We consider the effects of daytime fasting by pregnant women during the lunar month of Ramadan on their children's test scores at age seven. Using English register data, we find that scores are 0.05 to 0.08 standard deviations lower for Pakistani and Bangladeshi students exposed to Ramadan in early pregnancy. These estimates are downward biased to…

This project engages elementary school students, parents, teachers, and administrators in ocean-themed family science nights based on a proven model. Our key goals are to: (1) educate participants about ocean and earth science issues that are relevant to their communities; and (2) inspire more underrepresented students, including Native Hawaiians,…

International students who mainstream into American colleges and universities face complex and varied linguistic, cultural and sociolinguistic challenges. Although the number of Turkish students enrolling in American institutions continues to increase, little research has focused on their academic experience from the perspective of the cultural…

Efforts by federal and state governments to increase the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workforce in support of innovation and competitiveness are frustrated by a shortage of adequately prepared and interested students. Less than half of 12th graders meet the math proficiency benchmark that indicates college readiness.…

The nature of higher education is by no means fixed: it has evolved over time; different models of higher education co-exist alongside each other at present; and, worldwide, there are demands for higher education to change to better help support economic growth and to better fit changing social and economic circumstances. This book examines, from…

In this investigation, 55 of the 72 Suffolk County public schools were analyzed using archival data gleaned from the New York State Education Department's BEDS report for the years 2000 to 2005. Three primary research questions were used to determine if the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 had an impact on four ethnic groups, wealth of different…

The current study examined differences in student performance and retention rates for those who completed remedial reading or remedial writing courses and those who did not in a private university in South Florida. International students also were compared to non-international students on academic performance and retention rates. The conceptual…

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate the discursive process of the negotiation and construction of teacher identity in a US-based Master of Arts for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (MATESOL) program. This study explores how both native-English-speaking (NES) and non-native-English-speaking (NNES) student teachers'…

Selected survey data on future aspirations and expectations from 3565 young Indonesians are presented in this study. Muslim-majority Indonesia is an Asian economic success story. The economy has seen solid growth, leading to an expansion of the private sector. The upward credentialling of the labour market and the rapid growth of the middle class…

No Child Left Behind's mandated high-stakes testing and accountability policies have pervaded districts and schools nationwide. To examine student progress and graduation in the midst of first generation Texas-style accountability, this study tracked individuals in a longitudinal dataset of over 45,000 high school students in the Houston…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among oral and silent reading fluency and reading comprehension for students in Grades 6 to 8 (n = 1,421) and the use of fluency scores to identify middle school students who are at risk for failure on a high-stakes reading test. Results indicated moderate positive relations between…

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious global public health issue. At least one in three women worldwide has been beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused during her lifetime. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, more than three women in the United States die every day from physical abuse suffered at the hands of an intimate…

This article reports on an empirical study that examines general academic difficulties, and academic reading and writing difficulties among Asian ESL (English as a Second Language) international postgraduate students who are completing a Master's Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) at an Australian university. The…

This article presents a study of ethnic Differential Item Functioning (DIF) for 4th-, 7th-, and 10th-grade reading items on a state criterion-referenced achievement test. The tests, administered 1997 to 2001, were composed of multiple-choice and constructed-response items. Item performance by focal groups (i.e., students from Asian/Pacific Island,…

In this case study, we focus on 2 variables often neglected in conversations about closing the achievement gap. Most recommendations for closing the achievement gap center on extending learning time, including afterschool programs, extended year programs, and supplemental instruction. Our school focused on attendance and student engagement in our…