Studies of gender disparities in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) performance have generally focused on average differences. However, the extremes could also be important because disparities at the top may shape stratification in access to STEM careers, while disparities at the bottom can shape stratification in dropout.…

This study examines between-country differences in the degree to which teachers' working conditions, salaries, and societal evaluations about desirable job characteristics are associated with students' teaching career expectations. Three-level hierarchical generalized linear models are employed to analyze cross-national data from the Programme for…

This study examined the associations among racial identity beliefs (centrality and public regard), racial discrimination, and academic engagement outcomes among 1,659 African American adolescents across two demographically distinct school districts, one predominantly Black, working class (n = 1,100) and one predominantly White, middle class (n =…

The present study examined the effectiveness of the oral history approach with respect to students' historical competence. A total of 35 ninth-grade classes (N = 900) in Germany were randomly assigned to one of four conditions--live, video, text, or a (nontreated) control group--in a pretest, posttest, and follow-up design. Comparing the three…

Public charter schools (PCS) are thought to succeed because they have greater autonomy and are held more accountable than traditional public schools (TPS). Though teachers are central to this expectation, there is little evidence about whether teachers in PCS enjoy more autonomy and are held more accountable than teachers in TPS. Also, it is…

We examined 480 dissertations on the use of technology in mathematics education and developed a Quality Framework (QF) that provided structure to consistently define and measure quality. Dissertation studies earned an average of 64.4% of the possible quality points across all methodology types, compared to studies in journals that averaged 47.2%.…

The present study investigated preschoolers' knowledge of vocabulary that appears in first grade basal readers by applying Rasch modeling to data from a researcher-developed receptive picture vocabulary assessment administered to 238 children. Levels of word difficulty for dual language learners (DLLs) and monolingual English learners (MELs) were…

Investigates the possible use of grade point average as a criterion of educational performance. Results show that the current system of grades could be considered singular for most predictive purposes. (Author/DEP)

This study examined the demographic, pre-college, environmental, and college factors that impact students' interests in and decisions to earn a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) degree among students attending a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Results indicated that Hispanic students were well represented among STEM…

The roles of cognitive, perceptual, visual-motor, behavioral, achievement, and demographic factors in nonpromotion at kindergarten were examined for 34 nonpromoted and 34 promoted kindergarten children. Retained children were more likely to be young, male, and of lower socioeconomic status. Implications for interventions to assist retained…

A longitudinal model of mathematics/science major choice at college entrance for Black and White, male and female students was tested using a "High School and Beyond" sample. Significant predictors of choice included sophomore choice of major, mathematics attitudes, mathematics/sciences courses completed by senior year, and various…

Ethnographic methods were used to assess three learning-disabled and three normal tenth and eleventh grade boys at a school with an unusually low dropout rate. Institutional, classroom, and interpersonal factors behind the schools' student retention ability are described. (TJH)