The purpose of this research is to determine the scientific literacy levels of students in 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th grades of high school by using the scientific literacy research test. In the study, it was investigated whether there is a significant difference in scientific literacy among students studying at different levels in secondary…

Science performance is highly affected by students' reading comprehension. Recently, there has been a growing attention to the role of linguistic features for science performance, but findings are ambivalent, especially when looking into item word count. The aim of this study was to investigate the interaction of students' reading comprehension…

This study aims to evaluate the psychometric properties of the developed diagnostic assessment test and to identify student misconceptions in science in terms of school grades. 153 students were gathered by using random sample from 10th to 12th grade in senior high schools. The 32 items of the two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic test were…

Chemical symbol representation is a medium for transformations between the actual phenomena of the macroscopic world and those of the sub-microscopic world. The aim of this study is to develop an instrument to evaluate high school students' chemical symbol representation abilities (CSRA). Based on the current literature, we defined CSRA and…

The low enrolment, lack of interest, exacerbated by the general poor performance in physical science in South Africa paints a gloomy picture about the status of physical science in the country. Despite the fact that there might be other factors at play, one factor which cannot be ignored is the discourse about the use of language in the science…

This paper presents a revised learning progression for the energy concept and initial findings on diverse progressions among subgroups of sample students. The revised learning progression describes how students progress towards an understanding of the energy concept along two progress variables identified from previous studies--key ideas about…

This report presents Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examination participation and performance results in Texas public schools for the 2019-20 school year. Data are provided by student characteristics, including race/ethnicity; gender; and economic, at-risk, dyslexia, English learner, foster care, homeless, immigrant,…

Science education research has revealed a number of student mental models for atomic structure, among which, the one based on Bohr's model seems to be the most dominant. The aim of the current study is to investigate the coherence of these models when students apply them for the explanation of a variety of situations. For this purpose, a set of…

This report presents Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examination participation and performance results in Texas public schools for the 2018-19 school year. Data are provided by student characteristics, including race/ethnicity; gender; and economic, at-risk, dyslexia, English learner, foster care, homeless, immigrant,…

A cluster-randomized trial (CRT) relies on random assignment of intact clusters to treatment conditions, such as classrooms or schools (Raudenbush & Bryk, 2002). One specific type of CRT, a multi-site CRT (MSCRT), is commonly employed in educational research and evaluation studies (Spybrook & Raudenbush, 2009; Spybrook, 2014; Bloom,…

This report presents Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examination participation and performance results in Texas public schools for the 2017-18 school year. Data are provided by student characteristics, including race/ethnicity; gender; and economic, at-risk, dyslexia, English learner, foster care, homeless, immigrant,…

Background: The context is the new Texas STAAR end-of-course testing program. Purpose: The authors developed a logistic regression model to predict who would pass-or-fail the new Texas chemistry STAAR end-of-course exam. Setting: Robert E. Lee High School (5A) with an enrollment of 2700 students, Tyler, Texas. Date of the study was the 2011-2012…

The main focus of this study was to investigate if, or to what extent, there is a significant relationship between high school science course sequencing and proficiency on 11th grade Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) Science. The Florida Legislature mandated a specific number of sciences as a requirement for graduation. High schools…

This report focuses on the initial development of the predicted score paths for ACT Aspire reporting. The paths provide predicted score ranges for the next two years--as well as predicted ACT score ranges for tests administered at grades 9 and 10. Longitudinal ACT Aspire data for students tested in spring 2013 and spring 2014, as well as…

Recent studies on professional development programs indicate these programs, when sustained, have a positive impact on student achievement; however, many of these studies have failed to use longitudinal data. The purpose of this study is to understand how one particular instructional practice (STEM PBL) used consistently influences student…