Creative and critical thinking have been traditionally considered as involving independent skills and dispositions. However the definition of critical thinking has been gradually reconsidered to include skills and dispositions through which one opens new links instead of scrutinizing existing links in a closed analysis. Experimental studies have…

This paper tested the deep-level reasoning questions effect in the domains of computer literacy between eighth and tenth graders and Newtonian physics for ninth and eleventh graders. This effect claims that learning is facilitated when the materials are organized around questions that invite deep-reasoning. The literature indicates that vicarious…

This "Third Annual Report Card" looks at improvements in the cradle-to-career educational pipeline, the areas where Boston has made modest progress but still has a great deal of work to do, and the places where observers have failed to see the gains that are needed to ensure that Boston is a city of opportunity for all. This report card…

This study describes English language learner (ELL) student enrollment and achievement trends in Delaware public schools from 2002/03 to 2008/09. Two research questions guide this study: (1) How did the enrollment of ELL students in Delaware public schools change between 2002/03 and 2008/09?; and (2) How did performance (the percentage scoring at…

This study describes English language learner (ELL) student enrollment and achievement trends in Delaware public schools from 2002/03 to 2008/09. Two research questions guide this study: (1) How did the enrollment of ELL students in Delaware public schools change between 2002/03 and 2008/09?; and (2) How did performance (the percentage scoring at…

Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS), this report examined the prospective relationships between educational expectations and academic achievement among students (n = 10,262) surveyed and tested in Grades 8, 10, and 12. Cross-lagged analyses indicated that between Grades 8 and 10 the path from achievement to…

The topic of underachievement and how to reverse it has received a great deal of attention in the gifted education literature. The present study sought to add to the knowledge base on this issue by investigating the occurrence of underachievement behaviors and their predictors in a population of highly gifted students attending a summer…

The desire to improve educational delivery and outcomes has prompted significant advancements in culture-based education as a foundation for community-driven, place-based, relevant educational approaches that more effectively engage children and their families in lifelong learning and leadership. This article shares the early process and tools of…

Accountability in the nation's public schools has become a matter of considerable urgency since the 2001 amendment of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965. Under this most recent version of the ESEA, as of the 2007-08 academic year states and districts must assess the mathematics and reading proficiency of students…

Gatekeeper-training programs, designed to increase identification and referral of suicidal individuals, are widespread but largely untested. A group-based randomized trial with 32 schools examined impact of Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training on a stratified random sample of 249 staff with 1-year average follow-up. To test QPR impact, the…

The annual event dropout rate describes the proportion of students who leave school each year without completing a high school program. The event dropout rates for the school year 2006-2007 of 2.18% for grades 7 through 12th and 3.08% for grades 9 through 12th are consistent with the dropout rates for the past four years. The event completion rate…

The annual event dropout rate describes the proportion of students who leave school each year without completing a high school program. The event dropout rates for the school year 2007-2008 of 2.30% for grades 7 through 12th and 3.25% for grades 9 through 12th are consistent with the dropout rates for the past four years. The event completion rate…

This study assessed 166 high school students in Grade 8 and again in Grade 10. Four models were tested: (a) whether the T1 predictor variables (career knowledge, indecision, decision-making selfefficacy, self-esteem, demographics) predicted the outcome variable (career planning/exploration) at T1; (b) whether the T1 predictor variables predicted…

Eighth and tenth grade students (n= 1,619) reported on exposure to risk and protective assets in their day-to-day lives. The relationship between carrying a weapon to school and risk and protective factors in the home and school ecological domains was explored through logistic regression conducted separately by gender. Environmental control in the…

For more than two decades, education authorities have warned that the reading, writing, mathematics, and science skills of America's young adults are insufficient to maintain its economic strength. Some indicators suggest that the average educational achievement of high school students in the U.S. is mediocre in comparison to that of other…