Teacher leaders, who are stakeholders in the school and implement policies designed to improve student achievement, are a crucial part of educational reform efforts. However, the responsibilities of teacher leaders vary widely at the site level. Teacher leaders' self-efficacy must be substantive in order for them to enact change. This quantitative…

Growth mindset has been shown to predict academic achievement in a variety of student populations, though the strength of the relationship can vary depending on the characteristics of the students examined. Using a large-scale sample of middle school students from a diverse district in the United States, we examine how multiple facets of students'…

Noncognitive constructs such as self-efficacy, social awareness, and academic engagement are widely acknowledged as critical components of human capital, but systematic data collection on such skills in school systems is complicated by conceptual ambiguities, measurement challenges and resource constraints. This study addresses this issue by…

Native Americans are highly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers; however, little research exists concerning how to promote Native Americans' participation in STEM. In this study, we address this gap by examining variables hypothesized to promote participation using the career self-management (CSM) model…

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

In response to interest in the role of noncognitive factors in academic performance, several theoretical models have been developed; however, there have been few empirical attempts to validate those models, particularly with minority populations. This study used measures of academic mindsets, social skills, academic perseverance, learning…

Prior work has shown that levels of self-reported student social-emotional learning (SEL) predict student achievement levels--as well as student achievement gains--but little has been done to understand if within-student changes in student reports of SEL are predictive of changes in theoretically related academic and behavioral outcomes. We use…

The sample of this study consisted of 1,077 eighth grade students and 442 eighth grade teachers from nine states--Alabama, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and North Carolina during the TIMSS 2011 study. The instrument used to measure student and teacher self-efficacy, student task value, and teacher…

The academic achievement rates of urban Latino students are significantly lower than those of non-minority youth. To date, most of the research on this topic has focused on learning and motivational characteristics of underrepresented youth in elementary and middle school and much less on urban high schools. This study investigated variables…

This investigative engagement study explored the relationship between self-reported well-being indicators among students at an urban university in southern California and sought to identify variables that predict engaged learning among students who enroll in Africana Studies courses. This study used a correlational design involving an online…

The educational importance of teacher self-efficacy necessitates research into variables presumed to significantly influence teacher self-efficacy. In the current study, the role of personal and programmatic variables on the self-efficacy of school-based agriculture teachers was explored. Self-efficacy was measured in five aspects of the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact that perceived administrative support and stress had on special education teachers' self-efficacy. A survey was used to gather quantitative data from 244 special education teachers in Central California's Tulare and Fresno counties. Using correlation and regression analysis, this study found a…

Mounting evidence demonstrates that social-emotional skills are important for students' academic and life success, yet we have limited evidence on how these skills develop over time and how this development varies across student subgroups. In this study, we use the first large-scale panel survey of social-emotional learning (SEL) to describe how…

This research project included two studies that investigated (a) differences between technology use in tech-knowledgeable and less tech-knowledgeable older persons, (b) cognitive and affective variables and their association with the application of technology, and (c) the implications of these variables on the design of remote-delivered caregiver…

Since the early 1960s, there has been a steady increase in the number of students enrolled in institutions of higher education outside of their home countries. This study contributes to the information available to study abroad professionals seeking to guide students in selecting programs that are best suited to their individual characteristics…