The study reported here investigated the impacts of participation in 4-H on young people's interest and participation in science. Survey data were collected from relatively large and ethnically diverse samples of elementary and high school-aged students in California. Results indicated that although elementary-grade 4-H members are not more…

With increased emphasis on accountability, the use of low-stakes test data to make high-stakes decisions about program effectiveness is on the rise. In order to make valid inferences about what students know and can do, it is crucial to understand the consequences of low and high stakes in testing contexts. As a result, with a sample comprised of…

For years, colleges have used placement exams to determine whether to deem incoming students "college ready" or assign them to developmental education. But emerging information reveals the tests have little correlation to students' future success, casting doubt on their use even as the high stakes for students of taking remedial courses…

The aim of the present study is to support, enrich, and broaden the process of education using concept maps and to determine the effects of concept maps in biology classes on school success, attitude and retention of the knowledge taught. The present study was conducted as an experimental study with pre-test and post-test control groups. The…

The development and implementation of a new school-based suicide prevention education programme in one secondary school in Vancouver, British Columbia, recently provided us with an opportunity to conduct an in-depth, qualitative case study. The purpose of our study was to deepen our understanding of how school-based suicide prevention education…

This study explores girls' aspirations for their future. The context was an ex-coalmining area where concerns had been raised by the local authority about the levels of girls' achievement. The focus of the research was the views of Year 6 girls as they prepared for their transition to secondary school and Year 11 girls as they prepared for their…

Many tribal colleges are already offering distance learning. With increased Internet use, it's likely that even more will offer online courses to their tribal members in order to reach a larger student pool. Online education can reach students who care for their immediate and extended families and who have to work. It is also appealing to students…

This article reports the development, validation and use of an instrument designed to provide teachers with feedback information, based on students' perceptions, about their classroom environments. The instrument was developed to provide teachers with feedback that they could use to reflect on their teaching practices and, in turn, guide the…

Learning is a social event and so the students need learning environments that enable them to work with their peers so that they can learn through their interactions. This study discusses the effectiveness of cooperative learning compared to traditional instruction in terms of students' motivation and understanding of chemical kinetics in a high…

In this article, Julian Vasquez Heilig, Keffrelyn Brown, and Anthony Brown offer findings from a close textual analysis of how the Texas social studies standards address race, racism, and communities of color. Using the lens of critical race theory, the authors uncover the sometimes subtle ways that the standards can appear to adequately address…

Educational policy is often developed using a top-down approach. Recently, there has been a concerted shift in policy for educators to develop programs and research proposals that evolve from "scientific" studies and focus less on their intuition, aided by professional wisdom. This article analyzes several national and international…

Lack of reading motivation impedes upper elementary and secondary school students' willingness to improve critical reading skills and strategies to be successful in school. Struggling readers often show a negative attitude towards reading tasks and manifest low motivation to read. Although the importance of motivation is clear, there is limited…

Dynamic visualizations can make unseen phenomena such as chemical reactions visible but students need guidance to benefit from them. This study explores the value of generating drawings versus selecting among alternatives to guide students to learn chemical reactions from a dynamic visualization of hydrogen combustion as part of an online inquiry…

This study investigated the online process of reading and the offline learning from an illustrated science text. The authors examined the effects of using a concrete or abstract picture to illustrate a text and adopted eye-tracking methodology to trace text and picture processing. They randomly assigned 59 eleventh-grade students to 3 reading…

This study examined the effects of out-of-school suspension on high school students. Its purpose was to determine if exclusionary discipline practices led to negative consequences such as poor academic achievement and juvenile delinquency. The study also hoped to generate new insight into current disciplinary practices in order to yield a better…