The primary aim of this research study is to examine how contextual and psychological variables interact on the development of Latina adolescents’ interests in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The literature review starts with an overview of career interest development theories and an identification of key common factors. The major factors of parent socialization and the social constructions of gender and ethnicity are then discussed with particular emphasis on how they may influence interest development for middle school Latina students. This section concludes with an investigation into differences in access to school science and math resources, an environmental factor that also impacts development. The final section proposes a quantitative analysis that will address various questions raised in the literature review. The proposed study consists of correlations and linear regressions, controlling for background variables, as well as investigating interactions between identified factors. / text

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Thesis advisor: Lillie L. Albert / Increasing students' intentions to pursue mathematics-intensive careers is an urgent priority in the United States. To foster these intentions among marginalized student groups, such as immigrant students, and achieve equity in their career options, a critical question is whether we should allocate a greater proportion of school resources to mathematics over other subjects. The aims of this dissertation study were, first, to conceptually model and statistically evaluate how a school environment that prioritizes mathematics over other subjects might influence students' intentions to pursue mathematics over other academic subjects in the long term, and second, how this relationship is mediated by students’ mathematics pursuit attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavior (Ajzen, 1991), and moderated by their immigrant standing. The data for this study stemmed from the U.S. 2012 Programme For International Student Assessment Academic & Science (PISA) Student Questionnaire and School Questionnaire. A predictive mean matching technique was used to impute missing data that would resemble observed data. A 2-1-1 multilevel mediation Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was implemented to accurately measure a school-level effect and student-level effect of the relationship of the examined constructs and to test the hypothesized model for the total sample. In order to compare immigrant student group and non-immigrant student group in the path model, multiple group path analysis was conducted. The results of the multilevel SEM model for the total sample presented that, at the school level (level 2), the school’s mathematics resources had no statistically significant direct and indirect effects on aggregated students’ intentions to pursue mathematics over other subjects. However, at the student level (level 1), students’ experiential and instrumental attitudes toward the pursuit of mathematics were positively related to students’ intentions to pursue mathematics over other subjects. The results of the multiple group path analysis comparing immigrant and non-immigrant student groups also found that the school’s mathematics resources had no statistically significant direct and indirect effects on students’ intentions to pursue mathematics over other subjects. However, a statistical difference in the overall path model of these two groups was found. The implications of this study for researchers, educators, and policymakers were discussed. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction.

I studien har 12 elevgrupper från 10 kommunala skolor i Malmö studerats statistiskt frånläsåren 2005/06 till 2013/14. Utifrån elevernas socioekonomiska bakgrund undersöktes effekten av skolornas resursutbud för PISA-resultaten i årskurs 9. Genom teorier om skolan som arena för social reproduktion av medelklassens värden, visade analysen att skolan inte uppväger för arbetarklasselever utan eftergymnasialt utbildade föräldrar. Slutsatserna visade att observationsgruppernas höga lärarbehörighet kombinerat med ökad lärartäthet för utsatta elevgrupper, inte ensamt utjämnar bakgrundsrelaterad skolsegregation. Som insatskomplement bör skolornas elevsammansättning ses som en administrativt förändringsbar resurs, jämte utökat arbete för bredare konsensus mellan hem och skola kring utbildningens betydelse och form. / This study carries out a Qualitative Comparative Analysis [QCA] of 12 groups of studentsfrom 10 public schools in Malmoe. Based on students’ socioeconomic background, the study examines the effect of school resources across 9 years of elementary school; on PISA results in grade 9. Using the theoretical framework that school is an institution to promote social reproduction of middle-class values; the analysis demonstrates that school does not compensate working class students. The study's conclusions where that the observation groups generally high teaching qualifications; combined with increased teacher ratio for vulnerable student groups, not alone were sufficient resources to equalize background related school segregation. These need to be complemented with a broader consensus between home and school about the importance of education and its execution. Also the school pupil homogeneous composition should thereto be seen as an administrative opportunity to level the playing field in the present segregated school situation.

In 1986, the Carnegie Forum on Education and the Economy published A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century in which it recommended that a National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) be established to ascertain and institute criteria for teacher excellence (Steiner, 1995). No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) mandated that every classroom employ a "highly qualified teacher" (No Child Left Behind, 2001a); moreover, NCLB articulated the relationship between improving student achievement and higher standards for qualifying classroom teachers (Rotberg, Futrell & Lieberman, 1998). Research conducted in Miami-Dade County supports Florida's use of National Board Certification (NBC) as an "effective signal of teacher quality"(CNA Corporation, 2004, p.1). Critical theorist, Michael Apple, emphasized the role of education as an agent for the maintenance of hegemony (Apple, 2004). However, Apple further posited that the actual bureaucracy of school - the institution of education itself - is reflective of the same consumerist ideology of society, thus making the hegemony even more complete. Using the aforementioned theoretical construct, the researcher examined the development of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the distribution of Nationally Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) in a central Florida school district, and their professional responsibilities as a means of examining whether this mechanism for identifying "highly qualified teachers" achieves its stated aim of providing every student with access to a "highly qualified" teacher, as is legislated and funded per NCLB.

According to the findings of the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), fourth-grade students from Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries—consisting of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates—performed below average compared to other countries on mathematics and science assessments. Despite this, little organizational research has examined potential factors that might have contributed to these results or sought to quantify the variability in school effectiveness in GCC countries. Hence, the present study sought to address this gap by quantifying the variability in school effectiveness in these countries. Using TIMSS 2019 data and multilevel analysis within each GCC member state, the study found school effectiveness varied significantly, ranging between 17% and 60%, considerably more than the variation typically seen in Western countries. In addition, several school-level organizational factors showed a significant impact on school effectiveness. Schools with more adequate resources, higher-quality teachers, greater parental involvement at the school level, and a safer and more orderly environment tended to display higher effectiveness as measured by average mathematics achievement. This finding should encourage researchers and policymakers to have more informed discussions about school effectiveness in the region. / Doctor of Philosophy / Fourth-grade students in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (i.e., Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) performed below average on the 2019 mathematics assessments conducted by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Furthermore, it is unclear how much school effectiveness varies within or between these countries, and few studies have explored potential school-related reasons for such poor test results. The purpose of this study was thus to examine the variability in schools' effectiveness in GCC countries. Using TIMSS 2019 data and multilevel analysis within each country, the study found school effectiveness varied significantly, ranging from 17% to 60%, much more than in typical Western countries. In addition, several school characteristics significantly influenced a school's effectiveness. Schools with better resources, higher-quality teachers, more parental involvement in school, and a safer and more orderly environment tended to have higher average math scores. This finding should encourage researchers and policymakers to take a closer look at school effectiveness in the region.

Thesis advisor: Rebekah L. Coley / Inequitable distribution of school funds may underlie persistent achievement disparities across class and race in the U.S. Significant reforms in school finance have closed funding disparities between school districts, but inequitable practices within districts, in which funds fail to reach the students in greatest need, may be undermining progress. Unavailability of school-level funding data previously limited assessments of intra-district allocations of funding.The primary aim of this study was to assess intra-district finance equity–exploring funding distribution patterns across multiple dimensions of student need and race–using recently released national school-level expenditures data. Multilevel analyses decomposed variation in total per pupil expenditures within and between districts while adjusting for state differences, and jointly assessed intra- and inter-district finance equity by exploring how school shares of students across poverty status, limited English proficiency, special education identification, and race were associated with per pupil expenditures. Analyses also investigated whether intra-district distribution patterns varied across district-level economic and racial strata. Results revealed significant variation in per pupil expenditures across schools within districts, and found that on average, intra-district funding distributions were progressive toward higher poverty schools as well as schools with more special education students, but not toward schools with more English language learners. School proportions of underrepresented minority students were not associated with differences in per pupil expenditures. Intra-district funding distribution patterns both reflected and counteracted inter-district patterns, depending on the dimension of student need. Exploring variations in intra-district patterns across district characteristics, analyses found that higher district poverty and economic segregation were associated with lower levels of progressivity in intra-district distributions, though not along all dimensions of need. Higher concentrations of underrepresented minority students and racial segregation in districts were not associated with intra-district distribution patterns for race, but were associated with intra-district progressivity across other dimensions of need. Study findings call for a comprehensive approach to assessing and advancing school finance equity, in order to ensure equal opportunity for all students. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Counseling, Developmental and Educational Psychology.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar como o nível de recursos escolares e a sua distribuição entre os estudantes afetam o desempenho acadêmico dos alunos brasileiros da rede pública de ensino. Para atingir tal objetivo, utilizou-se duas óticas de análise: uma análise descritiva e uma análise econométrica, ambas com base em dados do Censo Escolar e da Prova Brasil de 2013. Sob a ótica descritiva, parte-se da constatação de que as escolas públicas de Ensino Fundamental apresentam desigualdades nos patamares de recursos escolares conforme a região em que a escola se localiza. Em especial, as crianças de regiões mais empobrecidas tendem a enfrentar restrições de oferta de escolas públicas com maiores dotações de equipamentos pedagógicos, de instalações e de qualificação docente. A fim de avaliar apropriadamente a relação entre os recursos escolares e os resultados acadêmicos dos alunos no contexto brasileiro, tal distribuição não aleatória de recursos escolares entre os alunos foi considerada na análise econométrica. Nesta ótica de análise, por sua vez, foi estimado um modelo de correção em dois estágios que identificou os efeitos dos recursos escolares nas notas de Português e de Matemática dos alunos de 5º ano/4ª série do Ensino Fundamental das escolas públicas brasileiras, considerando a restrição de oferta de escolas com maior nível de recursos por meio do emprego de variável instrumental. Os resultados encontrados apontaram para a existência do efeito positivo que escolas mais bem equipadas em termos de recursos escolares têm sobre o desempenho escolar dos alunos, sendo esse efeito maior para as notas de Matemática e para a subpopulação de alunos oriundos de municípios com maior restrição de oferta de escola de alto nível de recursos. / The aim of this study is to analyze how the level of school resources and its distribution among the students affect the academic performance of Brazilian students from public schools. To achieve this goal, we used two analytical forms: a descriptive and an econometric analysis, both based in the Brazilian School Census and Prova Brasil data of 2013. Under the descriptive point of view, it is observed that public schools of Ensino Fundamental have inequalities in school resource levels depending on the region where the school is located. In particular, children from the poorest regions tend to face supply constraints of public schools with larger endowments of teaching equipment, facilities and teaching qualification. In order to properly evaluate the relationship between school resources and academic achievement of students in the Brazilian context, such non-random distribution of school resources among students was considered in the econometric analysis. In this analytical form, in its turn, a two-step correction model was estimated which identified the effects of school resources in the results of test scores in Portuguese and Math of 5th year/4th grade students of Ensino Fundamental education in Brazilian public schools, accounting for the supply restriction of schools with high level of resources using an instrumental variable. The findings pointed to the existence of the positive effect that the best equipped schools in terms of school resources have on school performance of students. This effect is particularly greater in Math scores and for the subpopulation of students from municipalities with the highest supply restriction of high quality schools.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar como o nível de recursos escolares e a sua distribuição entre os estudantes afetam o desempenho acadêmico dos alunos brasileiros da rede pública de ensino. Para atingir tal objetivo, utilizou-se duas óticas de análise: uma análise descritiva e uma análise econométrica, ambas com base em dados do Censo Escolar e da Prova Brasil de 2013. Sob a ótica descritiva, parte-se da constatação de que as escolas públicas de Ensino Fundamental apresentam desigualdades nos patamares de recursos escolares conforme a região em que a escola se localiza. Em especial, as crianças de regiões mais empobrecidas tendem a enfrentar restrições de oferta de escolas públicas com maiores dotações de equipamentos pedagógicos, de instalações e de qualificação docente. A fim de avaliar apropriadamente a relação entre os recursos escolares e os resultados acadêmicos dos alunos no contexto brasileiro, tal distribuição não aleatória de recursos escolares entre os alunos foi considerada na análise econométrica. Nesta ótica de análise, por sua vez, foi estimado um modelo de correção em dois estágios que identificou os efeitos dos recursos escolares nas notas de Português e de Matemática dos alunos de 5º ano/4ª série do Ensino Fundamental das escolas públicas brasileiras, considerando a restrição de oferta de escolas com maior nível de recursos por meio do emprego de variável instrumental. Os resultados encontrados apontaram para a existência do efeito positivo que escolas mais bem equipadas em termos de recursos escolares têm sobre o desempenho escolar dos alunos, sendo esse efeito maior para as notas de Matemática e para a subpopulação de alunos oriundos de municípios com maior restrição de oferta de escola de alto nível de recursos. / The aim of this study is to analyze how the level of school resources and its distribution among the students affect the academic performance of Brazilian students from public schools. To achieve this goal, we used two analytical forms: a descriptive and an econometric analysis, both based in the Brazilian School Census and Prova Brasil data of 2013. Under the descriptive point of view, it is observed that public schools of Ensino Fundamental have inequalities in school resource levels depending on the region where the school is located. In particular, children from the poorest regions tend to face supply constraints of public schools with larger endowments of teaching equipment, facilities and teaching qualification. In order to properly evaluate the relationship between school resources and academic achievement of students in the Brazilian context, such non-random distribution of school resources among students was considered in the econometric analysis. In this analytical form, in its turn, a two-step correction model was estimated which identified the effects of school resources in the results of test scores in Portuguese and Math of 5th year/4th grade students of Ensino Fundamental education in Brazilian public schools, accounting for the supply restriction of schools with high level of resources using an instrumental variable. The findings pointed to the existence of the positive effect that the best equipped schools in terms of school resources have on school performance of students. This effect is particularly greater in Math scores and for the subpopulation of students from municipalities with the highest supply restriction of high quality schools.

O objetivo deste trabalho é analisar como o nível de recursos escolares e a sua distribuição entre os estudantes afetam o desempenho acadêmico dos alunos brasileiros da rede pública de ensino. Para atingir tal objetivo, utilizou-se duas óticas de análise: uma análise descritiva e uma análise econométrica, ambas com base em dados do Censo Escolar e da Prova Brasil de 2013. Sob a ótica descritiva, parte-se da constatação de que as escolas públicas de Ensino Fundamental apresentam desigualdades nos patamares de recursos escolares conforme a região em que a escola se localiza. Em especial, as crianças de regiões mais empobrecidas tendem a enfrentar restrições de oferta de escolas públicas com maiores dotações de equipamentos pedagógicos, de instalações e de qualificação docente. A fim de avaliar apropriadamente a relação entre os recursos escolares e os resultados acadêmicos dos alunos no contexto brasileiro, tal distribuição não aleatória de recursos escolares entre os alunos foi considerada na análise econométrica. Nesta ótica de análise, por sua vez, foi estimado um modelo de correção em dois estágios que identificou os efeitos dos recursos escolares nas notas de Português e de Matemática dos alunos de 5º ano/4ª série do Ensino Fundamental das escolas públicas brasileiras, considerando a restrição de oferta de escolas com maior nível de recursos por meio do emprego de variável instrumental. Os resultados encontrados apontaram para a existência do efeito positivo que escolas mais bem equipadas em termos de recursos escolares têm sobre o desempenho escolar dos alunos, sendo esse efeito maior para as notas de Matemática e para a subpopulação de alunos oriundos de municípios com maior restrição de oferta de escola de alto nível de recursos. / The aim of this study is to analyze how the level of school resources and its distribution among the students affect the academic performance of Brazilian students from public schools. To achieve this goal, we used two analytical forms: a descriptive and an econometric analysis, both based in the Brazilian School Census and Prova Brasil data of 2013. Under the descriptive point of view, it is observed that public schools of Ensino Fundamental have inequalities in school resource levels depending on the region where the school is located. In particular, children from the poorest regions tend to face supply constraints of public schools with larger endowments of teaching equipment, facilities and teaching qualification. In order to properly evaluate the relationship between school resources and academic achievement of students in the Brazilian context, such non-random distribution of school resources among students was considered in the econometric analysis. In this analytical form, in its turn, a two-step correction model was estimated which identified the effects of school resources in the results of test scores in Portuguese and Math of 5th year/4th grade students of Ensino Fundamental education in Brazilian public schools, accounting for the supply restriction of schools with high level of resources using an instrumental variable. The findings pointed to the existence of the positive effect that the best equipped schools in terms of school resources have on school performance of students. This effect is particularly greater in Math scores and for the subpopulation of students from municipalities with the highest supply restriction of high quality schools.