Journal of Advances in Education Research

5

Authors: Chelsea K. Smith, John R. Slate

In this study, the percentages of female faculty at Texas 4-year public universities for the 2003 and 2014 academic years were examined to determine the degree to which changes might have occurred over time. Archival data were retrieved from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board on Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Full Professor faculty positions at Texas 4- year universities. Inferential statistical procedures revealed the presence of statistically significant differences was between the percentages of female faculty in each of the three positions between the 2003 and 2014 academic years. A statistically significant higher percentage of female faculty members was present in the 2014 academic year than in the 2003 academic year. Interestingly, the percentage of female faculty members at the Full Professor position increased by 9.46% over this time period, compared to an increase of only 4.15% at the Assistant Professor level, and an increase of only 4.04% at the Associate Professor level. Based on these percentages increase, female faculty members at the entry level rank of Assistant Professors were not increasing at the same rate as female Full Professors, which indicates a gap in the pipeline of professorship for female faculty. Discussion and policy recommendations to address this gap are discussed in this study.

11

Authors: M.Chad Jones, John R. Slate, Cynthia Martinez-Garcia, George W. Moore

In this empirical statewide investigation, the degree to which grade span configuration was related to the academic achievement of boys and girls in Texas public schools was addressed. Specifically analyzed were two grade span configurations (i.e., Pre-K/K-Grade 6/7/8 and Grades 6/7- Grade 12) and the reading and mathematics performance of Grade 6, 7, and 8 boys and girls for the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years. Although statistically significant differences were present in only two reading analyses, higher passing rates in reading were present in the elemiddle grade span configuration than in the secondary configuration in all 12 analyses. For the TAKS Mathematics passing rates, 11 of the 12 analyses revealed statistically significant differences, with small to moderate effect sizes.

12

Authors: Madeleine Kapinga-Mutatayi, Pierre Mukendi, Jan Elen

Learning outcomes are mostly determined by students’ approaches to learning (SAL). The Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) is one of the most used instruments assessing SAL. Researchers from various contexts have either validated or used the SPQ. A few studies in African contexts have investigated its psychometrics properties or used it as such. However, none of them – to the best of our knowledge –stem from a French African context. The current paper fills this gap by exploring the reliability and the validity of the R-SPQ-2F (SPQ revised version) in a Congolese setting. In line with the original findings, the main scales (Deep and Surface) were found to be acceptably reliable whereas the subscales reliability was questioned. At the dimension level, the construct validity was confirmed though items-based analysis showed disappointing results. The results also revealed a positive correlation between both main scales. Findings are discussed for further investigations.