This empirical study analyzed data from 638 teachers and 11,800 students in low-socioeconomic status (SES) urban schools (and schools with urban characteristics) exploring associations of school, teacher, teaching, and professional development characteristics toward student performance on the revised Advanced Placement (AP) Biology and AP Chemistry examinations. The analyses indicated that districts per-student funding allocations, the days of instruction, teachers’ knowledge and experience, and some aspects of teachers’ professional development participation were significantly associated with student performance on AP science examinations that was better than predicted by students’ Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT) scores.

IntroductionElementary science is important. Evidence indicates that students who do not have a solid exposure to science in the early years rarely make learning gains equal to those that did when they reach the secondary levels of schooling (Nelson & Landel, 2007). Additionally, the Framework for K-12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) and the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2013) lay out a path for science learning in which students' knowledge, understanding and skills are built on a foundation that is established in the elementary grades and continues across 13 years of schooling. Yet despite the importance of science in the early years, less and less time has been dedicated to science instruction. This trend has been documented by Sandler (2003) and McMurrer (2007) who found that 44% of districts across the country had cut the amount of instructional time for science in elementary schools in response to mounting pressures from mandatory testing in reading and mathematics (McMurrer, 2008). More recently, 46% of elementary teachers express concern about the limited amount of time available to teach science and 61% of schools report that a supportive context for science teaching does not exist (Banilower, Smith, Weiss, Malzahn, & Campbell, 2013).There are a number of hypotheses and research findings to explain why science is not taught. Elementary teachers often possess inadequate content knowledge, have inadequate materials and facilities, are caught by competing curricular priorities, lack time and school/administrative support, and exhibit a minimal sense of self-efficacy to teach science, (GessNewsome, 1999; Rhoton, Field, & Prather, 1992; Schwartz, Lederman, & Abd-El-Khalick, 2000). These constraints fall into two broad categories: school-level support and the capacity of teachers.Role of Elementary Science SpecialistsGiven the importance of implementing the NGSS at the elementary level and the many significant difficulties associated with changing classroom teachers' (CT) science instruction, one approach has been to turn to the role of science specialist (SS) as a school's primary source of science leadership, teaching, and/or support. Content specialists are commonly utilized in elementary schools to provide instruction in science and technology, the arts, and physical education, both in the United States and abroad (Ardzejewska et ah, 2010; Gerretson, Bosnick, & Schofield, 2008). In the United States, approximately 16% of elementary students receive science instruction from a SS in addition to their regular teachers, and another 10% receive science instruction from a SS instead of their regular CTs (Banilower, et ah, 2013). These percentages have held fairly constant for over a decade in the United States (Weiss, Banilower, McMahon & Smith, 2001). Unfortunately, little research exists that indicates what effect this approach will have on science instruction and student achievement (Schwartz, et ah, 2000). As a consequence, school and district leaders are investing scarce resources in a strategy about which little is known and upon which much depends.Goals of the Elementary Science Specialist StudyLevy, Pasquale and Marco's research agenda (2008), outlined a set of questions about the role and effectiveness of the SS model that warrant investigation, and the study we report on here responds to that agenda. In order to understand whether one model offered definitive advantages over the other, we constructed a study to explore the following research questions: (1) Are there differences in the quality, quantity, or cost of elementary science teaching when it is provided by a science specialist or a classroom teacher? (2) To what extent are differences associated with student achievement, as measured by students' scores on the state science achievement tests and students' engagement in science lessons?In designing this study, we created a framework from our hypothesized influences on the quantity and quality of science instruction as delivered by SSs or CTs. …

A self-report scale that measures teachers' confidence in teaching students about twenty-first century skills was developed and validated with pre-service and in-service teachers. First, 16 items were created to measure teaching confidence in six areas: information literacy, collaboration, communication, innovation and creativity, problem solving, and responsible citizenship. Then, the items were tested in two groups of pre-service teachers and two groups of in-service teachers respectively. Exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to examine the scale's validity and reliability. The analyses identified a three-construct scale including innovation and problem solving, collaboration, and utility of technology for pre-service teachers and a one-dimension scale, cross-functional skills, for in-service teachers. This study suggests that different scales should be used to measure in-service teachers' and pre-service teachers' confidence in teaching twenty-first century skills.

Chua’s (2011) book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother generated vigorous debate regarding its description of “Chinese” parenting ideology and practices. In this article, the authors analyzed the narratives from 24 Chinese mothers of middle school students in Nanjing, China to explore their parenting ideology and practices. In sharp distinction to the “Tiger Mother” image, our analysis indicated that although all mothers wanted their children to do well in school, their primary goals were focused on raising socially and emotionally well-adjusted children who had the capacity to be self-sufficient and gainfully employed in the future. With few exceptions, the mothers’ strategies for achieving these goals included providing their children the freedom to make their own decisions and not forcing their children to engage in particular activities. These strategies were based on their concerns for the children’s short-term and long-term happiness as well as a perception that the way they were raised was no longer relevant to raising their children; consequently, the mothers allowed their children more autonomy and control to forge their own path than the mothers themselves were allowed as children. Our findings draw attention to the social, political, and economic context of China and how this changing context is shaping parenting goals and practices.

The Educational and Career Interest scale, a self-report instrument measuring high school students’ educational and career interest in STEM, was developed and validated in two studies conducted during 2010 and 2011. Study 1 included data from 92 high school students, in which exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted with an initial item pool of 20 items. EFA identified three factors: educational and career interest in science, educational and career interest in technology, and educational and career interest in mathematics. Study 2 utilized data from 658 students to revisit the three-factor model using confirmative factor analysis. The two studies provide strong evidence that the scale is both valid and reliable.

The STEM College-Going Expectancy Scale (STEM CGES) was developed and validated in two studies conducted during 2010 and 2011. The STEM CGES is a self-report instrument measuring college-going expectancy, specifically for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) domains. In Study 1, 95 students in an urban high school completed an 11-item online questionnaire to measure college-going expectancy in STEM domains. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) retained 6 out of the 11 items for inclusion. In Study 2, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) used data collected from 658 students in 31 urban, suburban, and rural high schools. The results provide strong evidence that the STEM CGES is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring college-going expectancy for STEM domains.

This 3‐year, longitudinal analysis examined the psychological and social correlates of adhering to gender‐typed behaviors in friendships among boys during middle school in United States (N = 446, Mage = 11.37 years) and in China (N = 368, Mage = 12.20 years). Results indicated that boys did not differ by nationality in the mean levels or in the increase over time in adherence to gender‐typed behaviors. Furthermore, adherence over time was associated with higher depressive symptoms, lower self‐esteem, and lower friendship quality for boys in both countries. However, the associations between gender‐typed behaviors and friendship quality and depressive symptoms were stronger for boys in the United States. Our study suggests that gender‐typed behaviors play an important role in the well‐being of youth in different parts of the world.

This study explored students' perceptions of 3 dimensions of school climate (teacher support, student-student support, and opportunities for autonomy in the classroom) and the associations between these dimensions and adolescent psychological and academic adjustment in China and the United States. Data were drawn from 2 studies involving 706 middle school students (M = 12.26) from Nanjing, China, and 709 middle school students (M = 12.36) from New York City. Findings revealed that students in China perceived higher levels of teacher support, student-student support, and opportunities for autonomy in the classroom than students in the United States. Furthermore, students' perceptions of teacher support and student-student support were positively associated with adolescents' self-esteem and grade point average but negatively associated with depressive symptoms for both Chinese and American adolescents.