Lagged dependent variables (LDVs) are often used as predictors in ordinary least squares (OLS) models in the social sciences. Although several estimators are commonly employed, little is known about their relative merits in the presence of classical measurement error and different longitudinal processes. We assess the performance of four commonly…

Student mobility that occurs within a school year may be especially disruptive for student outcomes, yet little is known regarding the predictors of within-year mobility. In particular, research has yet to comprehensively examine the role of student achievement in predicting within-year student mobility. Thus, we sought to understand this link by…

This study evaluated the forecasting accuracy of trend estimation methods applied to time-series data from computer adaptive tests (CATs). Data were collected roughly once a month over the course of a school year. We evaluated the forecasting accuracy of two regression-based growth estimation methods (ordinary least squares and Theil-Sen). The…

There has been substantial research in the United States, Europe, and Australia about factors influencing students' well-being. However, such research has been relatively rare in Mainland China. We administered four predictor scales (School Satisfaction, Self-Concept, Relationships, and Resilience) and three outcome scales (Flourishing, Mental…

The Motivation for Educational Attainment (MEA) questionnaire, developed to assess facets related to early adolescents' motivation to complete high school, has a bifactor structure with a large general factor and three smaller orthogonal specific factors (teacher expectations, peer aspirations, value of education). This prospective validity study…

Education is one of the strongest predictors of health worldwide. In South Africa, school dropout is a crisis where by Grade 12, only 52% of the age appropriate population remain enrolled. Survival analysis was used to identify the risk of dropping out of secondary school for male and female adolescents and examine the influence of substance use…

Student models for adaptive systems may not model collaborative learning optimally. Past research has either focused on modeling individual learning or for collaboration, has focused on group dynamics or group processes without predicting learning. In the current paper, we adjust the Additive Factors Model (AFM), a standard logistic regression…

Student models for adaptive systems may not model collaborative learning optimally. Past research has either focused on modeling individual learning or for collaboration, has focused on group dynamics or group processes without predicting learning. In the current paper, we adjust the Additive Factors Model (AFM), a standard logistic regression…

This study investigated the relationship between emotional responses and reading performance in middle-school students. Although a large number of prior studies have investigated the relationship between emotion and reading, those studies have concentrated primarily on relatively static and distal measures of emotion. In this research, we measured…

Closing the achievement gap in public education is a worthy goal that has been included as a top priority in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (2002). This study analyzed the most salient predictors at the student and school levels to identify their long-term impact on mathematics achievement from the elementary grades to high school. The…

Nineteen percent of 1997-98 North Carolina 3rd graders were observed to drop out of high school. A series of logits predict probabilities of dropping out on determinants such as math and reading test scores, absenteeism, suspension, and retention, at the following grade levels: 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 9th. The same cohort and variables are used to…

Factors associated with motivation and satisfaction aid in understanding the processes that enhance achievement and productivity. Siegle and McCoach (2005) proposed a motivational model for understanding student achievement and underachievement that included self-perceptions in three areas (meaningfulness [goal valuation], self-efficacy, and…

The current study was completed through a retrospective analysis of school records of elementary school students in the Northeast Region of the Philadelphia School District (PSD) who have participated in the Fast ForWord (FFW) Language program. The data requested from student records included: demographic information (e.g., gender, grade, age,…

This study investigated the predictive ability of students' responses to open-ended, constructed/extended questions in third and fourth grade mathematics content subcategories on subsequent fifth grade mathematics achievement proficiency levels. Open-ended, extended/constructed response questions reflected content as outlined by the National…

In a sample of 195 first graders selected for poor reading performance, the authors explored four cognitive predictors of later reading comprehension and reading disability (RD) status. In fall of first grade, the authors measured the children's phonological processing, rapid automatized naming (RAN), oral language comprehension, and nonverbal…