Has the achievement of U.S. students improved over the past half century? Have gaps between racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups widened or narrowed? These and similar questions provoke near-constant conversation. But answers are uncertain, partly because research to date has yielded inconsistent findings. In this article, the authors bring…

Despite progress toward gender equity, troubling disparities in mathematical problem-solving performance and related outcomes persist. To investigate why, we build on recurrent findings in previous studies to introduce a new construct, "bold problem solving," which involves approaching mathematics problems in inventive ways. We introduce…

This survey design study was designed to test whether the graph skills and affective states of middle school students about graphs differ by their gender, grade level, and graph types (line, bar, and pie). The data collection instruments consisted of two scales developed by the authors and a Graph Skills Test, which consisted of graph questions…

Australia and New Zealand have participated in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Programme for International Student Assessment since 2000. Reading literacy was the main focus of the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2000, and at that time both countries' students generally performed well above the…

The vast majority of American students are neither prepared nor sufficiently engaged to become science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-literate citizens or innovative STEM professionals (National Research Council, 2007; Carnegie Corporation and the Institute for Advanced Study, 2009; National Science Board [NSB], 2010; President's…

Using an international educational database, PISA 2009, this study investigates and analyzes 15-year-old students' attitudes toward school in 11 Asia-Pacific units (country, city, or area). For each unit, the study demonstrates four types of students' attitudes toward school, compares male and female students, and examines the relationships of the…

Using Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012, an international education database, this study analyzed the evaluations of computer use for academic learning by 15-year-old students from seven Edu-systems (unit in PISA) in Eastern Asia. Six variables were identified in association with students' evaluations of computer use…