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…

Active learning is known to improve student outcomes in many STEM courses. Here, we present strategies for incorporating active learning into a large enrollment General Chemistry I course using small group activities during class time. This approach was found to mitigate gender disparities in overall course grades and reduced the number of General…

Advanced placement (AP) physics performance is an important metric for examining precollege student preparation for post-secondary study. The present study examined potential predictors of AP Physics 1 performance including gender, teacher, and school-level characteristics. A theoretical framework proposed teacher preparation and experiential…

Despite concerted efforts aimed at improving gender diversity in the discipline, the underrepresentation of women continues to persist in the geoscience domain. Research suggests that successful completion of introductory undergraduate STEM coursework is pivotal to the retention of students in STEM major programs and that spatial skills are…

Concept inventories are widely used in physics education research, yet numerous studies show that concept inventories measure dramatically different learning gains in different demographic groups. Prior studies show that the performance gaps between demographic groups are already present in their preinstruction responses, suggesting that the…

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…

This brief examines which students in the Houston Independent School District (HISD) were more likely to choose the STEM endorsement in ninth grade. The study examined STEM endorsement choice among students who began high school in the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 school years. The analyses showed female students were significantly less likely to…

By measuring students' attitudes towards science using Rasch modelling, the present study investigated the factors related to elementary students' attitudes toward science at both the individual- and school- levels using HLM in China, where students are often reported to have high achievement in science with below-average attitudes towards the…

Collaborative two-stage exams provide an effective mechanism to incorporate group work into summative course assessments. We implemented these exams in an upper-level biology laboratory course over two terms, one with online exams and one with in-person exams. We compared student exam performance and perceptions of two-stage exams and group work…

This dissertation investigates the voluntary usage of clickers to answer in class multiple-choice questions in general chemistry courses and its effect on student performance. The first study explored the demographic composition of two sequential introductory level chemistry courses over six terms. No difference in voluntary usage of the clicker…

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…

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…

As we strive to make science education more inclusive, more research is needed to fully understand gender gaps in academic performance and in-class participation in the life sciences. Studies suggest that male voices dominate introductory biology courses, but no studies have been done on upper-level courses. Results on achievement gender gaps in…

The aim of this study is to examine whether reading habits have any effects on the academic achievement of the biology course of high school students in Turkey. In the research, the relational screening model was preferred from the quantitative research models and the phenomenological approach was preferred from the qualitative research models, so…

The National Assessment Governing Board (the Board) contracted with Pearson to design and implement a review of the achievement level descriptions (ALDs) for National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Grade 8 assessments in Science, U.S. History, and Civics. This document describes the procedural and technical aspects and outcomes of the…