Excellence gaps are differences in advanced education outcomes among student groups. This study replicates and extends an earlier study on the prevalence and magnitude of excellence gaps based on student sex and immigrant status using Grade 8 TIMSS data. Data were included for the 12 countries that have participated in each TIMSS administration…

Creativity can be assessed using various methods, including divergent thinking performance, self-ratings, and teacher ratings. However, these measures may not always align, as they may not consistently identify creative potential in the same manner. The present study aimed to identify latent subgroups of students based on their observed…

The advantages and disadvantages of single-sex schooling continue to be a source of policy and public debate. Previous empirical evidence is somewhat ambiguous, with some studies finding a positive impact of single-sex schooling on education achievement and others finding no differences across school types. The relationship between single-sex…

The Kansas Department of Education has set high goals for academic achievement and postsecondary success. The data trends over the last five years fail to demonstrate progress towards those goals. Learning has been negatively impacted by the effects of the learning environments during the COVID pandemic. The source for achieving those goals is…

This study identifies students' academic trajectories in the middle grades relative to a set of college readiness benchmarks. We apply math and reading college readiness benchmarks to rich longitudinal data for more than 360,000 students across the nation. Student-level and school-level demographic characteristics significantly predict academic…

Introduction: Individuals' math value beliefs are theorized to influence who persists in STEM. However, the existing findings on gender differences in adolescents' math value beliefs are inconsistent. The goal of this study was to use three existing datasets to help clarify when gender differences emerge for high school adolescents and for whom…

In this study, the effects of some student (e.g., gender, bullying, etc.) and school variables (e.g., emphasis on academic achievement, clarity of teaching, etc.) on the TIMSS 2015 science and mathematics achievement of eighth grade students in Türkiye were examined by controlling for the socioeconomic status of the students at the student and…

This study offers a novel approach to evaluating the predictors of first-year grade point average (FYGPA) in college by using multiple imputation and dominance analysis to compare high school GPA (HSGPA), ACT® test score, and demographic factors. Unlike previous research that typically relied on single regression models, this study reveals more…

Background and aims: This study focuses on individual differences in the math competencies of primary-school children in Germany. It considers whether or not there are Matthew or compensatory effects in math literacy and which factors and background characteristics of primary-school children can affect competence development. Despite the abundant…

The purpose of the current study is to examine malleable school practices and norms that contribute to inequitable school learning environments based on student background. Using multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM) with the U.S. sample of PISA 2015, this study examines the extent to which student-level access to inquiry-based science…

As an independent school district, Houston Independent School District (HISD) contracted with four operators of seven External Performance Contract Campuses, or contract campuses. Houston ISD contract campuses receive funding through the district. HISD has implemented a comprehensive performance accountability and compliance monitoring system that…

In most education systems, students with an immigrant background perform worse academically than do native students. However, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) differences emerge in the opposite direction and the national-expatriate gap in academic performance is equivalent to almost three years of schooling. This gap is a concern in the UAE,…

The exploration of dissecting gifted and talented programs combined with student advancement and academic success is one daunting but doable. The purpose of this study was to investigate the equity of the gifted and talented program while analyzing the achievement scores of these students compared to their peers. This quantitative study includes…

A general validity and survey quality concern with student questionnaires under low-stakes assessment conditions is that some responders will not genuinely engage with the questionnaire, often with more random response patterns as a result. Using a mixture IRT approach and a meta-analytic lens across 22 educational systems participating in TIMSS…

Purpose: Achievement in mathematics and reading is a function of many interrelated variables. Therefore, it is important to identify and compare the variables that affect success in these areas. The aim of this study is to examine the characteristics that are thought to be effective on achievement scores in reading and mathematics. Method: The…