National goals and performance standards were introduced in Sweden during the 1990s as part of a curriculum reform. The intention was to detect shortcomings among students and provide support to those students who did not reach the passing grade in one (or several) subject/s. Despite this reform, approximately one-fourth of the students do not…

Online environments increasingly serve as contexts for learning. Hence, it is important to understand how student characteristics, such as student computer-mediated communication anxiety (CMCA) affects learning outcomes in mediated classrooms. To better understand how student CMCA may influence student online learning experiences, we tested a…

We study whether changes in school emphasis on academic success (SEAS) and safe schools (SAFE) may explain the increased science performance in Norway between TIMSS 2007 and 2011. Two-level structural equation modelling (SEM) of merged TIMSS data was used to investigate whether changes in levels of SEAS and SAFE mediate the changes in science…

This study used hierarchical linear regression to examine the effects of taking specific high school courses on students' ACT performance in English, Mathematics, and Science. In addition, hierarchical logistic regression was used to examine the benefits of taking specific courses on students' likelihood of meeting or exceeding the ACT College…

A prevailing assumption underlying statewide performance-based assessments is that they not only serve as motivators in improving student achievement and learning, they also encourage instructional strategies and techniques in the classroom that are more consistent with reform-oriented educational outcomes. Given these high expectations, more…