Many applications of structural equation modeling involve ordinal (e.g., Likert) variables. A popular way of dealing with ordinal variables is to estimate the model with polychoric correlations rather than Pearson correlations. Such an estimation also requires the asymptotic covariance matrix of polychoric correlations. It is computationally…

Students enter the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline in primary school, but leak out of it over time for various reasons. To prevent leaks, it is important to understand the variables that affect attitudes towards STEM learning from an early age. This study sought to examine the predictors of young students' STEM…

The present simulation study indicates that a method where the regression effect of a predictor (X) on an outcome at follow-up (Y1) is calculated while adjusting for the outcome at baseline (Y0) can give spurious findings, especially when there is a strong correlation between X and Y0 and when the test-retest correlation between Y0 and Y1 is…

Contamination of responses due to extreme and midpoint response style can confound the interpretation of scores, threatening the validity of inferences made from survey responses. This study incorporated person-level covariates in the multidimensional item response tree model to explain heterogeneity in response style. We include an empirical…

Operational validities are important to personnel selection research because they estimate how well a predictor in practical use correlates with a criterion construct, if the criterion measure were purged of measurement error variance. Because range restriction on a predictor or predictor composite creates incidental range restriction on the…

Math anxiety negatively predicts young children's math achievement. While some researchers have suggested that math anxiety may stem from poor math ability, others have argued that math anxiety occurs at all levels of math ability. An important question is whether math anxiety predicts math achievement over and above foundational math skills. We…

Multilevel meta-analysis is an innovative synthesis technique used for the quantitative integration of effect size estimates across participants and across studies. The quantitative summary allows for objective, evidence-based, and informed decisions in research, practice, and policy. Based on previous methodological work, the technique results in…

Because error variance alternatively can be considered to be the sum of systematic variance associated with unknown variables and randomness, a tripartite assumption is proposed that total variance in the dependent variable can be partitioned into three variance components. These are variance in the dependent variable that is explained by the…

Math anxiety negatively predicts young children's math achievement. While some researchers have suggested that math anxiety may stem from poor math ability, others have argued that math anxiety occurs at all levels of math ability. An important question is whether math anxiety predicts math achievement over and above foundational math skills. We…

Recently educational robotics has expanded into curriculum beyond traditional STEM fields, and which can also be used to foster computational thinking (CT) skills. Prior research has shown numerous interdisciplinary benefits related to CT, however, these influential factors have often been investigated with relatively few variables. This study…

Despite the vast research on the early predictors of mathematics achievement, little research has investigated the predictors of various domains of mathematics (e.g., geometry, statistics). The purpose of the present study was to examine the predictive relation between first-grade early numeracy and computation skills and third-grade mathematics…

Several studies have shown that rapid automatized naming (RAN) is a significant predictor of mathematics, but the nature of their relationship remains elusive. Thus, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to estimate the size of their relationship and determine the conditions under which they correlate. We used a random-effects model analysis of…

In an era of billions of dollars in outstanding student loan debt, researchers have posited that the U.S. News & World Report rankings continue to be an influential source of information for prospective students, yet these rankings do not include college affordability metrics in their ranking algorithm. As a result, this study performed a…

In the present study, we explored how linguistic skills (phonological and semantic) influence the multiple components of school arithmetic (numeration, computation, and word problems) by analyzing them sequentially. We studied a sample of 262 schoolchildren, aged 8 to 11, nested in 27 classrooms, using the following measures: semantic skills,…

Purpose: Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for Mauritius has averaged more than 5 per cent since 1970 and GDP per capita has increased more than tenfold between 1970 and 2012, from less than $500 to more than $9,000. It has often been reported that human capital, along with other growth enablers, has played an important role in this…