For assessment scales applied to different groups (e.g., students from different states; patients in different countries), multigroup differential item functioning (MG-DIF) needs to be evaluated in order to ensure that respondents with the same trait level but from different groups have equal response probabilities on a particular item. The…

Informed by two theoretical models of homework effects, we extended a model of homework on mathematics achievement in a large sample of Chinese eighth graders. Our model incorporated six clusters of homework variables -- student background factors, homework characteristics, teacher variables, parent variables, student motivation, and homework…

Measuring and understanding the nature of informant/rater effects and differences (Level 1) on a common trait when the target of measurement is at the organizational level (Level 2) involves a number of methodological considerations. Although previous research has discussed single-level latent variable applications of the correlated…

Measures of variability are successfully used in predictive modeling in research areas outside of education. This study examined how standard deviations can be used to address research questions not easily addressed using traditional measures such as group means based on index variables. Student survey data were obtained from the Organisation for…

This study examines the relationship between key elements of the School Excellence Model (SEM) and student achievement in reading, mathematics and science as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 and the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013, using a sample of 166 schools in Singapore.…

Mental health is increasingly viewed as a complete state of being, consisting of the absence of psychopathology and the presence of positive factors such as subjective well-being (SWB). This cross-sectional study analyzed multimethod and multisource data for 500 high school students (ages 14-18 years, M = 15.27 years, SD = 1.0 years) to examine…

The purpose of this collective case study is to examine the decisional ethic Christian school administrators employ when evaluating textbooks for adoption in Christian schools. The study affirms the truism that Christian schools ought to be decidedly Christian and focuses upon textbook adoption practices in Christian schools. A multisite,…

This study reports the effect of computer models as formative assessment on high school students' understanding of the nature of models. Nine high school teachers integrated computer models and associated formative assessments into their yearlong high school chemistry course. A pre-test and post-test of students' understanding of the nature of…

Using a sample of schools testing annually in grades 9-11 with a vertically linked series of assessments, a latent growth curve model is used to model test scores with student intercepts and slopes nested within school. Missed assessments can occur because of student mobility, student dropout, absenteeism, and other reasons. Missing data…

Background/Context: Schools have differential effects on student learning and development, but research has not generated much explanatory evidence of the social-psychological pathway to better achievement outcomes. Explanatory evidence of how normative conditions enable students to thrive is particularly relevant in the urban context where…

In most countries, publicly funded schools are held accountable to one inspectorate and are judged against agreed national standards. Many inspectorates of education have recently moved towards more proportional risk-based inspection models, targeting high-risk schools for visits, while schools with satisfactory student attainment levels are…

International surveys of student achievement are becoming increasingly popular with governments around the world, as they try to measure the performance of their country's education system. The main reason for this trend is the shared opinion that countries will need to be able to compete in the "knowledge economy" to assure the economic…

The study examines the role that perceptions or impressions of learning environments and assessments play in students' performance on a large-scale standardized test. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to test aspects of the Learning Errors and Formative Feedback model to determine how much variation in students' performance was explained…

Based on Bass and Riggio's (2006) Augmentation Model of Transactional and Transformational Leadership, this quantitative study sought to identify the amount of variance in teacher job satisfaction and organizational commitment that can be explained by principals' transformational leadership behaviors, above and beyond the influence of…

Intervention studies in school systems are sometimes aimed not at changing curriculum or classroom technique, but rather at changing the way that teachers, teaching coaches, and administrators in schools work with one another--in short, changing the professional social networks of educators. Current methods of social network analysis are…