Introduction: Individuals' math value beliefs are theorized to influence who persists in STEM. However, the existing findings on gender differences in adolescents' math value beliefs are inconsistent. The goal of this study was to use three existing datasets to help clarify when gender differences emerge for high school adolescents and for whom…

This study examined the effect of class sizes on differences in the trajectories of elementary school students' long-term Japanese language achievement by analyzing panel data composed of standardized achievement test scores at five points from around the end of first grade to around the end of fifth grade. The data for 103 schools, 162 classes,…

Older schoolchildren typically perform better on academic achievement tests than younger students in the same classes. Studies looking at an array of countries, grade spans, and subjects have found that age differences of even a few months do matter. Relative-age effects introduce an arbitrary bias that favors older students. These effects are a…

Because schools often do not begin formal processes to identify students with gifts and talents until the third grade, many kindergarten through second-grade teachers face challenges in identifying and meeting the needs of these learners. We examined gifted education plans from a sample of seven districts in and around the Charlotte, North…

The contributions of domain-general abilities and domain-specific knowledge to subsequent mathematics achievement were longitudinally assessed (n = 167) through 8th grade. First grade intelligence and working memory and prior grade reading achievement indexed domain-general effects, and domain-specific effects were indexed by prior grade…

The "Woodcock-Johnson III" Tests of Achievement grade norms versus age norms were examined in the calculation of discrepancy scores in 202 college students. Difference scores were calculated between the "Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-3rd Edition" Full Scale IQ and the "Woodcock-Johnson III" Total Achievement,…

Across multiple schools and sites, the impact of grade-at-intervention was evaluated for children at risk or meeting criteria for reading disabilities. A multiple-component reading intervention with demonstrated efficacy was offered to small groups of children in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade. In a quasi-experimental design, 172 children received the…

Background: While existing evidence strongly suggests that immigrant students underperform relative to their native counterparts on measures of mathematics, science, and reading, country-level analyses assessing the homogeneity of the immigrant achievement gap across different factors have not been systematically conducted. Beyond finding a…

This article examines how international differences in age-grade distributions and grade effects contribute to science scores among 27 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. As shown in the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment, countries vary substantially in the grade distribution of 15-year-olds. The costs…

This study tested the effects of 5 classroom contextual features on the social status (perceived popularity and social preference) that peers accord to aggressive students in late elementary school, including classroom peer status hierarchy (whether within-classroom differences in popularity are large or small), classroom academic level, and grade…

Measurement scales developed using Thurstone and item-response theory (IRT) methods of scaling achievement tests for the same single-level data were compared for approximately 4,000 high school students taking the Iowa Tests of Educational Development in 1975. Results of both approaches indicate that variability increases as grade level increases.…

Grade-equivalent scores are widely used in the school system in reporting students' performance on standardized achievement tests. This paper explores how grade equivalent scores are calculated and interpreted. In addition, the paper examines the limitations of grade-equivalent scores through the use of small heuristic data sets. A…

The investigation reported in this paper was prompted by discrepancies between the published outcomes from two international tests of science achievement: (1) the Second International Assessment of Educational Progress (IAEP2), administered in 1991; and (2) the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), administered in 1995. One…