Educational Researcher

Includes bibliographical references.

When Making the Grade Isn't Enough: The Gendered Nature of Premed Science Course Attrition -- Positive Mental Health and Academic Achievement in Elementary School: New Evidence From a Matching Analysis -- Translating Standardized Effects of Education Programs Into More Interpretable Metrics.

[Article Title : When Making the Grade Isn't Enough: The Gendered Nature of Premed Science Course Attrition / Eben B. Witherspoon, Paulette Vincent-Ruz, and Christian D. Schunn, p. 193-204] Abstract : Women take qualifying exams and enter medical school at substantially lower levels than predicted by their interest in medical degrees at the end of high school. We examined how science course experiences contribute to gendered attrition in premed using a multicohort data set of 8,253 undergraduates taking the traditional premed sequence of introductory science courses at a public research university between 2008 and 2016. Gendered attrition was not based in academic performance, was specific to high-performing women, and yet was grounded in competency beliefs. The result is that high-performing women often graduate with lower paying, lower status degrees. Motivational interventions in premed science courses will be critical for retaining high-performing women in premed, an important outcome with implications for equity and women's health.;[Article Title : Positive Mental Health and Academic Achievement in Elementary School: New Evidence From a Matching Analysis / Meredith O'Connor, Dan Cloney, Amanda Kvalsvig, and Sharon Goldfeld, p. 205-216] Abstract : Previous research suggests that gains in positive mental health (often termed flourishing, wellbeing, or competence) is associated with stronger academic achievement. This study examines the relationship between positive mental health at school entry and academic achievement at Grade 3, drawing on a representative sample of Australian children with linkage to results of standardized academic testing. Propensity score analysis was used and small positive associations were found between positive mental health and most academic outcomes. Associations were modest in size but sustained over the 3-year period and were similar across a range of academic skills. Future intervention research should assess the potentially wider ranging impact of targeting positive mental health outcomes in the early years of schooling.;[Article Title : Translating Standardized Effects of Education Programs Into More Interpretable Metrics / Matthew D. Baird and John F. Pane, p. 217-228] Abstract : Evaluators report effects of education initiatives as standardized effect sizes, a scale that has merits but obscures interpretation of the effects' practical importance. Consequently, educators and policymakers seek more readily interpretable translations of evaluation results. One popular metric is the number of years of learning necessary to induce the effect. We compare years of learning to three other translation options: benchmarking against other effect sizes, converting to percentile growth, and estimating the probability of scoring above a proficiency threshold. After enumerating the desirable properties of translations, we examine each option's strengths and weaknesses. We conclude that years of learning performs worst, and percentile gains performs best, making it our recommended choice for more interpretable translations of standardized effects.