Critical thinking (CT) consists of a deliberate and reflective process that can lead to informed decisions. It involves scrutinizing the trustworthiness and consistency of underlying assumptions, the sources of data, and the validity of other information. CT embodies deliberate, self-regulated judgment incorporating cognitive abilities such as…

Self-regulated learning (SRL) represents a necessary fundamental 21st century skill for children and adolescents and is essential for the development of gifted students. This study explored mathematically gifted (MG) junior high school students' SRL capabilities while solving mathematical problems compared to typical achievers (TAs). A sample of…

Although reading comprehension research and instruction commonly focus on individuals' ability to extract meaning from text, eighth-grade students whose teachers chose to focus on engaged volitional reading, rather than comprehension, demonstrated expansive forms of meaning-making and purpose. Interviews and observations across two school years…

Hispanic literacy development in the Southwestern US is examined through standardized assessment data derived from recent National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and Texas Academic Performance Reports (TAPR). This longitudinal study focuses on significant variables across a spectrum of grade levels for Hispanics of Mexican descent.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore US students' experience in for-credit, unpaid internships overseas with particular reference to their personal development, how they mobilised their knowledge across contexts, their learning as acquisition and as participation, and what they contributed. Students were thought likely to encounter…

Energy is considered both as a disciplinary core idea and as a concept cutting across science disciplines. Most previous approaches studied progressing energy understanding in specific disciplinary contexts, while disregarding the relation of understanding across them. Hence, this study provides a systematic analysis of cross-disciplinary energy…

Scholars are calling increasingly for educational reform to embed meaningful out-of-class events in the current curriculum, in order to enhance students' generic competency development. Towards this goal, featuring self-confidence as an important generic competency, this mixed-method study explores key characteristics of extracurricular activities…

This study includes an evaluation, according to age, of the reading and global motion perception developmental trajectories of 2027 school age children in typical stages of development. Reading is assessed using the reading rate score test, for which all of the student participants, regardless of age, received the same passage of text of a medium…

This paper examines the potential to foster "grit" and "growth mindset" in an undergraduate curriculum through the use of high-impact practices. [Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Northern Rocky Mountain Educational Research Association (NRMERA) (34th, 2016).]

As conceptions of academic development expand to encompass a more diverse and flexible set of supports, traditional approaches to evaluation, including impact studies of formal programming, become insufficient. A program may appear ineffective when evaluation ignores additional supports that interact to counteract implementation or alternatively…

This qualitative research aims at linking recent findings related to cognition and self-regulated learning with complexity-driven educational framework that promotes Teacher-Learner communities of practice, in which knowledge is generated and constructed through a complex process of reflection and negotiation. Building on the data that was…

Despite the fact that homework forms an important cornerstone of student development, many students fail to capitalize on the long-term benefits of doing homework. Several executive skills, including cognitive flexibility, monitoring and planning are suggested as prerequisites for the completion of homework. It follows that homework difficulties…

This article reports on a psychometric study examining the validity and reliability of the My Class Inventory-Short Form for Teachers, an accountability measure for elementary school counselors to use as they evaluate aspects of their school counseling programs. As a companion inventory to the student version of the My Class Inventory-Short Form…

Students evaluated their learning experience in terms of course valuing, content learning, personal learning, and behavioral learning. Significant differences were found between the two courses, with higher ratings for the more difficult. Limited but significant correlation with attainment measures was found, higher for continuous assessment than…

Teachers' guidebooks that accompanied commonly used kindergarten, first, and second grade language arts kits or textbooks were reviewed to determine what listening tasks and thinking skills were stressed. Five first grade, five second grade, and two kindergarten kits/textbooks were selected for review. Examination of these materials clearly…