Millions of high school students take Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which can provide college credit. Using nationally representative data, I identify a diverse set of higher education outcomes that are related to receipt of AP college credit. Institution fixed effects regression reduces bias associated with varying AP credit policies and…

This article investigates the empirical basis for often-repeated arguments that gender differences in entrance into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors are largely explained by disparities in prior achievement. Analyses use data from three national cohorts of college matriculates across three decades to consider…

Numerous high school students, including many who are enrolled in career and technical education (CTE) courses, do not have the math skills necessary for today's high-skill workplace or college entrance requirements. This study tests a model for enhancing mathematics instruction in five high school CTE programs (agriculture, auto technology,…

In 2000, Cook, Murphy, and Hunt published a multilevel study of Chicago inner-city schools in order to evaluate James Comer's School Development Program (SDP). One main finding was that SDP reduced the rate of change and final posttest mean when delinquency was assessed annually between Grades 5 and 8 using a self-report measure of acting out. The…

When students and teachers discuss subject matter, at least two processes generally occur: Students and teachers become socially identified as recognizable types of people, and students learn subject matter. This article contributes to recent work on how social identification and learning systematically interrelate by describing one complex way in…

Used ethnographic data to study the Teenage Parents Program as a feminist "counterpublic" (discursive community of subordinated social group members) within a Canadian public high school. Findings for the 31 program participants show the importance of the program for development as adult citizens and self-esteem. (SLD)

Although U.S. schools typically express commitment to preparing students for the responsibilities of democratic citizenship, most American youth are socialized for adult civic life by an institution that defines them as passive and subordinate and treats them in ways that are anything but democratic. In contrast to such counterproductive…

Mnemonic and non-mnemonic pictures were used as teaching aids with 67 learning-disabled students in grades seven, eight, and nine in reading expository passages about the extinction of dinosaurs. Both types of pictures aided students' free recall, while only mnemonic pictures facilitated recall of the plausibility order of the passages. (TJH)

This article identifies the Edcouch-Elsa High School Walkout of 1968 as a pivotal event in the educational history of Mexican American students in south Texas. It presents elements of the Civil Rights Movement, including the Brown decision, the rise of Mexican American political organizations, and the actions of community youth. The authors use…

A study of 79 high school students in 8 classes demonstrates that students consider a teacher more helpful than an artificially intelligent tutoring system but nevertheless prefer the tutor. Possible reasons for this paradox are discussed in the study, a reply, and a rejoinder discussing computer technology in the classroom. (SLD)

Differences in the comprehension and interpretation of historical texts are discussed for eight high school students and eight historians. The sources of differences in the two groups and their epistemological stances are analyzed. Implications for reading comprehension and the place of history in the school curriculum are discussed. (SLD)

This study examined how well cognitive abilities predict high school students' science achievement as measured by traditional content-based tests. Students (n = 1,651) from four high schools in three states were assessed on their science knowledge, reading skill, and reading strategy knowledge. The dependent variable, content-based science…

The effectiveness of computer simulation in enhancing learning of a health unit by 30 mildly learning-disabled high school students was investigated. Results indicate that computer simulation in combination with structured teaching was effective, particularly in the area of teaching problem-solving skills. (TJH)

How is historical knowledge transmitted across generations? What is the role of schooling in that transmission? The authors address these questions by reporting on a thirty-month longitudinal study into how home, school, and larger society served as contexts for the development of historical consciousness among adolescents. Fifteen families drawn…

IMPROVE, a method for teaching mathematics in heterogeneous classrooms based on social cognition theories, was developed and tested in studies involving 247 and 265 seventh graders. IMPROVE uses metacognitive activities, peer interaction, and feedback-corrective enrichment. Results of both studies showed that IMPROVE students significantly…