When conducting item reviews, analysts evaluate an array of statistical and graphical information to assess the fit of a field test (FT) item to an item response theory model. The process can be tedious, particularly when the number of human reviews (HR) to be completed is large. Furthermore, such a process leads to decisions that are susceptible…

This study focuses on the goal orientation of students with and without special education needs (SEN) in inclusive schools. Participants were 186 students (110 boys; 76 girls) from Grade 7 (mean age = 13.83). Of these, 93 were diagnosed as having SEN, while the other 93 were mainstream students matched on IQ. Students without SEN scored…

Gifted students have been provided the opportunity to study three core subjects through an academically selective virtual high school in western NSW, Australia. At the same time they continue to attend their local public high school for their other subjects. This article presents the mechanisms that have provided this opportunity, and describes…

The Houston Independent School District (HISD) currently offers three bilingual programs and two English as a Second Language (ESL) programs for English language learners (ELLs). These programs are intended to facilitate ELLs' integration into the regular school curriculum and to ensure access to equal educational opportunities. This evaluation…

This report summarizes Austin Independent School District's Title I, Part A program for 2014-2015. AISD annually receives federal NCLB Title I funds, based on the percentage of low-income students in the district's attendance zones, for the purpose of improving educational programs.

This study investigated the impact of family/school capital on the academic development of African American and Hispanic students by examining four educational outcomes (math/reading achievement at the tenth grade, high school graduation, post-secondary enrollment and post-secondary degree attainment) from the tenth grade through their…

Effect sizes are commonly reported for the results of educational interventions. However, researchers struggle with interpreting their magnitude in a way that transcends generic guidelines. Effect sizes can be interpreted in a meaningful context by benchmarking them against typical growth for students in the normative distribution. Such benchmarks…

The professional literature in mathematics education is replete with calls to use tasks that are "authentic", "relevant" and related to "real life" and the "real world". Such activities are frequently advocated for their potential to motivate and engage students, but evidence of their ability to do so is rarely presented. This paper examines…

The "University of Chicago School Mathematics Project ("UCSMP") 6-12 Curriculum" is a series of yearlong courses--(1) Transition Mathematics; (2) Algebra; (3) Geometry; (4) Advanced Algebra; (5) Functions, Statistics, and Trigonometry; and (6) Precalculus and Discrete Mathematics--emphasizing problem solving, real-world…

Low math achievement is a recurring weakness in many students. Math anxiety is a persistent and significant theme to math avoidance and low achievement. Causes for math anxiety include social, cognitive, and academic factors. Interventions to reduce math anxiety are limited as they exclude the expert skills of professional school counselors to…

Individual in-depth, semi-structured interviews with three mathematics teachers were conducted to investigate the dynamics of their life-long relationships with mathematics, synthesised as mathematical identity from different identity positions in the context of dialogical self. The qualitative data were scrutinised employing interpretive…

There is a correlation between language proficiency and achievement in mathematics (Riordain & O'Donoghue, 2009), and this is particularly evident for children who speak English as an additional language or dialect. More effort needs to be made in mathematics classrooms to develop cognitive competencies, including the ability to decode and…

Anne Roche and Doug Clarke discuss the importance of developing students' persistence in relation to problem solving during the use of challenging tasks. They provide a useful list of strategies that teachers can use to encourage persistence amongst their students.

Many science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies have focused on issues related to underrepresented groups' participation in STEM disciplines. Most of these studies have targeted women and individuals from racial minorities as the underrepresented groups of interest, while little attention has been paid to people with disabilities.…

As student-centered approaches to teaching and learning are more widely applied, researchers must assess the outcomes of these interventions across a range of courses and institutions. As an example of such assessment, this study examined the impact of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in college mathematics on undergraduates' subsequent grades…