Does Investing in School Capital Infrastructure Improve Student Achievement?

Within the research community, there is a vigorous debate over whether additional educational expenditures will lead to improved performance of schools. Some of the debate is an outgrowth of the lack of causal knowledge of the impacts of expenditures on student outcomes. To help fill this void, we examine the causal impact of capital expenditures on school district proficiency rates in Michigan. For the analysis, we employ a regression discontinuity design where we use the outcomes of bond elections as the forcing variable. Our results provide some evidence that capital expenditures can have positive effects on student proficiency levels.     

Does Burnout Affect Academic Achievement? A Meta-Analysis of over 100,000 Students

Educational Psychology Review - Burnout is understood to have many adverse consequences for students. However, several equivocal findings in the literature mean that it is currently unclear to what...     

Does NCLB Improve the Achievement of Students With Disabilities? A Regression Discontinuity Design

Abstract

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) holds public schools accountable for the academic achievement of student subgroups that are larger than the state minimum-subgroup-size threshold. In 2004, California added students with disabilities to the NCLB subgroup categories. Using a regression discontinuity design, this study compared the academic achievement of students-with-disabilities subgroups that were just above the minimum-subgroup-size threshold to those just below the threshold. The results showed no effects of holding schools and teachers accountable for the achievement of students with disabilities after controlling for student performance and school characteristics of the previous academic year. Policy implications are discussed.     

Externalizing Behavior Problems and Low Academic Achievement: Does a Causal Relation Exist?

Educational Psychology Review - Children’s low academic skills are associated with a variety of behavior problems and maladaptive outcomes throughout childhood and adulthood. Given the...     

Why Do Achievement Measures Underpredict Female Academic Performance?

In the context of college admissions, the current study examined whether differential prediction of first‐year grade point average (FYGPA) by gender could be explained by an omitted variable problem—namely, academic discipline, or the amount of effort a student puts into schoolwork and the degree to which a student sees him/herself as hardworking and conscientious. Based on nearly 10,000 college students, the current study found that differences in intercepts by gender were reduced by 45% with the inclusion of academic discipline in a model that already included high school grade point average (HSGPA) and ACT Composite score. Moreover, academic discipline resulted in an additional 4% of variance accounted for in FYGPA. Gender differences in slopes were not statistically significant (p > .001) regardless if academic discipline was included in the model. The findings highlight the utility of taking a more holistic approach when making college admission decisions. Namely, the inclusion of noncognitive measures has benefits that are twofold: increased predictive validity and reduced differential prediction.     

A Social Support Intervention and Academic Achievement in College: Does Perceived Loneliness Mediate the Relationship?

The authors examined whether a social support intervention reduced loneliness and increased academic achievement among college freshmen. Eighty‐eight 1st‐year students randomly assigned to a social support group program reported less loneliness in the spring of their freshman year and obtained higher grade point averages in the fall of their sophomore year, compared with control participants, after controlling for demographic variables. Loneliness barely mediated the relationship between the social support intervention and academic achievement, suggesting other mechanisms by which the intervention enhanced academic performance.     

Correction to: Externalizing Behavior Problems and Low Academic Achievement: Does a Causal Relation Exist?

Educational Psychology Review -     

Does Reflective Journal Writing Improve Course Performance?

Abstract. This study investigated whether a reflective journal writing assignment would improve students' course performance. A total of 166 students from undergraduate sections of a course taught by the same instructor over three semesters completed the assignment as part of their requirements. Students (N = 317) from five previous semesters of the same course taught by the same instructor, who were not required to complete the assignment, served as a comparison group. Intervention and comparison groups were comparable on a variety of variables including all assignments, excepting the journal assignment. The findings are interpreted within the context of factors such as students' study habits and motivation.     

With Respect to Academic Achievement, How Important is Class Size?

This essay will discuss how important the influence of class size is on academic achievement.     

Does Higher Education Improve Student Scientific Reasoning Skills?

An ultimate goal of higher education is to prepare our future workers with needed knowledge and skills. This includes cultivating students to become proficient reasoners who can utilize proper scientific reasoning to devise causal inferences from observations. Conventionally, students with more years of higher education are expected to have a greater level of scientific reasoning. Also expected traditionally is that studying science and engineering or attending top-rated universities can better promote students’ scientific reasoning than studying other majors or attending lower ranked institutions. In this study, we used Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) with 1,637 Chinese students in different years of study, different fields, and different university tiers. It was found that regardless of which major or university students entered, their scientific reasoning measured by the LCTSR showed little variation across the entire 4 years of undergraduate education. Simply put, there was little association between tertiary-level learning and scientific reasoning. This study calls our attention to the status quo of higher education and motivates researchers across the globe to look into this issue in their own nations.     

Does Early Mathematics Intervention Change the Processes Underlying Children's Learning?

Early educational intervention effects typically fade in the years following treatment, and few studies have investigated why achievement impacts diminish over time. The current study tested the effects of a preschool mathematics intervention on two aspects of children's mathematical development. We tested for separate effects of the intervention on “state” (occasion-specific) and “trait” (relatively stable) variability in mathematics achievement. Results indicated that, although the treatment had a large impact on state mathematics, the treatment had no effect on trait mathematics, or the aspect of mathematics achievement that influences stable individual differences in mathematics achievement over time. Results did suggest, however, that the intervention could affect the underlying processes in children's mathematical development by inducing more transfer of knowledge immediately following the intervention for students in the treated group.     

Who Am I and What Can I Do? Children's Self-Concepts and Motivation in Achievement Situations

We review recent theoretical and empirical work on children's self-concept development and how their self-concepts motivate their behavior in achievement situations. Several important issues regarding the self-concept are considered, including what beliefs make up the self-concept, how those beliefs are structured, how the self-concept differs across age and between boys and girls, and how specific aspects of the self-concept relate to an individual's overall self-evaluation. Theoretical views and research on how children's self-concepts relate to their motivation in achievement settings are presented, as is work on how the self-concept guides achievement behavior. We address the issue of causal direction in the relation between the self-concept and achievement. Suggestions for future research are provided.     

Socioeconomic Gaps in Academic Achievement Within Schools: Are They Consistent Across Subject Areas?

Few studies have examined the correlates of within-school socioeconomic gaps in academic achievement corresponding to subject areas across schools. This study addressed this limitation with data from the New Brunswick School Climate Study (N = 6,883 students from 148 schools) which contained measures on academic achievement in four subject areas (mathematics, science, reading, and writing) as well as student and school background characteristics. Results of multivariate, multilevel analyses showed that within-school socioeconomic gaps were similar between reading and writing as well as between mathematics and science. Furthermore, the interrelationships of within-school socioeconomic gaps in academic achievement corresponding to the four subject areas across schools were not much influenced by student background characteristics (gender, Native status, number of parents, and number of siblings) and characteristics of school context and climate (school size, school mean SES, disciplinary climate, academic expectation, and parental involvement).     

The Effects of Student–Faculty Interaction on Academic Self-Concept: Does Academic Major Matter?

Using cross-classified multilevel modeling, this study attempted to improve our understanding of the group-level conditional effects of student–faculty interaction by examining the function of academic majors in explaining the effects of student–faculty interaction on students’ academic self-concept. The study utilized data on 11,202 undergraduate students who completed both the 2003 Freshman Survey and the 2007 College Senior Survey at 95 baccalaureate institutions nationwide. The results show that the strength of the relationship between having been a guest in a professor’s home and students’ academic self-concept varies by academic major. Findings also suggest that some aspects of departmental climate, such as a racially more diverse student body and greater faculty accessibility, can possibly magnify the beneficial effects of student–faculty interaction. The study discusses the theoretical and practical implications of the findings.     

African American Fathers' Contributions to Children's Early Academic Achievement: Evidence From Two-Parent Families From the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort

Research Findings: This study utilized a large sample (N = 750) of 2-parent families from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Birth Cohort to examine the contributions of African American fathers' home literacy involvement, play activities, and caregiving at 24 months to children's reading and math achievement in preschool. After family characteristics and child characteristics were controlled for, both mother and father characteristics predicted child achievement. Mother age predicted math achievement but not reading. Furthermore, even after mother predictors were entered into the hierarchical regressions, fathers' education and home literacy involvement also significantly predicted achievement. African American fathers who engaged in more frequent shared book reading, telling stories, singing songs, and provided more children's books in their homes at 24 months had children with better reading and math scores in preschool. Practice or Policy: These findings support growing evidence that fathers contribute to child development. Implications for research on early academic achievement in ethnically diverse samples are discussed.     

Does Inducing Students to Schedule Lecture Watching in Online Classes Improve Their Academic Performance? An Experimental Analysis of a Time Management Intervention

Research in Higher Education - Time management skills are an essential component of college student success, especially in online classes. Through a randomized control trial of students in a...     

Do Corequisite Math Courses Improve Academic Outcomes in Technical Colleges?: Evidence from Chile

Research in Higher Education - For countries concerned about equity and access to higher education, providing support services for academically underprepared students is critical to increasing...     

Does Adolescents' Disclosure to Their Parents Matter for Their Academic Adjustment?

The role of adolescents' disclosure to their parents in their academic adjustment was examined in a study of 825 American and Chinese adolescents (mean age = 12.73 years). Four times over the seventh and eighth grades, adolescents reported on their spontaneous disclosure of everyday activities to their parents, the quality of their relationships with their parents, and their parents' autonomy support and control. Information about multiple dimensions of adolescents' academic adjustment (e.g., learning strategies, autonomous vs. controlled motivation, and grades) was also obtained. Both American and Chinese adolescents' disclosure predicted their enhanced academic adjustment over time. However, when American adolescents disclosed in a negative context (e.g., a poor parent–child relationship or controlling parenting), their autonomous (vs. controlled) motivation was undermined.