Rising inequality in the United States has raised concerns about potentially widening gaps in educational achievement by socio-economic status (SES). Using assessments from LTT-NAEP [Long-Term Trend assessment administered by the National Assessment of Educational Progress], Main-NAEP, TIMSS [Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study],…

We provide empirical evidence of immigrants' specialization in skill acquisition well before entering the US labor market. Nationally representative datasets enable studying the academic trajectories of immigrant children, with a focus on high-school course-taking patterns and college major choice. Immigrant children accumulate skills in ways that…

To develop a more robust understanding of the relationship between non-formal, school-based STEM activities and students' success and persistence in STEM fields, this study evaluates how math club participation influences math GPA and how science club participation influences science GPA. Additionally, this study evaluates how math or science club…

Although academic achievement is a heritable construct, to date research has yet to explore its molecular genetic underpinnings. Drawing on data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the current longitudinal study investigated the associations between polymorphisms in three dopaminergic genes (DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4) and…

Efforts to promote academic achievement by increasing access to courses, especially in mathematics, may mask educational disparities if variations in curriculum are not also monitored. A multi-dimensional description of students' mathematics curricula during high school was obtained from analyses of surveys, transcripts, and textbooks collected…

Increasing constraints placed on race-based school diversification have shifted attention to socioeconomic desegregation. Although past research suggests that socioeconomic desegregation can produce heightened achievement, the "frog pond" perspective points to potential problems with socioeconomic desegregation in nonachievement domains.…