Recent evidence points to the early elementary grades as a pivotal point for the development of science learning trajectories and achievement gaps. Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, this study estimates the degree to which time spent on science and the breadth of science topics/skills covered predict science achievement in…

Purpose: Physical literacy (PL) has been proposed as a key construct for understanding participation in physical activity. However, the lack of an agreed-upon definition and measure has hindered research on the topic. The current study proposed and analyzed the construct validity of a PL model comprised of motor competence, perceived competence,…

School-average achievement is often reported to have positive effects on individual achievement (peer spillover effect). However, it is well established that school-average achievement has negative effects on academic self-concept (big-fish-little-pond effect [BFLPE]) and that academic self-concept and achievement are positively correlated and…

This research empirically evaluates data sets from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for design effects of ignoring the sampling design in weighted two-level analyses. Currently, researchers may ignore the sampling design beyond the levels that they model which might result in incorrect inferences regarding hypotheses due to…

Theory-driven conceptualizations of phonological abilities in a sufficiently transparent language (Greek) were examined in children ages 5 years 8 months to 7 years 7 months, by comparing a set of a priori models. Specifically, the fit of 9 different models was evaluated, as defined by the Number of Factors (1 to 3; represented by rhymes,…

The special section articles demonstrate the importance of informant discrepancies. They also illustrate challenges posed by discrepancies, plus opportunities for advancing research and practice. This commentary addresses these cross-cutting issues: (a) Discrepancies affect many kinds of assessment besides ratings of children's problems. (b)…

Examined the potential effects of correlated measurement errors among responses of wives and their husbands (N=349) on the utility of and expectations for another child. There was no change in the previous finding that wife's and husband's child utility had equal effects on expectations for another child. (JAC)