The internal/external (I/E) frame of reference entails high, positive association of mathematics and verbal achievements with matching academic self-concepts but negative or near-zero correlation with their nonmatching self-concepts. This study aimed to extend the traditional I/E model by contrasting the mathematics domain with two foreign…

Despite considerable reform activity surrounding K-12 education over the past 20 years, racial and socioeconomic disparities among students who achieve at advanced levels have received little attention. This study examined how excellence gaps, defined as differences in performance at the 90th percentile of subgroups, change over time and their…

This study compared immigrant and nonimmigrant educational achievement (i.e., the immigrant gap) in math by reexamining the explanatory power of race and socioeconomic status (SES)--two variables, perhaps, most commonly considered in educational research. Four research questions were explored through growth curve modeling, factor analysis, and…

The relationship between grade span configuration and academic achievement of 6th-grade students as measured by the Arkansas Benchmark Examination, which is the approved NCLB criterion-referenced annual assessment, was examined. The results of a one-between two-within analysis of variance for the 3-year state-wide study of 6th graders' combined…

Teachers need to monitor students' self-efficacy judgments, as well as their mathematics learning, to provide optimal instruction. First, inaccuracies in self-judgments appear to be a major liability for elementary and middle school children. Classroom practice must cultivate the knowledge to succeed and should nurture the belief that one can…