are…

The study focuses on the gendering of Australian school students through their participation in school. Specifically grades 7, 8 and 10 were studied. The initial group of 112 middle class students was studied by an ethnographic investigation of schooling practice in four classes of senior elementary school students for one year. Fifty-two students…