The study examined interest, a unique affective construct distinct from motivation, as an important instructional design consideration. New interest theory suggests that interest develops along a continuum, and at its earliest stages, may be triggered through intentional use of interesting materials and environments. Instructional designers need…

This paper explores whether polytechnic and university graduates are affected in the same way by gender differences in the graduate labour market in four countries: the Netherlands, Finland, Norway and Switzerland. Using data from the Research into Employment and Professional Flexibility (REFLEX) graduate survey, the analysis is based on…

Correlation matrices and standard deviations are the building blocks of many of the commonly conducted analyses in published research, and AERA and APA reporting standards recommend their inclusion when reporting research results. The authors argue that the inclusion of correlation/covariance matrices, standard deviations, and means can enhance…

This study investigated the management of education in primary schools in Ekiti State, Nigeria. As a correlational research, the study population comprised all the 694 primary schools in the State. Out of this, a sample of 320 schools was selected through the stratified random sampling technique. Two instruments were used to collect data for the…

The purpose of this paper is to examine the predictors of children's media use in the USA, comparing cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Data come from Waves 1 and 2 of the Child Development Supplement (CDS-I; CDS-II), a nationally representative sample of American children aged 0-12 in 1997 and 5-18 in 2002. Twenty-four hour time use…

The U.S. charter school movement has expanded rapidly, but this growth is geographically uneven at the school district level. Focusing on Arizona--which has the least restrictive charter school law in the United States--we use district variables to determine the factors driving charter market share in 41 districts. Included in our analysis is an…

This exploratory analysis uses multiple regression modeling to help shed light on the correlates of the Black achievement gap in Montreal's public and private secondary schools. Using school-level testing data from Quebec's Ministry of Education, the authors show that there is a Black achievement gap, and that this gap is highly associated with…

Background: While a significant body of research has addressed teachers' evaluations of mainstream English speaking students, there is a dearth of such research focusing on immigrant adolescents. As many immigrant students are in the process of acquiring English language proficiency, evaluating and assigning grades to immigrant youth can pose…

Multiple regression is commonly used in social and behavioral data analysis. In multiple regression contexts, researchers are very often interested in determining the "best" predictors in the analysis. This focus may stem from a need to identify those predictors that are supportive of theory. Alternatively, the researcher may simply be interested…

The increase in the squared multiple correlation coefficient ([Delta]R[squared]) associated with a variable in a regression equation is a commonly used measure of importance in regression analysis. The coverage probability that an asymptotic and percentile bootstrap confidence interval includes [Delta][rho][squared] was investigated. As expected,…

Congruency effects are typically smaller after incongruent than after congruent trials. One explanation is in terms of higher levels of cognitive control after detection of conflict (conflict adaptation; e.g., M. M. Botvinick, T. S. Braver, D. M. Barch, C. S. Carter, & J. D. Cohen, 2001). An alternative explanation for these results is based on…

By centralizing the issue of test fairness in language proficiency assessments, this study responds to a call by researchers for developing greater social responsibility in the language testing agenda. As inquiries into language attitude and psychology indicate, there is an underlying uncertainty pertaining to the validity of test use and score…

In this report, the authors describe the value-added models used as part of teacher evaluation systems in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and in eligible DC charter schools participating in Race to the Top. They estimated (1) teacher effectiveness in DCPS and eligible DC charter schools during the 2011-2012 school year; and (2)…

Although it is well established that Black male students are underrepresented in gifted educational programs in the United States, due to a scarcity of longitudinal prospective research, little is known about the protective factors at the child, family, and school level that increase the probability of Black male students being identified as…

This research explores the impact of students' ability to adjust to school environment at a residential accelerated upper-level high school for math and science. Students in their junior and senior years were given the DISC (Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness) behavioral instrument and tracked over a two year period. The DISC has…