Variability in Reading Scores on a Given Level of Intelligence Test Scores

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have shown that several key variables influence student achievement in geometry, but no research has been conducted to determine how these variables interact. A model of achievement in geometry was tested on a sample of 102 high school students. Structural equation modeling was used to test hypothesized relationships among variables linked to successful problem solving in geometry. These variables, including motivation, achievement emotions, pictorial representation, and categorization skills, were examined for their influence on geometry achievement. Results indicated that the model fit well. Achievement emotions, specifically boredom and enjoyment, had a significant influence on student motivation. Student motivation influenced students’ use of pictorial representations and achievement. Pictorial representation also directly influenced achievement. Categorization skills had a significant influence on pictorial representations and student achievement. The implications of these findings for geometry instruction and for future research are discussed.     

The Present Status and Significance of Manuscript Writing

Abstract

Teachers’ expectations as they relate to student achievement outcomes have received much research attention. Student expectations for their own achievement have not. Noninduced student expectations for their individual achievement, and for male and female differential achievement, in mathematics classes were assessed for 698 eighth grade students. Expectations were measured early in the school year via written self-report. Student ability level was also ascertained and controlled. Individual achievement expectations were found to relate to students’ subsequent achievement across criterion variables and times of the year.     

Gifted Pupils as Sources of Inspiration in the Class?

Abstract

Hofset, A. (1971). Gifted Pupils as Sources of Inspiration in the Class? Scand. J. educ. Res. 15, 3, 137‐148. The purpose of the present investigation has been to test the reality of the statement that gifted pupils are a source of inspiration in their classes. To make it testable, we formulated the question thus: Is the school achievement better and the attitude towards school more positive in classes with many (4 or more) gifted pupils ( plus‐classes) than in classes with few (0 or 1, minus‐classes)? Our assumption was that a possible inspiring effect will reveal itself in achievement and/or attitudes. We also wanted to know whether the presence of gifted classmates will reduce the other pupils’ chances of being chosen as class leaders. Data from the primary grades 3, 5, and 7 were collected in 1963‐67. The total number of pupils was approximately 2,000. There were no significant achievement differences between plus‐ and minus‐classes. The attitude towards school (self‐reported) was slightly more positive in plus‐classes in grade 5. In grade 3 there was no attitude difference. Leadership choice status was lower for most pupil categories in plus‐classes in grade 5, but not in grade 3.     

Monitoring Student Achievement for Accountability: The Demonstration of a Model

Abstract

This study demonstrated a procedural model that can be applied by any school to assess, guide, and account for the progress of its students as well as to analyze its own effectiveness. The model uses equivalent achievement tests to monitor student achievement in subject areas at grade levels, between grade levels, and across subgroups of students. Multiple regression analyses of test scores between grades identify factors associated with achievement Using sixth and eighth grade Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills scores in a matched longitudinal sample of 208 students, the study found small differences in average achievement between boys and girls. Differences between corresponding sixth and eighth grade test means were higher in mathematics than in language. From the sixth grade to the eighth, there was a widening gap in average achievement between high and low I.Q. groups. In multiple regressions of eighth grade test scores on sixth grade measures, I.Q., study skills, and reading were prevalent in the regression equations, but clusters of measures associated with achievement differed between high and low’ LQ. groups. The results of the study have implications for developing and evaluating the achievement of students with varying mental abilities.     

Achievement and Attitudinal Differences among Students in Regular,Remedial, and Advanced Classes

The collection of data by the National Center for Educational Statistics for the High School and Beyond study offered an opportunity to examine differences in achievement and attitudinal measures among students in regular, remedial, and advanced classes. Groups of low achieving and high achieving sophomores and seniors were identified on the basis of overall grades. Comparisons were made between students in regular and ability-grouped English and mathematics classes. The data were consistent with views that grouping leads to improved achievement and attitude toward subject matter for students in regular and remedial classes. The data were not consistent with a view that remedial group placement leads to poor self-concept or attitude toward school.     

Effects of a Token Reinforcement System on the Reading and Arithmetic Skills Learnings of Migrant Primary School Pupils

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of same-sex class organization on junior high school (seventh and eighth grade) students’ academic achievement, self-discipline, self-concept, sex role identification, and attitude toward school. A pretest and posttest experimental design with randomly assigned groups (with some adjustments in assignment) was employed. Each experimental group was in English, social studies, mathematics, science, and physical education classes for a full school year. The instructional content and method were essentially the same for both the control and experimental groups. Five null hypotheses, one for each dependent variable, were tested by application of analysis of covariance using a 2X2X2 factorial design. While the data did not warrant the rejection of any of the null hypotheses, significant differences were found for factors not effected by the experimental treatment. Differences in academic achievement and general maturity were consistent with the research about early adolescence in that the differences favored the girls.     

Relationships among computational performance,pictorial representation,symbolic representation and number sense of sixth‐grade students in Taiwan

Twenty classes in ten schools with 627 sixth‐grade students in five cities in Taiwan participated in this study. The research provides information on the performance differences among written computation, pictorial representation, symbolic representation and number sense. The results of One‐way ANOVA analysis indicate that significant difference was found among WCT, PRT, SRT and NST tests, with F=536.327, p=0.000. The a posteriori comparisons show for each pair (WCT vs PRT, WCT vs SRT, WCT vs NST, PRT vs SRT and SRT vs NST) significant difference at the 0.001 level (p=0.000), except for the pair comparison between PRT and NST. This implies that these Taiwanese students were highly skilled in written computation but their written skills were not equally transferred to use of non‐computational paths that depended on symbolic representation, pictorial representation and number sense to solve similar problems.     

Testing the Immediate and Long-Term Efficacy of a Tier 2 Kindergarten Mathematics Intervention

ABSTRACT

This study examined the efficacy of a kindergarten mathematics intervention program, ROOTS, focused on developing whole-number understanding in the areas of counting and cardinality and operations and algebraic thinking for students at risk in mathematics. The study utilized a randomized block design with students within classrooms randomly assigned to treatment or control conditions. Measures of mathematics achievement were collected in the fall (pretest) and spring (posttest) in kindergarten and in the winter of first grade (delayed posttest). Significant differences between conditions favoring treatment students were found on four of six measures at posttest. Treatment students reduced the achievement gap with their not-at-risk peers. No effect was found on follow-up first-grade achievement scores. Implications for Tier 2 mathematics instruction in a Response to Intervention model are discussed.     

Making the written word “speak”: Reflections on the teaching of correspondence courses

Abstract

Learning outcomes for an interactive television‐based distance learning course in introductory high school Japanese were evaluated in three successive years by comparing student achievement in the distance learning course to that in traditional classes. Year‐end achievement tests of listening and written language competency were administered to students in both the distance and face‐to‐face courses. Results in the first two years showed that test scores of students in the distance learning course were higher than those of students in the face‐to‐face classes; however, possible group differences in motivation, general ability, and experience as language learners could not be ruled out as explanations for the difference. Therefore, achievement measures were supplemented in the third year with data on students’ perceived efficacy as Japanese language users, their grades, and their previous foreign language learning experience. The achievement data again showed differences favoring the distance learning group; trends were consistent for students with differing levels of school success and amount of prior language learning experience. Factors that could account for these results are hypothesized and suggestions for future research are proposed.     

Cognitive Abilities among Twelfth‐grade Students: Implications for Science Teaching∗

The study investigated the differences related to formal reasoning abilities among students attending different sections of the upper cycle of secondary schools in Cyprus. The subjects of the study were twelfth‐grade students from 21 intact classes (227 boys and 242 girls). These classes were randomly selected among the 36 twelfth‐grade classes of four schools in a town of Cyprus. The sample of students represented the science section, the economic section and the “unified” section consisting of sections following common curricula in science and mathematics. Students’ performance on a standardized Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) was used as a measure of their cognitive abilities related to control of variables, proportional, probabilistic, correlational and combinatorial reasoning. The students of the “unified” section had lower performance than the students of both the science and the economic section on all cognitive measures, and female students had lower performance than male students on cognitive measures related to control of variables and probabilistic reasoning. Multiple regression analysis between performance on TOLT and gender, section of study, and measures of school achievement showed that gender, section of study, achievement in mathematics, and grade point average, but not achievement in science and Greek language, contributed significantly to predicting performance on TOLT. Observed differences related to measures of school achievement either among the subjects of the three sections or between male and female students did not correspond to differences related to cognitive measures. Factor analysis of performance on the ten TOLT items (two items from each reasoning mode) produced a two‐factor solution. There were also significant differences in students’ performance between items related to the same or different reasoning mode. The results of the study cast doubt on the appropriateness of the existing curricula or their implementation and indicate that different theoretical perspectives should be considered when evaluating cognitive development.     

Effects of Classroom Structure on Student Achievement Goal Orientation

Abstract

The authors assessed how classroom structure influenced student achievement goal orientation for mathematics. Three elementary school classes were assigned randomly to 1 classroom structure condition: token economy, contingency contract, or control. Students in each condition were required to set individual achievement goals on a weekly basis. The authors assessed differences in goal orientation by comparing the number of learning vs. performance goals that students set within and across classroom structure conditions. Results indicated that students in the contingency-contract condition set significantly more learning goals than did students in other classroom structure conditions. No significant differences were found for performance goals across classroom structure conditions. Within classroom structure conditions, students in the contingency-contract group set significantly more learning goals than performance goals, whereas students in the token-economy condition set significantly more performance goals than learning goals.     

Personality Factors Related to College Success

Abstract

Students demonstrating outstanding promise were placed in an honors section in introductory psychology. A control group matched on grade point average, sex, major field, and class remained in the larger lecture section. The honors group attained a higher level of achievement, exhibited more positive attitudes toward psychology, studied more, initiated more independent work, missed fewer classes, and enjoyed the course more. It was suggested that an increment in the level of achievement motivation, mediated by downward shift in the probability of success, interacted with the augmented environmental stimulation to facilitate the performance of the honors students.     

Investigating the Effectiveness of Desktop Virtual Reality for Teaching and Learning of Electrical/Electronics Technology in Universities

Abstract

This study compared efficiency of desktop virtual reality with a conventional classroom learning practice for the teaching and learning of electrical/electronics technology. This was measured through academic achievement, learning interest, and engagement. A quasi-experimental design was employed for this study. Four universities were used for the study. The students were within the ages of 17 to 24?years. Students were assigned to either an experimental or comparison group based on intact classes. A total of 149 students participated in this experiment; however, only 142 samples could be analyzed. Seven samples were not analyzed due to incomplete instruments answered and absenteeism. Seventy-four students were in the virtual reality group while 68 students were in the non virtual reality group. The sample was 78.52% and 21.48% in males and females, respectively. Analysis of covariance was used to test three formulated hypotheses on effects of desktop virtual reality on the learning effectiveness of the students. There was a significant difference in academic achievement, learning interest, and learning engagement between the two groups. It was established that desktop virtual reality positively affected students’ academic achievement, learning interest, and engagement of students in electronics technology. It was suggested that virtual reality should be adopted to augment laboratory practices for the teaching and learning of electrical/electronics technology in Nigerian universities.     

Who benefits from mastery-approach and performance-approach goals in college? Students’ social class as a moderator of the link between goals and grade

Although approach forms of achievement goals (mastery and performance goals) have been shown to predict academic achievement in college, recent research underscores that these associations are rather weak and not consistently observed. The present study tests students’ social class (in the present research, generational status) as a moderator of the relationships between both mastery-approach goals and performance-approach goals and final grade. One hundred students (45 first-generation students and 55 continuing-generation students, M _age = 18.9, SD = 1.52) answered an achievement goal scale related to one of their classes at the beginning of the year. Their final grade for this class was obtained three months later. As expected, performance-approach goals positively predicted final grade only for upper-class students, while mastery-approach goals tend to do so for lower-class students, supporting the idea that different kinds of motivation could predict students’ achievement depending on their social class.     

THE EFFECT OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES ON ELEMENTARY STUDENTS’ SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT AND SOCIAL SKILLS IN KUWAIT

This study compares the effects of two methods of teaching—teacher-centered and cooperative learning—on students’ science achievement and use of social skills. The sample consists of 163 female elementary science students in 8 intact grade 5 classes who were assigned to 2 instructional methods and were taught an identical science unit by 4 classroom teachers. The students’ science achievement was measured by a researcher-designed achievement test given to students as a pretest and a posttest. Students’ social skills were determined by a researcher-designed survey administered as a pretest and posttest. Analysis of the achievement test scores and the social skills survey responses revealed that cooperative learning strategies have significantly (p > 0.05) more positive effects on both students’ achievement and social skills than teacher-centered strategies. These results provide an evidential base to inform policy decisions and encourage and persuade teachers to implement cooperative learning methods in Kuwaiti classrooms.     

The Effects of Self-Pacing and Use of Study Guide Questions within Behavioral Instruction

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of self-pacing in a course based on behavioral instruction. The effects of using study guide questions were also studied. Surveys of the behavioral instruction (BI) literature indicated that pacing was not creating differences in performance. The question of study guide effectiveness has not been explored. The results of the study indicated that pacing interacted with prior achievement as measured by grade point average. Those students who entered the course with high GPAs performed better under self-pacing conditions. However, over and above the prior achievement variable (GPA), the different pacing styles did not create differential course achievement. The use of study guide questions did not create significant differences in the criterion performance.     

Young Spanish-English speaking children’s reading attitudes in relation to language skills

Background: Reading attitudes are recognised as an influencing factor on the language and literacy achievement of school age monolingual English-speaking children. The relationship between reading attitudes and achievement in young Spanish-speaking English Learners (ELs) remains understudied.

Purpose: The aim of the current study was to describe reading attitudes of young Spanish-speaking ELs and to examine the relationship between attitudes and language performance.

Method: The investigators utilised the Elementary Reading Attitudes Survey (ERAS) with 204 participants: 100 ELs in kindergarten and 104 in first grade. Investigators administered standardised measures of language and literacy performance. Correlational analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between attitudes and performance on language assessments.

Findings: Significant mean differences were observed between girls and boys, with girls showing more positive attitudes towards recreational reading. Phonological awareness skills showed a significant strong correlation with academic reading attitudes for children in kindergarten. Spanish receptive vocabulary showed significant positive correlation with reading attitudes. No significant grade differences were found in overall mean reading attitudes.

Conclusions: Overall, students in both grades demonstrated generally positive attitudes towards reading, despite potential language barriers. Findings substantiate a positive relationship between reading attitudes and receptive vocabulary, and phonological awareness skills in young children.     

Exploring Resilience in Latina/o Academic Outcomes: A Latent Class Approach

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between various protective factors with academic outcomes of Latina/o high school students. We use two groups of protective influences, individual and family, and their relationship to 12th grade mathematics achievement, dropout rates, and enrollment in post-secondary education. Latent class analysis was used to identify academic protective profiles, or latent groups/classes, among high school Latina/o students (N?=?1610) and assess group differences with respect to gender, SES, immigrant status, student’s native language, preschool attendance, and 10th grade mathematics. Results indicated the presence of four academic protective groups, which differed with respect to academic discussions with parents, and attitudes about mathematics. The four classes are compared with respect to academic outcomes and differences are discussed as well as implications for practice.     

Self-regulation of homework behaviour: relating grade,gender, and achievement to homework management

Abstract

The present investigation linked grade, gender, and maths achievement to homework management strategies using data from 305 Chinese students in grades 7, 8, and 9. These strategies included arranging the environment, managing time, handling distraction, monitoring motivation, and controlling potentially interfering emotion. A three-way MANOVA examined the effects of grade, gender, and maths achievement on homework management strategies. Grade or gender was not related to homework management strategies. Meanwhile, high-achieving students (compared with low-achieving students) were more likely to arrange the environment, manage time, handle distraction, monitor motivation, and control negative emotion.     

Group outcome: The relationship between group learning outcome,attributional style,academic achievement,and self-concept

Six classes of grade seven students (N = 181) participated in field research which explored the consequences of group outcome (successful, unsuccessful) for individuals learning mathematics cooperatively using Student Teams-Achievement Divisions. In addition, we explored the effects of within-class prior mathematics achievement (low, low-medium, high-medium, high) as well as attributional style (learned-helpless, mastery-oriented). The dependent variables were mathematics achievement, causal attributions, and self-concept. There were two interactions: Group Outcome × Attributional Style on achievement, and Within-Class Prior Mathematics Achievement × Group Outcome on achievement and self-concept. Learned-helpless students from unsuccessful groups learned significantly less than learned-helpless students from successful groups. Low prior achievement students from unsuccessful groups learned significantly less than low prior achievers from successful groups. In contrast, there was no significant relationship between group outcome and individual post-test achievement for mastery-oriented students or for students high in prior within-class achievement.