Self-beliefs are key to academic performance and career aspirations. Mathematics self-concept has been positively associated with mathematics self-efficacy, interest, and achievement and the desire to pursue quantitative domains. Importantly, underrepresentation of females in mathematics-related careers has been attributed to gender differences in…

This New Zealand-based inquiry investigates modelling as an instructional component of writing pedagogy in upper primary schools. As part of a large mixed methods study of writing instruction by a group of exemplary teachers (N = 9), we inquired into the occurrence, operationalisation and relative benefits of teachers using each of the recognised…

Gaining access to early childhood education can be challenging for some families, but summer programs may provide more opportunities for children of all backgrounds. In the USA, some of these expanded opportunities have come by way of an increased number of nature-based preschool programs. This study investigated a short-term, nature-based summer…

Many parents use social media to gather word-of-mouth regarding schools' performance, subsequently influencing their school choice decisions. Yet, it's unclear how well online opinions reflect schools' actual academic performance. To address this gap, this study uses machine learning to examine whether the online evaluations of students' learning…

The number of English learners (ELs) enrolled in public schools has grown substantially in the United States over the past two decades. The growth is especially large in states in the South and Midwest that have not been traditional destinations for recent immigrants. In this study, we examine the effects of new ELs on students in receiving…

Supporting fairness in the assessment of group work remains an ongoing challenge for instructors, particularly that students feel their individual contributions need to be evaluated equitably. This study draws on social psychology and critical theories to examine the conditions that shape students' perceptions of fairness and associated tensions…

Upper elementary students with reading disabilities (RD) require intensive interventions to accelerate their reading achievement, as they often demonstrate deficits in basic reading skills and comprehension strategies. This paper reviews a series of three studies examining reading interventions of varying intensities for students with RD. Study 1…

This study presents a meta-analysis of the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES) and academic skills in early childhood using both cross-sectional and longitudinal effect sizes. The cross-sectional (111 studies with 435 effect sizes representing 86,808 participants) and longitudinal (59 studies with 321 effect sizes representing 46,870…

Student engagement is essential for attainment, with one of the biggest challenges being attention span. There is clear evidence that attention has begun to wane in students over the past 50 years. This is thought to be due to external distractions such as mobile phones, but also the method of lecture delivery which could have severe repercussions…

The study aims at describing the role of recognition in education theory. Its starting point is the meaning and relevance of recognition in NAT (non-affirmative theory of education and Bildung). While NAT widely refers to classical modern approaches, two directions of present recognition theory are investigated to problematize NAT's triadic…

In our technologically advanced society proficiency in mathematics is paramount to success in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) employment sector. Mathematics anxiety negatively affects an individual's physiological and cognitive functioning, which results in the individual obtaining lower achievement in mathematics. The…

Free, public education is a foundation of this country's democracy. Improving levels of student achievement is a critical aspiration to the development of a citizenry that is competitive in future global markets. This study was created with the intent of determining if traditional formats used for professional development have an impact on student…

Almost anything worth doing takes effort, so it is no surprise that effort has played such a central role in how researchers, theoreticians, instructors, and even students think about student learning and achievement. In this special issue, the authors of the target articles explore the importance of effort to students' self-regulated learning…

Among the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) launched in 2015, the fourth goal (SDG 4) is dedicated to education, and one of the ten targets within that goal specifically addresses adult literacy and numeracy skills. Efforts to reach this target involve monitoring, which in turn involves assessment. The most powerful…

Has the gap in average standardized test scores between students from high- and low-income families widened, narrowed, or remained stable over the last 3 decades? The question is important both because the achievement gap is measure of how (un)equally educational opportunities are distributed in the US, and because the disparity in educational…