Katerina Bodovski

Mathematics Growth in Early Elementary School: The Roles of Beginning Knowledge, Student Engagement, and Instruction

We used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS‐K) data to examine how important mathematics readiness levels are to subsequent achievement growth and the efficacy of instruction and engagement in producing such growth. The ECLS‐K selected a nationally representative sample of kindergartners in fall 1998 and is following these children through the end of eighth grade. We employed the standardized mathematics assessments that were administered to the students by ECLS‐K staff. Separately for students who began kindergarten with low, medium‐low, medium‐high, and high mathematics skill, we examined achievement growth through third grade and the effects of teacher‐reported time on mathematics instruction and student engagement (as perceived by the teacher) on such growth. We found that students who began with the lowest achievement also showed the least growth over this period. Students in the two highest skills groups had similar growth, and the highest levels of growth. Students in the lowest group received the most time on instruction but had the lowest engagement with instruction. Time on instruction increased achievement for all students equally, but the effect of engagement was strongest among the lowest‐performing group. The lower engagement of the lowest‐performing group explained more than half of their lower achievement growth in grades K–3. If inequality in mathematics achievement is to be reduced, teachers must make greater efforts to improve the beginning knowledge and academic engagement of this group.

Parental practices and educational achievement: social class, race, and habitus

A large, nationally representative database of American elementary school students was used to quantitatively assess the complex ways in which race intersects with social class, affecting parenting strategies that in turn produce various educational outcomes among children. The determinants and consequences of parental practices associated with middle‐class families – what Lareau terms ‘concerted cultivation’ – among White and African American students were examined. The findings reveal that cultural differences in child‐rearing occur along class, race, and gender boundaries.

Do Instructional Practices Contribute to Inequality in Achievement? The Case of Mathematics Instruction in Kindergarten

We use multilevel modeling of ECLS-K data (a nationally representative sample of American kindergarteners) to describe the process and content of kindergarten mathematics instruction, as well as the associations of such instruction with achievement gaps by social class and race/ethnicity. Where instructional effectiveness is concerned, time spent on two of the process characteristics — traditional math and group/interactive activities — was significantly and positively associated with achievement gains. Time spent on three of the content variables — advanced counting, practical math, and single-digit operations — was associated with increased achievement. Time spent on basic numbers/shapes significantly decreased achievement. Classes with a high percentage of African American students were particularly likely to receive full-day kindergarten, which increased total instructional time, and this may have modestly decreased the achievement growth gap for these classes. Overall, kindergarten instructional practices were found to modestly reduce the mathematics achievement growth gap of African American students, but have no significant effects on the achievement growth gaps of lower social class or Hispanic students.

The Long Term Effects of Early Acquired Skills and Behaviors on Young Children's Achievement in Literacy and Mathematics.

Using the recently available wave of a large nationally representative sample of American elementary school children (ECLS-K data), this study examined the relationship between 6-7 year old students’ behaviors exhibited in the 1st grade (approaches to learning, interpersonal skills, externalizing and internalizing behavior) and their reading and mathematics achievement at the end of the 5th grade (pupils aged 10 - 11 years), controlling for their achievement in the 1st grade. Findings include the single behavioral dimension that has a substantial association with later achievement is students’ approaches to learning. The analysis of the interaction effects showed that students from families of low socioeconomic status, girls (in case of math) and minority students were more likely to have higher test scores given their improved approaches to learning. Further, the results demonstrated that basic skills (math and reading in the 1st grade) are substantial predictors of the 5th-grade approaches to learning. The findings reveal the complexity of the intertwined relationship between cognitive and behavior outcomes among young students and the long-term effects of early acquired skills and behaviors.

Adolescents' Emerging Habitus: The Role of Early Parental Expectations and Practices.

This study makes two contributions to the literature. First, it bridges the sociological discussion of social class habitus with psychological notions of adolescents’ educational expectations, locus of control, and self-concepts. Second, it empirically examines the relationships between early employed parental practices and expectations and adolescents’ dispositions using a recently available wave of data from a nationally representative sample of US students. The findings reveal that students from higher socioeconomic status families had more positive general and area-specific self-concepts, higher educational expectations, higher internal locus of control, and higher academic achievement, and higher parental educational expectations were positively associated with all studied outcomes. The findings provide only partial support for the effects of early parental practices and highlight the role of gender and race/ethnicity in shaping adolescents’ habitus.

School Climate and Students' Early Mathematics Learning: Another Search for Contextual Effects.

Using data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study–Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K)––a large, nationally representative sample of US elementary school students, we employed multilevel analysis to answer the following research questions: (a) Does students’ mathematics achievement growth in grades K–3 vary among schools? (b) To what extent does school academic and disciplinary climate explain variation in mathematics achievement growth among schools? (c) To what extent do students’ and schools’ demographic characteristics explain this variation? While previous studies have examined the effects of school climate on student achievement in middle school and high school, the present study is focused on the effect of school academic and disciplinary climate on students’ mathematics learning in the first 4 years of schooling—from fall of kindergarten to spring of third grade. We found that students’ mathematics achievement growth varies significantly among schools and that students’ improvement in mathematics achievement over time was higher in schools characterized by a stronger climate, above and beyond students’ and schools’ demographic characteristics.

Universal patterns or the tale of two systems? Mathematics achievement and educational expectations in post-socialist Europe

Although communist ideology claimed to destroy former class stratification based on labour market capitalist relationships, de facto during socialism one social class hierarchy was substituted for another that was equally unequal. The economic transition during the 1990s increased stratification by wealth, which affected educational inequality. This study examines the relationships among parental education, gender, educational expectations and mathematics achievement of youths in five post-socialist Eastern European countries, comparing them with three Western countries. We employed the 8th-grade data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1995 and 2007. The findings point to the universal associations between parental education and student outcomes, whereas gender comparisons present interesting East-West differences. The theoretical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Unequal Educational Outcomes among First-Generation Immigrants: The Case of Youth from the Former Soviet Union in Israel

This study focuses on school enrollment and patterns of track placement in the Israeli secondary education system among immigrant youth from the former Soviet Union. This unique case is discussed in the light of segmented assimilation theory and the accommodation-without-assimilation hypothesis. The findings of the study conclude that a familys previous socio-economic status is more important than its current socio-economic status in determining the educational outcomes of immigrant youth; students whose mothers possess higher educational qualifications are more likely to be enrolled in Israeli high schools and intend to complete all necessary matriculation examinations than children whose mothers have lower educational qualifications; immigrant youth with a previous record of high academic achievements in the Soviet Union had stronger matriculation intentions and were more likely to be enrolled in academic tracks; a students proficiency in Hebrew had strong, significant effects on enrollment status, educational intentions and track placement; youth reporting negative relations with Israeli peers and frequent arguments with parents over smoking, alcohol and drugs were more likely to drop out and have lower educational intentions; and immigrant adolescents with stronger ties to Israeli peers were less likely to be enrolled in academic and professional tracks.

School Climate and Dropping Out of School in the Era of Accountability

Using data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09)—a large nationally representative sample of US high school students—we employed multilevel structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the relationship between school characteristics and the likelihood that a student will drop out of high school. We used a multifaceted framework on school climate to assess the degree to which school attachment, disciplinary order, disciplinary fairness, and academic climate are associated with individuals dropping out of high school. Additionally, we examined how structural and compositional characteristics of schools influence school climate and dropping out of school. Our findings indicate that attending a high school with better disciplinary order and stronger school attachment for the students is associated with a decreased likelihood of dropping out, above and beyond individual characteristics.

Searching for the Golden Model of Education: Cross-National Analysis of Math Achievement.

Abstract We utilised four waves of TIMSS data in addition to the information we have collected on countries’ educational systems to examine whether different degrees of standardisation, differentiation, proportion of students in private schools and governmental spending on education influence students’ math achievement, its variation and socioeconomic status (SES) gaps in math achievement. A higher level of standardisation of educational systems was associated with higher average math achievement. Greater expenditure on education (as a percentage of total government expenditure) was associated with a lower level of dispersion of math achievement and smaller SES gaps in math achievement. Wealthier countries exhibited higher average math achievement and a narrower variation. Higher income inequality (measured by the Gini index) was associated with a lower average math achievement and larger SES gaps. Further, we found that a higher level of standardisation alleviates the negative effects of differentiation in the systems with more rigid tracking.