Research indicates that affective attitudes such as liking of a subject and confidence in one's ability within a subject predict academic performance. Generally, immigrant minority students have positive attitudes and often have low academic performance. This study examines the self-efficacy and liking of subjects of New Zealand students and analyses the relationship of those attitudes towards academic performance in mathematics, writing, and reading by self-reported ethnicity. Data were...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Student Attitudes, Minority Groups, Self Efficacy, Academic...
Most researchers agree that psychological/educational tests are sensitive to multiple traits, implying the need for a multidimensional item response theory (MIRT). One limitation of applying a MIRT in practice is the difficulty in establishing equivalent scales of multiple traits. In this study, a new MIRT linking method was proposed and evaluated by comparison with two existing methods. The results showed that the new method was more acceptable in transforming item parameters and maintaining...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Item Response Theory, Multidimensional Scaling, Multitrait Multimethod Techniques,...
This study examined the effects of question prompts, knowledge integration prompts, and problem solving prompts, embedded in a Web-based learning environment in scaffolding preservice teachers' conceptual understanding and problem solving in an ill-structured domain. A mixed-method study was employed to investigate the outcomes of students' conceptual knowledge and ill-structured problem solving. The quantitative results indicated that students who received knowledge integration prompts had...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Internet, Educational Principles, Preservice Teachers, Problem Solving, Cues,...
This paper reports on a pilot study that examined the use of a science and technology curriculum based on robotics to increase the achievement scores of youth ages 9-11 in an after school program. The study examined and compared the pretest and posttest scores of youth in the robotics intervention with youth in a control group. The results revealed that youth in the robotics intervention had a significant increase in mean scores on the posttest and that the control group had no significant...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Pretests Posttests, School Activities, Intervention, Scores, Robotics, Informal...
We further evaluated the Virtual Lecture Hall (VLH) (Cramer, Collins, Snider, & Fawcett, in press), an instructional computer-based platform to deliver PowerPoint slides threaded with audio clips for later review. Students from either an in-class or online section (ns = 810 and 74 respectively) of introductory psychology had access to live recorded lectures via the VLH, made available through the course Web site. Approximately 45% of in-class and 78% of online students used the resource...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Psychology, Lecture Method, Online Courses, Introductory Courses, Web Sites, Student...
Scores on a vocabulary test given at the beginning of two semesters in a large entry-level course predicted performance on multiple-choice exams more strongly than pre-course knowledge and critical thinking. Words on the vocabulary instrument were derived from multiple-choice exam items in the course. Although commonly used in the course, these words were not specific to the technical content of the course. Students took the vocabulary instrument at the beginning and end of the semester, with...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Vocabulary Development, Multiple Choice Tests, Scores, Introductory Courses, Critical...
This article describes the development and evaluation of a short form of the 24-item Adaptation to Age-Related Vision Loss (AVL) scale. The evaluation provided evidence of the reliability and validity of the short form (the AVL12), for significant interindividual differences at the baseline and for individual-level change in AVL scores over time. Thus, the AVL12 maintains strong psychometric properties and is a shorter, more efficient measure for assessing adaptation to age-related vision loss...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Measures (Individuals), Psychometrics, Vision, Test Validity, Age Differences, Aging...
This study examined the trend of identification and achievement patterns of performance task-identified students over a span of 6 years (2000-2005), in comparison to profiles of students who were identified exclusively through traditional ability and achievement tests. The study findings suggested that the performance-based protocols were consistent across time in locating a higher percentage of low-income and minority students, as well as female students for gifted programs; a higher...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Gifted, Academic Achievement, Identification, Achievement Tests, Program...
Best practices in the identification of the twice-exceptional point to the use of multidimensional assessment that outlines specific areas of strength and concern. Students who are twice-exceptional remain a misunderstood population in schools, thus making identification that much more difficult. The purpose of this study was to review the extant literature in the field of twice-exceptional studies and to design a plan for identification to be used by school districts. This article reports on...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Disproportionate Representation, Academically Gifted, Underachievement, Scores,...
This article examines the effects of synonymy (i.e., learning words with and without high-frequency synonyms that were known to the learners) on word knowledge in a study of 84 Japanese students learning English. It employed 10 tests measuring 5 aspects of word knowledge (orthography, paradigmatic association, syntagmatic association, meaning and form, and grammatical functions) to assess learning. Both receptive and productive tests were used to measure each aspect of vocabulary knowledge. The...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Sentences, Vocabulary Development, English (Second Language), Japanese, Native...
This study examined the effects of a professional development program for teachers of social sciences for English learners. Results from pre- and post-measures of social sciences content indicated greater improvement in student achievement in these areas when scores from students from teachers who had gone through the training were compared with those that did not. There was also a correlation found between the level of use among the teachers with training and the level of achievement of their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Limited English Speaking, Social Sciences, Faculty Development, English (Second...
This study investigated the interaction between students' academic background (high school grades, standardized exams, and enrollment in advanced high school courses) and how much autonomy they reported having in high school science through labs and projects. The objective was to see if students who reported experiencing more or less self-directed projects and labs performed differently in college science when prior academic background was taken into account. To provide a more solid foundation...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Science, Grades (Scholastic), High Schools, Standardized Tests, Scores,...
Diminishing "standards" and "alignment" to overused buzzwords or superficial checklists masks the dire need for truly systematic and operational standards-based alignment in science education. In this article, the authors report the findings of an ongoing collaborative effort between cognitive researchers and urban science teachers to align everyday teaching with standards, tests, and research-based pedagogy. They begin with an analysis of how the width vs. depth dilemma in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Science Instruction, Curriculum Development, Science Teachers, Science Achievement,...
This study evaluates the effectiveness of a tobacco education curriculum in increasing knowledge about tobacco, attitudes toward tobacco use, and intentions to use tobacco among elementary school children. A two-stage cluster sample was used to select a representative sample of 97 schools. Forty-nine schools were in the evaluation group and 48 schools were in the comparison group. One thousand seven hundred and forty-six third grade students participated in the study. The results indicate a...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Elementary School Students, Smoking, Scores, Program Effectiveness, Prevention,...
While evidence shows that grammar study focused on identification, description, and definition (IDD) fails to enhance writing performance, the grammar most students study remains focused on the IDD tradition. We taught a functional grammar that featured what words do in sentences, rather than what words are called and how they are defined, to two sections of tenth graders while another teacher taught grammar identification-definition-description. Students completed a grammar test and submitted...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Sentences, Grammar, Identification, Writing Instruction, Grade 10, Verbs, Writing...
The achievement gap, traditionally measured by test scores, also can be documented by dropout behavior. Examining dropout behavior among Black, White, and Hispanic students, with a particular focus on gaps within groups and not just between Whites and minorities, shows a clearer picture of the achievement gap. The results of our study show multiple achievement gaps both between and within groups, ultimately concluding that within-group gaps were often more significant than gaps between groups....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Dropout Rate, Dropout Prevention, Low Achievement, Parent Participation, Academic...
Schools employ educational technology to comply with pressures for greater accountability and efficiency in conducting operations. Specifically, schools use "management information systems" designed to automate data collection of student attendance, grades, test scores, and so on. These management information systems (MIS) employed widespread use of technology to enable effective and efficient school operations in order to promote school accountability. In this case study, the authors...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Attendance, Management Information Systems, Educational Technology, Accountability,...
This study examined pre-college variables from an admission-office perspective and the ability of these variables to predict college grade point average (GPA) for students specially admitted into an academic support program for at-risk students. The research was conducted at a private, highly-selective, research university in the southwest United States. The primary determining factors for this special admission program are lower-than-average high school GPA and/or standardized test scores....
Topics: ERIC Archive, Research Universities, Grade Point Average, Standardized Tests, Academic Achievement,...
Many colleges and universities receive thousands of applications for freshman admission every year. To facilitate the process of evaluating each and every applicant in a relatively short amount of time, schools often devise quantitative ratings scales to summarize student characteristics. The ratings give readers a shorthand way to communicate the qualities of each student, and sometimes play a critical role in determining whether or not a student is offered admission. Given the significance of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Generalizability Theory, Reliability, College Admission, College Applicants, Rating...
This study examines how rural elementary school administrators perceive the effects of high-stakes testing in comparison to suburban and urban elementary administrators. High-stakes testing had a greater impact, both positively and negatively, on rural administrators than on their counterparts in suburban and urban schools. Specifically, the positive effects were that rural administrators were more motivated by the testing program to do a better job, found the test results more useful in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Rural Schools, Test Results, Testing Programs, Testing, Academic Achievement, High...
There has been an increase on the number of applicants and the average SAT scores of the admitted students to colleges and universities in the United States. The total number of applicants may increase for purely external reasons, such as more students graduating from high school or more students reading good things about a particular college, but the number may also be increasing because admission offices are driving it up by fair means and foul means. Similarly, SAT scores may be going up...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Entrance Examinations, College Admission, Higher Education, Rating Scales,...
Survey data from 8,594 students in 55 randomly chosen colleges and universities finds that those having passed an AP science exam earn somewhat higher college science grades, but not enough to assume prior mastery. Moreover, half of this performance difference appears to be related to demographics and high school coursework and not to students' AP coursework. (Contains 4 figures, 4 tables and 26 footnotes.)
Topics: ERIC Archive, High School Students, Advanced Placement, Physics, Chemistry, College Credits,...
Statistics from a number of surveys indicate there is a high rate of economic and financial illiteracy in the United States. Several other studies have pointed out that problems related to the widespread lack of economic and financial understanding have serious consequences on the future economic well-being of many citizens. Financial and economic illiteracy may be traced to a lack of schooling in basic economic and financial principles. This article discusses an evaluation of achievement...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Decision Making, Money Management, Illiteracy, Surveys, Well Being, Achievement...
This article examines the relationship between teacher effectiveness and students' achievement as measured by test scores. A strong belief among policymakers and public as well as private funding agencies is that test scores are directly related to the quality of teaching effectiveness. This relationship implies that there could be a direct causality among teacher preparation, teacher quality, and student achievement. The terms "teaching effectiveness" and "teacher effect"...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Effectiveness, Academic Achievement, Private Financial Support, Scores,...
This study investigates the relationship between the number of students with special needs (designated as exceptional or receiving special education services) in grade-3 classrooms in 1997-1998 and their achievement scores in reading, writing, and mathematics on Ontario's provincial assessment with their peers without special needs. When the variance due to differences in class size and socio-economic status was removed, the correlations between the number of students with special needs and the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Class Size, Socioeconomic Status, Disabilities, Foreign Countries, Special Needs...
This study investigated the ability of teachers to accurately rate the cognitive and academic functioning of 1,375 students in kindergarten through the third grade on the Clinical Assessment of Behavior (CAB), as compared to two objective cognitive ability tests. CAB teacher ratings were compared for high-ability students who were currently functioning with ability test scores greater than or equal to 120; comparisons also were made across the students' full ability range and according to their...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Gifted, Identification, Measures (Individuals), Primary Education, Nonverbal Ability,...
One hundred and fifty-five students (average age, 10 years 7 months) were initially tested on reading, arithmetic, and academic self-perception. One year later they were tested again. Initial academic scores accounted for a large proportion of the variance in later academic scores. The children's self-perceptions of academic competence accounted for significant variance in academic performance one year later. However, neither the academic self-perceptions at the beginning of the study nor...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Age, Self Concept, Academic Achievement, Academic Ability, Testing, Scores,...
Intuitive eating (an anti-dieting, hunger-based approach to eating) has been popularized as a viable approach to healthy weight management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between intuitive eating, diet composition, and the meaning of food. The convenience sample included 343 students enrolled in a general education course at a Western university. Participants were given paper-and-pencil surveys containing the Intuitive Eating Scale and a variety of diet-related...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Education Courses, Health Promotion, Dietetics, Measures (Individuals), Intuition,...
Richard Murnane observes that the American ideal of equality of educational opportunity has for years been more the rhetoric than the reality of the nation's political life. Children living in poverty, he notes, tend to be concentrated in low-performing schools staffed by ill-equipped teachers. They are likely to leave school without the skills needed to earn a decent living in a rapidly changing economy. Murnane describes three initiatives that the federal government could take to improve the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Poverty, Graduation Rate, Federal Legislation, School Choice, Program Effectiveness,...
This article considers whether the disparate socioeconomic circumstances of families in which white, black, and Hispanic children grow up account for the racial and ethnic gaps in school readiness among American preschoolers. It first reviews why family socioeconomic resources might matter for children's school readiness. The authors concentrate on four key components of parent socioeconomic status that are particularly relevant for children's well-being--income, education, family structure,...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Neighborhoods, School Readiness, Socioeconomic Status, Family Income, Family...
Background: Tobacco use, poor eating habits, and physical inactivity are the modifiable risk behaviors most associated with the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Because these risk behaviors are established during adolescence, the nation's schools are uniquely positioned to develop health literacy in students. Purpose: The purposes of this study were (1) to evaluate textbook-based health literacy instruction on the acquisition of health concepts and skills, and (2)...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Control Groups, Literacy Education, Health Education, Physical Activities, Textbooks,...
Anyone who works with new teachers must let them know that they should not have to make a choice between bringing up test scores or promoting lifelong learning. Mentor teachers must show beginning teachers how to be "passionate teachers," which the author defines as living a life as a reflective educator, making it a priority to build positive relationships with students, creating a classroom community in which students share responsibility for their own learning and the learning of...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Occupational Aspiration, Teaching (Occupation), Needs Assessment, Scores, Lifelong...
This article argues that, with all of its language about reaching "100% proficiency for all students in twelve years" as an "ambitious, but achievable" goal, the current federal administration seems to be on the side of the children in its No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), but further investigation reveals that many of the practices mentioned in the act may cause more harm than good. The key component in NCLB is to establish an "accountable" education system in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Federal Legislation, Academic Achievement, Politics of Education, Accountability,...
Inter- and intra-district public school choice, vouchers, tuition tax credits and other forms of school choice have been advocated for decades, in large part on grounds that the market forces engendered will improve public education. There are many studies of school choice policies and programs and a large theoretical literature on school choice, but thus far no studies have used a large national sample and common metric to perform a multi-level, multi-district analysis of relationships between...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Assignments, Magnet Schools, Tax Credits, School Choice, Academic Achievement,...
This paper presents the results of a survey of 127 seniors in a diverse suburban high school to determine the impact of the subjects' perceptions of parent involvement on their levels of achievement as measured by the standardized national ACT test. Independent-samples t tests were then used to assess whether there were any differences in achievement as reported in national test scores among students with a perception of a high level of parent involvement, students with a perception of a low...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Public Schools, Parent Participation, Academic Achievement, Parent School...
This manuscript evaluates the predictive validity of several predictors used to delimit an initial applicant pool of doctoral candidates at the department/program level. Particular predictors addressed in this manuscript are measures of past academic performance and of future academic potential. Past academic performance is assessed by grade point averages, while future academic potential is assessed by scores from the Miller Analogies Test (MAT) (Miller Analogies Test, 2004). With respect to...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Grade Point Average, Academic Achievement, Predictive Validity, Doctoral Programs,...
Little research has been conducted on the knowledge domain specifically related to HIV testing among college students. Students (age 18-24) were recruited from a major university in the southeastern United States to participate in a Web-based survey during spring 2003 (N=440). About 21% of the students reported previous voluntary HIV tests. Reliability of the overall knowledge test demonstrated good internal consistency (alpha=0.71). Students scored higher on items related to HIV/AIDS in...
Topics: ERIC Archive, College Students, Prevention, Diagnostic Tests, Sexually Transmitted Diseases,...
This summer, "Instructor's" Editor in Chief, Bernadette Grey, traveled to Washington, D.C., for an exclusive one-on-one meeting with the U.S. Department of Education's high-profile leader, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings. Appointed by President Bush, Spellings is responsible for the overall direction, supervision, and coordination of activities and functions as the Chief Operating Officer for the entire Department. Spellings, who replaced the controversial Rod Paige earlier...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Merit Pay, Office Occupations, Federal Legislation, Academic Achievement, Public...
Linking hands-on science with literacy and the curriculum is growing in appeal, particularly among teachers educated as generalists who feel unprepared to deal with the depth of questions that inquiry and expanded reading can inspire in kids. In this article, four examples of teachers who have tried to link science and literacy are presented. One such example is how Sephali Ray, a seventh-grade science teacher, has tried to let his students understand genetics and its implications to society...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Hands on Science, Genetics, Science Process Skills, Science Teachers, Scores, Federal...
Two hundred sixty-four students from a large southeastern U.S. university participated in this study which investigated the relationship between mathematics anxiety and learning styles in elementary preservice teachers. The Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (MARS) and Style Analysis Survey (SAS) were administered. Scores were analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlations. Results showed a relationship between mathematics anxiety and global learning style (r = 0.42) indicating a tendency for...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Preservice Teachers, Cognitive Style, Rating Scales, Mathematics Anxiety, Teaching...
The Impossible Figures Task (IFT-28), which consisted of 28 possible and impossible figures assembled for brief exposure and recognition, was completed by 297 Hong Kong Chinese gifted students. Expert judges (N = 2) rated these students' drawing abilities based on their performance on 2 drawing tasks adapted from Clark's Drawing Abilities Test (Clark, 1989). The IFT-28 scores correlated substantially and significantly with expert ratings of drawing abilities, and with mental rotation test...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Freehand Drawing, Gifted, Correlation, Foreign Countries, Spatial Ability, Visual...
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the following question: To what extent would a nationally competitive scholarship program increase science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree awards to our "best and brightest"? This inquiry is prompted by a 2006 report of a National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm," which proposed a national STEM scholarship program to improve United States competitiveness. Using the...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Grade Point Average, High School Graduates, Science Fairs, Engineering Education,...
This study reports the results of a validation study of the Comprehensive School Restructuring Teacher Questionnaire (CSRTQ) and the School Observation Measure (SOM), which are intended for use in evaluating comprehensive school reform efforts. The CSRTQ, which putatively measures five factors related to school restructuring (internal focus, external support, school capacity, pedagogical change, and restructuring outcomes), was administered to 2,511 teachers in 83 schools that received...
Topics: ERIC Archive, School Restructuring, Observation, Construct Validity, Factor Structure, Factor...
On national and international assessments, students attending French-language schools in Ontario usually perform worse than students attending English-language schools. Interpreting these results is challenging because the French- and English-language schools differ both in prescribed curriculum and in how the curriculum is taught. In addition, the French- and English-language versions of the tests and scoring procedures sometimes differ. Even how students in the French- and English-language...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Foreign Countries, Comparative Analysis, Student Evaluation, French, Language of...
The purpose of this article is two-fold. First, it reports on a study of the distribution of reform-oriented instructional practices among Black, White and Hispanic students, and the relationship between those practices and student achievement. The study identified many similarities in instruction across student groups, but there were some differences, such as Black and Hispanic students being assessed with multiple-choice tests significantly more often than were White students. Using...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Teacher Responsibility, Educational Change, Change Strategies, Hispanic American...
A longstanding issue in American education is the gap in academic achievement between majority and minority students. The goal of this study is to accumulate and evaluate evidence on the relationship between state education policies and changes in the Black-White achievement gap, while addressing some of the methodological issues that have led to differences in interpretations of earlier findings. To that end, we consider the experiences of ten states that together enroll more than forty...
Topics: ERIC Archive, African American Students, Teacher Effectiveness, Academic Achievement, Grade 8,...
This research compared the effects of a Programmed Learning Sequence (PLS) (Dunn & Dunn, 1993) versus Traditional Teaching (TT) on 100 sixth-grade Bermudian students' test scores on a Fractions Unit. Fifty-three males' and forty-seven females' learning styles were identified with the "Learning Style Inventory" (LSI) (Dunn, Dunn, & Price, 2000) to determine whether those with specific styles fared better or less well with either of the two approaches. Attitudes toward learning...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Experimental Groups, Control Groups, Cognitive Style, Semantics, Academic...
This case study involved 3 middle school students in an assessment of the influence of self-reflection on general academic performance. It was hypothesized that increased self-reflection would have a positive influence on academic performance as measured by grades on tests, writing assignments, and homework. The participants were ages 13.4, 13.5, and 13.8. The study covered 3 months and was divided into two stages. During the first stage (month 1), the participants kept daily logs of all...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Writing Assignments, Music, Video Games, Academic Achievement, Program Effectiveness,...
Alternate forms reliability of the Behavioral Relaxation Scale (BRS; Poppen,1998), a direct observation measure of relaxed behavior, was examined. A single BRS score, based on long duration observation (5-minute), has been found to be a valid measure of relaxation and is correlated with self-report and some physiological measures. Recently, alternate forms of BRS observation have appeared in the literature; however, it is unknown if alternate forms are reliable relative to the long form...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Test Format, Intervals, Observation, Measures (Individuals), Relaxation Training,...
A theoretical advantage of item response theory (IRT) models is that trait estimates based on these models provide more test information than any other type of test score. It is still unclear, however, whether using IRT trait estimates improves external validity results in comparison with the results that can be obtained by using simple raw scores. This paper discusses some methodological results based on the 2-parameter logistic model (2PLM) and is concerned with three issues: first, how...
Topics: ERIC Archive, Validity, Raw Scores, Inferences, Item Response Theory, Research Methodology,...