A half century of research details how segregating racial groups in separate schools corresponds with disparities in funding and quality teachers and culturally narrow curricula. But we know little about whether young Latino children have entered less or more segregated elementary schools over the past generation. This article details the growing share of Latino children from low-income families populating schools, 1998 to 2010. Latinos became more segregated within districts enrolling at least 10% Latino pupils nationwide, including large urban districts. Exposure of poor students (of any race) to middle-class peers improved nationwide. This appears to stem in part from rising educational attainment of adults in economically integrated communities populated by Latinos. Children of native-born Latina mothers benefit more from economic integration than those of immigrant mothers, who remain isolated in separate schools. We discuss implications for local educators and policy makers and suggest future research to illuminate where and how certain districts have advanced integration.

<p>The main objective of this research was to develop and validate the quality of an assessment tool for evaluating the mathematical reading, analytical thinking, and mathematical writing skills of fourth-grade students. We randomly selected 222 fourth grade students across multiple schools of varying sizes to take the assessment. Multidimensional Random Coefficients Multinomial Item Response Model was applied to validate the quality of the developed assessment tool. A design-based research methodology was adopted to develop the assessment tool encompassing four phases as follows: 1) analyze how students solve mathematical problems; 2) develop the assessment tool; 3) validation of the tool; and 4) reflection. The results of this research indicate that the assessment tool consisting of 19 items and two dimensions is a reliable and valid metric to measure mathematical reading, mathematical writing and analytical ability of fourth graders. The Likelihood-Ratio test showed that the multidimensional model fits better in comparison to the unidimensional model. It can be concluded that each item is qualified to assess the students and relevant to the developed dimensional examination structure.</p>

This article reports on quantitative findings from a design-based implementation research (DBIR) projectCarbon TIME that focused on teaching carbon cycling at multiple scales, from atomic-molecular to global. We

While the impact of authentic research experiences in STEM on student engagement and interest in science has been documented, less is known about the role of peer communities in fostering this interest and engagement. This research explores the idea that a strong peer community can catalyze deep learning and engagement in scientific research among high school students. The program engaged 20 high school students in a year-long community-based participatory research project in public health each year. The study used a mixed methods approach, combining data from focus group discussions, observations, and surveys to describe the program's impact on participants. Analysis across three years reveals that (a) the program was associated with a statistically significant shift in students' identity as researchers, with a medium growth effect size (Cohen's d) for the second and third years, which moderated by the end of the program, and (b) the peer community played a central role in the participants' engagement in the program, on their identity as researchers, and strengthened their interest in STEM. These findings convey the importance of designing STEM experiences that build strong peer communities around science practices and how such communities can have profound impacts on students' identities in STEM.

Purpose: Does the rising share of Latino students in US schools help to integrate previously White campuses or exacerbate racial and economic segregation over time? This article details trends in the segregation of Latino children enrolled in elementary schools, 2000-2015, then examines how evolving patterns differ among the nation's school districts. Research Methods: We compiled enrollment data from schools, merging census data on the demographic and economic attributes of residents inside the boundaries of each district. Changes in the interaction and entropy measures of segregation are reported, illuminating levels of Latino segregation between districts and among schools within districts. Findings: Latino children were less likely to attend elementary schools with White peers in 2015 relative to 2000, stemming in part from growing Latino enrollments. The isolation of Latino children within certain schools inside districts did not change on average. Local variation in segregation levels is associated with the income of residents within districts, along with their nativity and home language. Just 13% of the nation's districts enroll sufficient counts of Latino and White children to advance integration among constituent schools. Implications: Rising Latino enrollment in once lilywhite schools does advance racial integration. But many Latino children enter increasingly segregated school districts in which poor students are isolated from middle-class peers. In the absence of interdistrict integration efforts, little progress to integrate Latino children will be possible.The segregation of poor Latino children in separate schools, distant from middle-class or racially diverse peers, works to reinforce disparities in children's

Integrating sophisticated graphical analysis skills as they learn science is essential for K‐12 students and emphasized in current standards. In this study, we iteratively designed a Graphing Integration Inventory (GII) over a three‐year period, while also supporting students to develop their capabilities to use graphs to learn science content in complex ways through interactive curriculum materials implemented on a novel technology enhanced curriculum platform. We applied the Knowledge Integration framework to design the curriculum, the assessments, and the rubrics for scoring student explanations. The framework delineates ways to promote links among graphs and science ideas. The rubrics award students higher scores on their explanations based on the level of complexity of their connections between science concepts and, in this research, graphs. The GII and the aligned curriculum were implemented by over 300 middle school students (Grades 6–8) across a 3‐year period. We investigated the impact of the designed curriculum on the integration of graphing and science while also studying the psychometric properties of the GII to validate it for use in future studies. Findings suggest both that the curriculum used to support these students improved their Knowledge Integration capabilities significantly and that the GII instrument is suitable for use with populations across gender and native English language status demographics in Grades 6–8. Implications are discussed around using graphs to learn complex science ideas, as well as the affordances of technology enhanced platforms to support this type of learning and assessment.

The Likert item response format for items is almost ubiquitous in the social sciences and has particular virtues regarding the relative simplicity of item-generation and the efficiency for coding responses. However, in this article, we critique this very common item format, focusing on its affordance for interpretation in terms of internal structure validity evidence. We suggest an alternative, the Guttman response format, which we see as providing a better approach for gathering and interpreting internal structure validity evidence. Using a specific survey-based example, we illustrate how items in this alternative format can be developed, exemplify how such items operate, and explore some comparisons between the results from using the two formats. In conclusion, we recommend usage of the Guttman response format for improving the interpretability of the resulting outcomes. Finally, we also note how this approach may be used in tandem with items that use the Likert response format to help balance efficiency with interpretability.

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