Prior work has shown that students' self-reported levels on social-emotional measures predict achievement levels and gains, but we have little evidence on whether within-student changes in self-reports on social-emotional surveys are predictive of changes in theoretically related academic and behavioral outcomes. We use large-scale data from the…

New York State public school students in grades 3-8 are required to take the Common Core assessments, now based on Next Generation Learning Standards, in English language arts and mathematics. Students are also required to take English and Algebra Regents exams in high school. Elementary students who often perform on-grade level in the classroom…

Children's early math abilities have been claimed to depend differentially on various cognitive competencies (e.g., core number skills, working memory, and general math and reading abilities). Clarifying the relative importance of these different cognitive markers in predicting key early math skills would provide a conceptual framework for…

State-mandated tests have taken center stage for assessing student learning and for holding teachers and students accountable for achieving adequate progress. What types of early knowledge predict performance on these tests, especially among low-income children who are at risk for poor performance? We report on a longitudinal study of 519…

State mandated tests have taken center stage for assessing student learning and for holding teachers and students accountable for achieving adequate progress. What types of early knowledge predict performance on these tests, especially among low-income children who are at risk for poor performance? We report on a longitudinal study of 519…

International research suggests that early mathematical competence predicts later mathematical achievement. In this article, we explore the relationship between mathematical competencies at 4-5 years, as measured by teacher ratings, and later results on Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 "National Assessment Program -- Literacy and Numeracy" (NAPLAN)…

This study examines the power of cognitive and noncognitive variables to predict students' performance in algebra. We investigated students' prior year's assessment scores and demographic characteristics to predict eighth-grade algebra scores. Using California statewide assessment data, we explored predictive factors in three regression models.…

Math abilities predict children's academic achievement and outcomes in adulthood such as full-time employment and income. Previous work indicates that parenting factors (i.e., education, parent math ability, frequency of math activities) relate to children's math performance. Further, research demonstrates that both domain-general (i.e., language…

By using multi-level modeling, this study explores the impact of students' perception of the quality of the teacher-student relationship and family structure on student achievement after controlling for socioeconomic status (SES), school urbanicity, and school control. The data from 750 schools and 17,000 10th grade students were analyzed. Family…

Concerning the underrepresentation of female students in computer science (CS) classes at the K-12 level and math-intensive STEM fields, this study investigated the relationship between female students earning less credits in CS courses during high school and their STEM major choices. Data were drawn from a nationally representative sample of U.S.…

A large number of children are today receiving special education in Norway. The high cost to society and possible long-term consequences for the students make it important to understand the interrelationship of the causes and effects related to receiving special education services. Unfortunately, at present there are only few rigorous studies of…

Our newly proposed integrated academic self-concept model integrates 3 major theories of academic self-concept formation and developmental perspectives into a unified conceptual and methodological framework. Relations among math self-concept (MSC), school grades, test scores, and school-level contextual effects over 6 years, from the end of…

Objectives: We examined the longitudinal relationship between cardiovascular fitness (CRF) and academic performance (AP) among students in a diverse public school district. Furthermore, we determined whether the relationship between CRF and AP varied by student sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: This study used data from 2005-2006 to…

In this article, we analyze the variation in math achievement trajectories of Black male students to understand the different ways these students successfully or unsuccessfully navigate schools and the school characteristics that are associated with their trajectories. Using longitudinal student-level data from a large urban US city (n = 7,039),…

Reading development in students who are second language learners (SLLs) has been a concern of many educators. It is important to understand reading development in students who are SLLs to effectively support their reading development. The dissertation consists of two studies, presented in two stand-alone manuscripts, that aimed to deepen our…