The current study sought to test hypotheses derived from the social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM; Lent & Brown, 2013) applied to the process of career exploration and decision-making. We examined how well personality traits, contextual factors, and social cognitive predictors, collectively, account for exploration behavior…

Because studies examining youth drug use often have data with a high proportion of zeros, they often do not meet the assumptions for univariate or linear regression analyses that are typically used. We demonstrate the use of zero-inflated negative binomial regression models to address excessive zeros in drug use frequency on perceptions of…

This quantitative, correlational study aims to determine if a predictive relationship exists between teacher perceptions of Tennessee's teacher evaluation and the linear combination of teacher gender, years of experience, and school-level taught (elementary, middle, high). Although teachers have recognized the current teacher evaluation system,…

Research on the impact of the Sport Education model (SEM) in motivational terms is prolific and consistent; however, studies that jointly address the effects of the SEM on adolescents' motivational, emotional, and well-being dimensions are scarce. This study aimed to examine the effect of a multi-season SEM-based program on self-determined…

Reading research in the United States has mainly focused on early or, less frequently, middle grades and on monolingual (MN or English-only) rather than on multilingual (ML) students. To address these gaps, we focused on factors contributing to high school ML students' reading achievement. In particular, we first used machine learning to identify…

Hope is an important component that helps engage people in solving problems. Environmental educational resources addressing climate change effectively should ideally nurture hope as well as increase understanding about the issue. However, hopefulness about resolving climate change challenges is a relatively new construct in the literature and…

This study shows that residual variation can cause problems related to scaling in exponential random graph models (ERGM). Residual variation is likely to exist when there are unmeasured variables in a model--even those uncorrelated with other predictors--or when the logistic form of the model is inappropriate. As a consequence, coefficients cannot…

Purpose: We aim to identify the most accurate model for predicting adolescent (Grade 9) reading difficulties (RD) in reading fluency and reading comprehension using 17 kindergarten-age variables. Three models (neural networks, linear, and mixture) were compared based on their accuracy in predicting RD. We also examined whether the same or a…

In this study, a model on the high school students' school burnout was tested, and the model's prediction of retained and promoted students was investigated. The school burnout model, in this sense, included the variables of grade point average (GPA), school burnout, perceived social support, stress, perfectionism, academic procrastination, and…

This mixed methods study explores how market-oriented policies, specifically privatization and decentralization of the educational system in Chile have impacted students' academic achievement since the Change in the Constitution in 1980. First, using teachers' interviews I identify variables that influences students' academic achievement and…

Classroom environment, family, and peers are important factors in influencing students' science learning. The primary aim of this study was to examine the effects of three environmental factors related to science learning (motivating science class, family models, and peer models) on students' approaches to learning science (deep approach and…

This study aimed to test a theoretical model of self-efficacy applied to the context of professional choice, verifying the sources of self-efficacy as predictors of self-efficacy beliefs and self-efficacy beliefs as antecedents of vocational exploratory behavior. A total of 388 high school students from public and private schools in the state of…

This dissertation explored whether unnecessary linguistic complexity (LC) in mathematics and biology assessment items changes the direction and significance of differential item functioning (DIF) between subgroups emergent bilinguals (EBs) and English proficient students (EPs). Due to inconsistencies in measuring LC in items, Study One adapted a…

This study assessed the feasibility of using precollege success indicators to identify at-risk students at a large 4-year public research university in the Midwest. Retention data from students who participated in an established student success program were examined. The findings affirm that the initial admissions assessment identifying at-risk…

Two alternative versions of a model of the cognitive decision-making processes of gifted and talented adolescents associated with occupational or career indecision were tested in this study. A psychometrically rigorous survey instrument was used to collect data from 664 adolescents attending three academically selective high schools in Sydney,…