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China implemented a policy to improve education equity through investing in boarding programs of public schools in rural and less-developed areas. However, this policy has not been informed by empirical research in the Chinese context. By using the nationally representative longitudinal data, this study investigates whether and to what extent boarding schools compensate for children's family disadvantages in terms of mathematics and reading achievement. The findings, drawn from multilevel logistic regression and hierarchical models, indicate that students from low-SES [socioeconomic status] families or rural areas tend to board at schools. Boarding students performed better than day students in 8th-grade mathematics tests. Among students with essential needs, those residing at school during the week significantly benefitted in their school performance in both subjects. Overall, it appears that governmental investment in boarding programs can, to some extent, compensate for some family disadvantages.

Although parental help with homework has been long understood as a valuable part of parental involvement with children's education and, as such, an important mechanism shaping educational inequality, previous studies showed contradictory findings about its influence on academic achievement. Using multiple waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K), namely 1st-, 3rd-, and 5th-grade data from ECLS-K 1998--1999, and 1st-, 2nd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade data from ECLS-K 2011, we examined the associations between parental help with homework and children's reading and math achievement in elementary school. The initial results from cross-sectional and value-added models showed a negative association between daily parental help with homework and academic achievement. However, child fixed effects models, which address possible bias due to unobservable heterogeneity, no longer show such association. Our findings, including different sensitivity analyses, showed no statistically significant association between parental help with homework and student achievement. Further, the association between parental help with homework and achievement did not vary by parental level of education or child's achievement level. We discuss possible mechanisms behind the findings and their implications for educational policy and parenting literature.

Using the data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010-11 (ECLS-K:2011), this paper proposes to theoretically redefine and empirically capture the concept of emotional capital as it applies to students, employing five components (engagement, school belonging, grit, peer social support, and life satisfaction). The study demonstrates the associations between students' demographic characteristics and emotional capital on one hand, and the relationships between emotional capital and student behavior, on the other. We found that higher SES students and girls possessed higher levels of emotional capital. Stronger feelings of engagement and school belonging were associated with reduced internalizing and externalizing behavior problems, and improved approaches to learning. Grit and peer social support were associated with reduced internalizing behavior problems and improved approaches to learning. Higher level of life satisfaction was associated with reduced externalizing behavior problems. We discuss the implications of these findings to educational policy and practice.

Extensive research has suggested that there is a large rural-urban student achievement gap in China. However, less is known about the effects of family background and parental expectations on student achievement. Using a large representative sample of Chinese eighth graders, this study examines these relationships. We find that: (1) Rather than a rural/urban "hukou" (household registration system) type, it is variation in family background, especially family socioeconomic status (SES), which plays a significant role in student achievement; (2) although factors of family background show different patterns of influence on Chinese, mathematics, and English achievement, maternal education and home educational resources are significantly positive predictors consistently across three subjects; (3) parental expectations are significantly and positively associated with Chinese, mathematics, and English achievement.

Disparities in educational outcomes exist between students in rural areas as compared to students in urban settings. While there is some evidence that these rural disparities are present in eastern Europe, little is known about young peoples' lives in the rural areas of this region. This paper presents an analysis of science achievement by location (rural v. urban) using all available waves of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). We examined the eighth grade data from five countries: Lithuania, Romania, the Russian Federation, Hungary, and Slovenia. Findings demonstrated that students attending rural schools had significantly lower science scores and that the rural disadvantage grew between 1995 and 2011 in some countries, but became non-significant in others. Overall, family socioeconomic status played an important role in determining the educational outcomes of rural students. The implications of these findings are explored in relation to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 2015 Education for All goals.

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.

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.

Using all available waves of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) from 1995 to 2011, this study examines the factors influencing educational expectations of students in five Eastern European countries (Hungary, Lithuania, the Russian Federation, Romania, and Slovenia). We consistently find across countries and waves that parental completion of a college degree, better material well-being of the family, and being a female are positively associated with students' expectations to complete college. Furthermore, we find that students who come from more advantaged families are more likely to have formed their academic plans by the eighth grade compared to their disadvantaged peers.

The under-representation of minorities at senior levels in academia has received some research attention in recent years. However, the experience of immigrant women from the former Soviet Union (FSU) in Israeli academia has not been examined. These women are mostly from a generation known as the '1.5 generation' who immigrated to Israel as children. This study focuses on the intersection of immigration and gender that shape the lives and careers of the 1.5 generation women currently employed as senior academics in Israel. Using the theoretical framework of capital, Bourdieu's concepts of cultural and social capital, as well as Borjas' ethnic capital, we analyzed twenty in-depth interviews to examine the perception of these women, their life story, and their professional integration into Israeli academia. We identified two focal points that fostered their success – (1) the Soviet heritage- selective adoption of ethnic capital, encompassing cultural and social capital of an ethnic group and (2) role models within and outside the family often based on ethnicity. We discuss the obstacles faced by minorities in attempting integration into selective professional guilds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.

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.

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. (Contains 4 tables.)

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. (Contains 4 tables.)

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. (Contains 3 notes, 4 tables, and 1 figure.)

The authors used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99 (ECLS-K) data to examine the mathematics and science achievement of two immigrant groups in the United States--Chinese and Mexican students. The authors also assessed variation in parental practices and fifth-grade achievement according to ethnicity and the age at which parents arrived in the United States, i.e. comparing children whose parents were born outside of the United States and immigrated after the age of 17, those whose parents immigrated before the age of 17, and native-born parents. The findings support the segmented assimilation framework: Mexican immigrant parents (both arriving as adults and at younger ages) and Chinese immigrant parents (arriving as adults) reported lower levels of parental involvement at school, enrollment in extra-curricular activities, and provision of literacy materials. However, these behaviors among native-born parents of Mexicans and Chinese more closely resemble those of native-born whites. At the same time, although immigrant parents uniformly expressed higher educational expectations than white parents, the achievement patterns of their children diverged along ethnic lines and varied according to the life stage that the parents immigrated to the United States, indicating a process of increasing assimilation among immigrant families but with group-specific patterns. The authors found decreasing disparities in mathematics and science achievement between immigrant and white students: Chinese students' advantage and Mexican students' disadvantage relative to white students disappeared by the second generation and third generation, respectively. (Contains 6 notes, 6 tables, and 1 figure.)

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. (Contains 8 tables.)

We use multilevel modeling of ECLS-K data (a nationally representative sample of American kindergartners) 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. (Contains 5 tables, 2 figures, and 1 note.)

Using longitudinal data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this paper employed a set of techniques to investigate the mechanism through which participation in structured extracurricular activities affects students' academic performance. The main findings are as follows: (1) high SES students were more likely to participate in extracurricular activities than low SES children. (2) Students' social relationships in school, including supportive friendships and teacher praise, are positively associated with academic performance. (3) Participation in extracurricular activities had no direct impact on eighth grade students' academic performance or any indirect effects by structuring students' social relationships in school. Our findings suggest that extracurricular participation does not contribute to students' academic performance in a context characterised by a high-stakes testing system such as that of China. In such a context, engagement in extracurricular activities, as a way to accumulate cultural capital, may facilitate individuals' future socioeconomic success on condition that their educational success is foreseeable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China implemented a policy to improve education equity through investing in boarding programs of public schools in rural and less-developed areas. However, this policy has not been informed by empirical research in the Chinese context. By using the nationally representative longitudinal data, this study investigates whether and to what extent boarding schools compensate for children's family disadvantages in terms of mathematics and reading achievement. The findings, drawn from multilevel logistic regression and hierarchical models, indicate that students from low-SES families or rural areas tend to board at schools. Boarding students performed better than day students in 8th-grade mathematics tests. Among students with essential needs, those residing at school during the week significantly benefitted in their school performance in both subjects. Overall, it appears that governmental investment in boarding programs can, to some extent, compensate for some family disadvantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]