Pupils' subject choices at the level of secondary education critically determine the tertiary fields of study that they can pursue. This study used multinomial logistic regression models to investigate the extent to which the final report card grades of ninth-grade students predicted their choices of subject combinations at the senior general…

Many school systems ask teachers to assess and report upon aspects of student performance beyond academic achievement. In Ontario, K-12 teachers assess a common set of six Learning Skills and Work Habits. How well teachers are able to undertake these assessments is not well studied. This study examines Grade 9 and 12 report card data from two…

Student performance is related to motivation to learn. As motivation generally declines during lower secondary education, one might expect performance to decline as well during this period. Though, until now, it has been unclear whether this pattern exists. In the present study, we examined student performance during the early years of secondary…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of high school transition strategies for ninth grade students in comparison to the traditional high school experience of first time ninth grade students. This study compared the English End-of-Course (EOC) test scores of first time ninth grade students in a traditional high school setting…

Individual differences in need for cognition (NFC) have been found to correspond with differences in information processing. Individuals with lower NFC process information using a peripheral route compared to individuals higher in NFC. These differences may effect the formation of performance expectancies. Based on previous work demonstrating that…

Differentiated instruction, standards-based curriculum, and end of course assessments (ECAs) are not mandated in most high schools across the United States. As such, classroom grades do not accurately reflect district report cards. In particular, grades at the study site, a suburban high school, do not show the specific standards and benchmarks…

The purpose for this study was to determine the influence on achievement and classification rate into special education of racially, culturally, ethnically, linguistically diverse students following the use of a district-designed response to intervention (RtI) structure by examining local processes that may contribute to student achievement and…

This case study evaluated the significance of implementing an enrichment mathematics course during the summer to rising African American ninth graders entitled, "Geometry Honors Preview." In the past, 60 to 70 percent of African American students in this school district had withdrawn from Geometry Honors by the second academic quarter. This study…

We examined how much agreement there was between scores from large-scale mandated assessments and report-card grades for 14,776 students in grades 3, 6, and 9 of a district in which conditions were conducive to alignment of assessments. We found significant mean differences between internal and external assessments: effect sizes were 0.29 to 0.63…

This mixed methods study explores the relationship between ninth grade academy in South Carolina public high schools and student achievement in 84 high schools matched on poverty index and school size. The 2007 and 2008 South Carolina school report card data were used to gather information about the individual schools. The presence or absence of a…

This study took place at a newly formed charter school serving 150 students in a large metropolitan city in the southwest. Students were mostly Hispanic (98%), and all were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected in interviews with 45 sixth- (n = 28), seventh- (n = 10), and eighth- (n = 7) grade…

Junior and junior-senior high schools enroll a large proportion of our early adolescent population. The programs they provide, the services they offer, their administrative practices, and the character of their staffs have far-reaching effects. These programs, services, practices, and staff characteristics constitute the scope of the present…