P. Muller

Science Achievement Growth Trajectories: Understanding Factors Related to Gender and Racial–Ethnic Differences in Precollege Science Achievement

Using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) and longitudinal data from the first three waves of the National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88), we examined achievement and growth rates in precollege science by racial–ethnic and gender subgroups. We found socioeconomic status and previous grades strongly and positively related to students’ eighth-grade achievement across all racial–ethnic by gender subgroups. We also found locus-of-control to be strongly related to eighth-grade science achievement for all subgroups except Asian American males. In modeling the growth rate, we found that the quantity of science units completed in high school was the only consistent predictor of science growth rates across all racial–ethnic by gender subgroups. The relationships between individual-level factors and science growth rates differed greatly for the remaining individual-level variables, highlighting the need for further research that both disaggregates data by race–ethnicity and gender.

Achievement Effects of the Cleveland Voucher Program on High Ability Elementary School Students

Abstract The issue of school choice and its effects on student performance have become a prevalent part of the educational landscape. This longitudinal investigation examines a group of students not typically associated with the school choice movement: high ability or “gifted” students. The study analyzed whether attending a private school through participation in the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program, which is among the longest running experimental evaluations of a school voucher program in the United States, resulted in differential performance on standardized achievement tests for topperforming students. Analyses showed that no statistically or practically significant differences were found between gifted students participating in the program and control group students who attended public schools.