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1. Examining School Accountability: Discriminating Schools' A-F Report Card Grades

   Folger, T.; Roberts, A.; Bostic, J. (October 2022, Midwestern educational researcher)

   The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many school accountability systems that rely on student-level achievement data. Many states encountered uncertainty about how to meet federal accountability requirements without typical school data. Prior research provides evidence that student achievement is correlated to students’ social background, which raises concerns about the predictive bias of accountability systems. This mixed-methods study (a) examines the predictive ability of non-achievement-based variables (i.e., students’ social background) on school districts’ report card letter grade in Ohio, and (b) explores educators’ perceptions of report card grades. Results suggest that social background and community demographic variables have a significant impact on measures of school accountability. 

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2. Examining School Accountability: Discriminating Schools' A-F Report Card Grades

   Folger, T.; Roberts, A.; Bostic, J. (October 2022, Midwestern educational researcher)

   The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many school accountability systems that rely on student-level achievement data. Many states encountered uncertainty about how to meet federal accountability requirements without typical school data. Prior research provides evidence that student achievement is correlated to students’ social background, which raises concerns about the predictive bias of accountability systems. This mixed-methods study (a) examines the predictive ability of non-achievement-based variables (i.e., students’ social background) on school districts’ report card letter grade in Ohio, and (b) explores educators’ perceptions of report card grades. Results suggest that social background and community demographic variables have a significant impact on measures of school accountability. 

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3. Children’s Perspectives on Fairness and Inclusivity in the Classroom

   https://doi.org/10.1017/SJP.2022.24  

   Kaufman, Elise Marie; Killen, Melanie (January 2022, The Spanish Journal of Psychology)

   Abstract School represents an important context for children’s social, moral, and identity development. Research indicates that supportive teacher-student relationships are significantly related to positive student academic achievement. Unfortunately, teacher bias as well as peer exclusion based on group identity (gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality) pervade many school contexts. The presence of these biases in the classroom is negatively related to students’ academic development, especially for children who are minoritized and marginalized. Very little research has connected teacher bias and children’s reasoning about bias and inequalities in the classroom context. The classroom is a complex environment in which to examine children’s social and moral reasoning about bias, given teachers’ position of authority which often includes power, status, and prestige. We propose that understanding both teacher bias and peer intergroup exclusion are essential for promoting more fair classrooms. This paper reviews foundational theory as well as the social reasoning developmental model as a framework for studying how children think about fairness and bias in the classroom context. We then discuss current research on children’s social-cognitive and moral capacities, particularly in the contexts of societal inequality and social inclusion or exclusion. Finally, this article proposes new directions for research to promote fairness and inclusivity in schools and suggests how these new lines of research might inform school-based interventions. 

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4. Exploring Predictors of Achievement-Goal Profile Stability during Mathematics Learning in an Intelligent Tutoring System

   Harrell-Williams, L.; Mueller, C.; Fancsali, S; Ritter, S.; Zhang, X; Venugopal, D. (July 2022, Proceedings of The Third Workshop of the Learner Data Institute , The 15th International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM 2022))

   Using archived student data for middle and high school students’ mathematics-focused intelligent tutoring system (ITS) learning collected across a school year, this study explores situational, achievement-goal latent profile membership and the stability of these profiles with respect to student demographics and dispositional achievement goal scores. Over 65% of students changed situational profile membership at some time during the school year. Start-of-year dispositional motivation scores were not related to whether students remained in the same profile across all unit-level measurements. Grade level was predictive of profile stability. Findings from the present study should shed light on how in-the-moment student motivation fluctuates while students are engaged in ITS math learning. Present findings have potential to inform motivation interventions designed for ITS math learning. 

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5. The Impact of a School-Based Academic Support Program on Students’ Psychosocial Impairment

   White, Gwyne W.; Hatchimonji, Danielle R.; Vaid, Esha; Caldwell Jr., Rickey A; Elias, Maurice J. (May 2023, Journal of educational and developmental psychology)

   The skills conveyed in high school are essential for success, and evidence suggests that psychosocial well-being is critical to that process. Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) is an in-school, academic support program that targets underserved students. The current study explored the impact of an intervention program targeting academic achievement on student perceptions of social support and psychosocial impairment. The study was conducted in an under-resourced, majority Latinx high school and the sample included 75 AVID students and 140 demographically matched controls. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were performed to identify the impact of participation in the AVID program on symptoms of emotional and behavioral distress. After controlling for demographics factors and academic achievement, student perceptions of emotional and teacher support explained 7.2\% of the variance in psychosocial distress; participation in the AVID intervention was found to have significantly improved the variance accounted for (ΔR2=.02, 5.13, p=.025; R2=.11, F(9,204)=2.90, p=.003). The results of this study indicate that perceived teacher social support and AVID participation were, independently, significantly associated with reduced student psychosocial distress. These findings suggest that interventions targeting the complex mechanisms of school achievement may also have a positive impact on psychosocial impairment beyond student perceptions of social support. 

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