In this investigation, the degree to which boys and girls differed in their social studies skills in Texas was addressed.  Data were obtained from the Texas Education Agency Public Education Information Management System for all Texas high school students for the 2004-2005 to the 2011-2012 school years.  Inferential statistical analyses revealed the presence of statistically significant differences in social studies skills between boys and girls.  Girls had statistically lower average raw scores in all five social studies skills objectives than boys.  Implications for policy and for practice were made, along with recommendations for future research.

Traditional lecture style instructional method is being replaced with innovative approaches that support active and self-directed learning in medical education. Despite increasing literature on novel pedagogies, educators are faced with mixed reviews on the impact of these approaches on the improvement of student learning. We explored student attitudes and measured learning outcomes using the flipped classroom approach within a single organ system module. Second year medical students received video-recorded lectures and handouts on selected pharmacology and pathology topics in the endocrine and reproductive module as learning resources. Students were required to study prior to attending the scheduled in-classroom knowledge application sessions focusing on critical thinking. Analysis of examination data (n = 235) of summative assessments showed 13% improvement in mean exam score of class on the selected topics compared to the previous class taught using traditional lecture approach. Lower 27% of class scored greater on the most difficult exam items compared to the traditional class. Performance of upper 27% students of both classes was found to be comparable on all selected exam items. In our study, the flipped classroom was perceived as a preferred instructional approach for student learning, and seemed to improve learning outcomes primarily of lower performing students on difficult concepts. The findings of this study can be useful in informing ongoing curriculum refinements in medical schools while selecting innovative active learning instructional methods and making best use of them.

In this investigation, the extent to which Disciplinary Alternative Education Program placement assignments differed as a function of ethnicity/race (i.e., Black, Hispanic, White, Asian) for Grade 6, 7, and 8 boys was determined.  Archival data were obtained from the Texas Education Agency Public Education Information Management System on all middle school students for the 2011-2012, 2013-2014, 2014-2015, and 2015-2016 school years.  Inferential statistical procedures yielded statistically significant differences for all four school years with below small effect sizes.  For each year, in each grade level, a stair-step effect was present.  Grade 6 through Grade 8 Black boys received a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program placement statistically significantly more often than their peers at all three grade levels.  Similarly, Grade 6 through Grade 8 Hispanic boys received statistically significantly more instances of a Disciplinary Alternative Education Program placement than did White and Asian boys.  Recommendations for research and implications are discussed along with suggestions for policy and practice.

In this investigation, the 1-year persistence rates of Hispanic students in Texas community colleges were analyzed for the 2007-2008 through the 2013-2014 academic years.  Of particular interest was whether the 1-year persistence rates of Hispanic students different by their institutional status (i.e., stayed at the same community college or transferred to a different community college).  Inferential statistical analyses revealed the presence of statistically significant differences in the 1-year persistence rates of Hispanic students in Texas community colleges by institutional status in the 2007-2008, 20082009, 2009-2010, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014 academic years.  The 1-year persistence rates were higher for Hispanic Texas community college students when they stayed at the same community college rather than when they transferred to a different community college.  The 1-year persistence rates of Hispanic students who stayed at the same Texas community college ranged from a low of 54% to a high of 60%.  In comparison, the 1-year persistence rates of Hispanic students who transferred to a different Texas community college ranged from a low of 42% to a high of 51%.  

In this investigation, the mathematics performance of Grades 3 through 8 students who were enrolled in special education and who were assigned to a Discipline Alternate Education Program placement was addressed.  Four years of Texas statewide data were analyzed by the number of days (i.e., 1-30 days, 31-60 days, and more than 60 days) students in special education received this discipline consequence.  Across all four school years and for all six grade levels, mathematics performance decreased as students spent more days in this discipline consequence.  Implications of these findings are discussed, along with recommendations for future research.

The purpose of this study was to investigate mastery goal states that students might spontaneously adopt in individual lessons. Interviews were carried out with 32 grade 10 students, who were asked about a recent lesson they had experienced. Responses indicated that positive mastery goal states could be represented by a situated and dynamic feeling of “wanting to learn”. However, students also reported a feeling of “not wanting to learn”. This latter form did not fit any of the existing dimensions of achievement goals, so it was decided to refer to it as a negative mastery goal state. The positive and negative dimensions were educationally significant because they were highly correlated with students’ self-reported learning behaviors during that lesson.