The Journal of Educational Research

This article examines how school climate influences student agency in literacy across schools in four countries-Italy, New Zealand, Norway, and the United States. Using data from across these areas, we conducted path analyses to identify relationships between the dimensions of student agency in literacy within each school climate factor. Results indicate that two core constructs of the hypothesized model of student agency, persistency, and interactivity, were consistently positively associated with school climate factors. Furthermore, under some conditions school climate factors negatively influenced other dimensions of the hypothesized model of agency. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

As science educators seek innovative methods to engage students, the Culturo-Techno-Contextual Approach (CTCA) has emerged as a promising strategy, particularly for African students. CTCA is a culturally responsive teaching method that integrates culture, technology, and locational context, making science more relatable and meaningful. We assessed CTCA’s effectiveness in enhancing critical thinking in biology among 121 senior secondary students in Lagos State. An explanatory sequential design was used, with the experimental group taught using CTCA and the control group receiving traditional instruction. Data were collected using the Critical Thinking Test in Nutrition (a = 0.80) and interviews. Results showed a significant improvement in critical thinking for the CTCA group (F(1, 198) = 11.43; p < 0.05), with no significant gender differences (F(1,49) = .49; p > .05). Students responded positively to intervention, leading to the conclusion that CTCA effectively enhances critical thinking in biology; hence, adoption of CTCA in biology instruction is recommended.

This study aimed to test three homework models defined in different cultures on Turkish highschool students. HLM analyses were conducted on data collected from 1,229 high school students,considering 19 student-level and 7 grade-level variables. The dependent variables of the study wereacademic achievement and homework completion. The findings indicate that both variables exert apositive influence on one another. The influence of teacher and parental practices on academic achievement and homework completion in high school students is limited. Respect and support forstudent autonomy have been demonstrated to have a positive effect on academic achievement.Although motivation is a primary factor in academic achievement, effort and motivation are moreinfluential in determining homework completion. When students demonstrate interest and perceivevalue in an assignment, they are more likely to exert greater effort to complete it. The perceptionof self-efficacy in relation to homework tasks has been found to have a positive effect on academicachievement and a negative effect on homework completion. The influence of educated parents onacademic achievement and homework completion is contradictory. As students age, their academicachievement remains consistent, whereas their rate of homework completion declines.

This study evaluated the feasibility of the Knowledge, Language, and Inquiry (K.L.I.) intervention, designed to support Grades 3–5 multilingual students classified as English learners (ML-ELs) in building content knowledge, language skills, and reading comprehension through inquiry-based small-group instruction. Feasibility was examined across five dimensions—acceptability, practicality, integration, implementation fidelity, and effectiveness—using teacher interviews, ratings, lesson observations, and student and teacher learning outcome assessments. Findings suggest that the intervention was generally well-received by teachers, with structured lesson plans and resources facilitating implementation. Teachers demonstrated increased knowledge in reading instruction and the intervention following professional development, and students showed gains in vocabulary, text structure awareness, and topic-specific knowledge. However, time constraints during standardized testing periods limited consistent implementation. These findings inform the refinement of the K.L.I. intervention for broader application, emphasizing the need to address contextual challenges and conduct future evaluations to support its larger-scale implementation and improve ML-ELs’ literacy outcomes.

Recent studies in psychology emphasize the pivotal roles of adopting a growth mindset to enhance students’ motivation and employing effective memory strategies to improve memory performance. This study evaluated the impact of a metacognitive intervention that combined the promotion of a growth mindset with the teaching of efficient learning strategies. Using a pre-post experimental design with fourth- and fifth-graders, we examined the effect of the intervention on motivation and learning outcomes compared to an active control group. The results revealed that the metacognitive intervention produced a shift toward a more malleable intelligence belief, which in turn led to a more positive conception of effort. It also modified their memory strategies, leading to better memory performance. The paper discusses the effectiveness of metacognitive programs that combine motivational and strategic elements, highlighting their potential to foster academic outcomes. This integrative approach may significantly enhance children’s metacognitive capacities, contributing to improved academic achievement.