This work focused on the issue of postsecondary access and the successful preparation of high school students to meet the A-G Subject Requirements for admission to the State of California universities. A growing number of California students interested in attending the University of California and the California State University campuses face…

Merit pay initiatives transparently alter the teaching profession and goings-on within classrooms, and thereby promise to stoke the self-interests of the two most prominent stakeholders in public education: teachers and parents. This memo summarizes the authors' ongoing efforts to empirically evaluate the extent to which public debates about merit…

The purpose of this study was to examine ethnic and gender differences in using DISCOVER, a performance-based assessment, for identifying gifted students. The sample consisted of 941 students from grades K-5 belonging to six ethnicities: White Americans, African-Americans, Hispanics, Native-Americans, South Pacific/Pacific Islanders, and Arabs.…

The study explores Black adolescent detainees' academic potential and motivation to return to school, to inform best practices and policies for juvenile reentry to educational settings. Adolescent detainees (N = 1,576) who were recruited from 1 male and 1 female youth detention facility, responded to surveys that assessed postdetention educational…

Vocabulary knowledge at school entry is a robust predictor of later reading achievement. Many children begin formal reading instruction at a significant disadvantage due to low levels of vocabulary. Until recently, relatively few research studies examined the efficacy of vocabulary interventions for children in the early primary grades (e.g.,…

Aim: Cardiac malformations resulting in cyanosis, such as transposition of the great arteries (TGA), have been associated with neurodevelopmental dysfunction. The purpose of this study was to assess, for the first time, theory of mind (ToM), which is a key component of social cognition and executive functions in school-aged children with TGA.…

Integrated tasks are currently employed in a number of L2 exams since they are perceived as an addition to the writing-only task type. Given this trend, the current study investigates composite score generalizability of both reading-to-write and writing-only tasks. For this purpose, a multivariate generalizability analysis is used to investigate…

The main goals of course evaluations are to obtain student feedback regarding courses and teaching for improvement purposes and to provide a defined and practical process to ensure that actions are taken to improve courses and teaching. Of the items on course evaluation forms, the one that receives the most attention and consequently the most…

Patterns of current psychotropic medication use among 5,181 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) enrolled in a Web-based registry were examined. Overall, 35% used at least one psychotropic medication, most commonly stimulants, neuroleptics, and/or antidepressants. Those who were uninsured or exclusively privately insured were less likely…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the score differences on the Texas Academic Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Reading and Mathematics measures among students in Grades 10 and 11 as a function of music enrollment. Specifically, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and enrollment in choir, band, or orchestra or no music enrollment…

Little is known about the educational consequences in Iraq during the U.S.-led invasion of 2003-2010. This study examines school enrollment based on the 2007 Iraq Household Socio-Economic Survey. There are three main findings. First, a population-weighted analysis indicates that the school enrollment rate (72.3 percent) is lower than past Iraqi…

Clear, coherent and trusted, this book is the perfect guide to the main social research methods in use today. The much anticipated Third Edition of Clive Seale's bestselling title further expands its coverage to provide an authoritative introduction to all of the social research methods used to analyze qualitative and quantitative data. Written by…

This study compares teacher candidates' initial and changed beliefs, dispositions, and uses of technology in two credential program models: a one-to-one laptop program with ubiquitous technology use and a traditional credential program in which students are expected to have specific technology experiences and requirements in each course (a model…

Study aim: To assess motor performance of pre-school children and the hierarchy of motor and physical variables. Material and methods: A group of 64 boys and 60 girls aged 5-6 years were subjected to 7 motor tests measuring the condition and co-ordination features. The results were subjected to cluster analysis in order to establish the hierarchy…

The purpose of this study was to acoustically examine the developmental characteristics of fundamental (f[subscript o]) and formant frequencies (F1 and F2) in vowels produced by Korean male and female children in two age ranges (5 and 10 years of age). The study also compared formant frequency values among Korean children with those from existing…