Relation of academic support from parents, teachers, and peers to Hong Kong adolescents' academic achievement: the mediating role of academic engagement

The author tested a model hypothesizing that students' self-perceived academic support (from parents, teachers, and peers) is related to their achievement directly and indirectly through their own perceived academic engagement. The participants were 270 adolescents (M age = 15.41 years, range = 14-20 years) from 3 grade levels (Forms 3-5, equivalent to Grades 9-11 in the United States) in a Hong Kong secondary school. The school principal and teachers helped to collect data based on these adolescents' responses to a self-report questionnaire, consisting of a demographic profile and 4 scales assessing their self-perceptions of the extent of parental, teacher, and peer support, and their own academic engagement. Academic achievement was measured by self-reported grades in math, English, and Chinese. Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that adolescents' perceived parental, teacher, and peer support were all indirectly related to their academic achievement mediated by their own perceived academic engagement. The strength of the relationships, however, varied by support system, with perceived teacher support to achievement being the strongest, followed closely by perceived parental support, and then perceived peer support. In addition, both perceived parental support and perceived teacher support were directly related to academic achievement. However, perceived teacher support made the most total (direct and indirect) contribution to student achievement. Perceived peer support had the smallest, nonetheless significant, indirect relationship to academic achievement. However, the negative, direct influence of perceived peer support canceled out its positive, indirect influence on academic achievement.     

Teachers’ tears and the affective geography of the classroom

In recent years there has been a growing interest in the study of emotion within geography; the ways in which particular sites can evoke different feelings and how social relations are mediated by the affectivity of specific spatialities. Through an examination of what provoked a number of teachers to shed tears as they were being interviewed about their practice, this article contributes to this field of enquiry. Rather than viewing the tears as simply a sign of emotion, a reaction to the demands of the profession and the work teachers do – in this case teaching children in the early years of school – they are explored as an indication of the intensity of the teacher–student relation and the ethics of care these teachers embodied as a result of the interaffectivity of the spaces in which they taught. The article, therefore, makes a distinction between emotion and affect, exploring the corporeality of affective engagement in space as opposed to the more mindful experience of emotion. In doing this it also considers what a study of affect and space might offer current perspectives on pedagogic practice and the role of the teacher in contemporary classrooms.     

Effects of a Teacher Professional Development Intervention on Peer Relationships in Secondary Classrooms

We investigated the effects of My Teaching Partner-Secondary (MTP-S), a teacher professional development intervention, on students' peer relationships in middle and high school classrooms. MTP-S targets increasing teachers' positive interactions with students and sensitive instructional practices and has demonstrated improvements in students' academic achievement and motivation. The current study tested the prediction from systems theory that effects of MTP-S on students would extend beyond the academic domain-that is, the ecology of teachers' behaviors towards students should also influence the ecology of students' behaviors towards one another. Participants were 88 teachers (43 randomly assigned to MTP-S and 45 assigned to a control group that received the regular professional development offerings in their school) and 1423 students in their classrooms. Observations and student self-report of classroom peer interactions were collected at the start and at the end of the course. Results indicated that in MTP-S classrooms, students were observed to show improvement in positive peer interactions, although this pattern was not found in self-report data. However, moderation analyses suggested that for students with high disruptive behavior at the start of the course, teacher participation in MTP-S mitigated a typical decline towards poorer self-reported peer relationships. The relevance of findings for the social ecology of classrooms is discussed.     

Nature,nurture and academic achievement: A twin study of teacher assessments of 7‐year‐olds

Background: Twin research has consistently shown substantial genetic influence on individual differences in cognitive ability; however, much less is known about the genetic and environmental aetiologies of school achievement. Aims: Our goal is to test the hypotheses that teacher‐assessed achievement in the early school years shows substantial genetic influence but only modest shared environmental influence when children are assessed by the same teachers and by different teachers. Sample: 1,189 monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs born in 1994in England and Wales. Methods: Teachers evaluated academic achievement for 7‐year‐olds in Mathematics and English. Results were based on the twin method, which compares the similarity between identical and fraternal twins. Results: Suggested substantial genetic influence in that identical twins were almost twice as similar as fraternal twins when compared on teacher assessments for Mathematics, English and a total score. Conclusions: The results confirm prior research suggesting that teacher assessments of academic achievement are substantially influenced by genetics. This finding holds even when twins are assessed independently by different teachers.     

An Investigation of Middle School Classroom Libraries

Given that much of the research on classroom libraries focus on elementary school classrooms, this study sought to examine classroom libraries at the middle school level. Access to books is especially important for middle school students given the persistent decline in reading engagement at this level. The research questions guiding this investigation focused on the nature of the libraries, the physical features of the libraries, the contributions made by the libraries to the literacy environment of the classrooms, the contents of the libraries, and teacher perceptions of their own classroom libraries. Findings indicate that teachers value classroom libraries for promoting literacy engagement and understand how these libraries provide students with immediate and easy access to books. The contents of the libraries that were examined varied in terms of genre, multicultural literature, and social justice issues.     

Teachers' attunement to students' peer group affiliations as a source of improved student experiences of the school social-affective context following the middle school transition

A randomized control trial examined the impact of a professional development program on rural teachers' attunement to student social dynamics, and the influence of teacher attunement on students' school experiences. In intervention schools serving Latino and White rural early adolescents, teachers (N = 14) received training on social dynamics and aspects of early adolescent adjustment; control school teachers (N = 12) received no training. Social cognitive mapping procedures assessed and compared students' and teachers' perceptions of peer groups; structured observations assessed teachers' management of social dynamics. Students (N = 225) self-reported their perceptions of the school social-affective context. Intervention and control schools differed on teacher attunement and management of the social environment. Students whose teachers were more attuned to peer group affiliations evidenced improved views of the school social environment. Findings are discussed in terms of attunement as an element of teachers' invisible hand, and for teachers' role in promoting productive contexts for students during the middle school transition.     

Social Influences on Students’ Academic Engagement and Science Achievement

The aim of this study was to examine the role of social support from parents, teachers, and peers in students’ engagement and achievement. Filipino secondary school students (N?=?1,694) participated in this study and answered questionnaires assessing their levels of perceived social support and academic engagement. A standardized science achievement test was also given. Results showed that students who perceived higher levels of social support from parents, teachers, and peers were more engaged and had higher achievement scores. More interestingly, peer support seemed to be more salient compared to parental and teacher support. Implications are discussed.     

Peer assessments of normative and individual teacher–student support predict social acceptance and engagement among low-achieving children

This study used hierarchical linear modeling to predict first grade students' peer acceptance, classroom engagement, and sense of school belonging from measures of normative classroom teacher–student support and individual teacher–student support. Participants were 509 (54.4% male) ethnically diverse, first grade children attending one of three Texas School districts (1 urban, 2 small city) who scored below their school district median on a measure of literacy administered at the beginning of first grade. Peer nominations from 5147 classmates were used to assess both normative and individual levels of teacher support. Normative classroom teacher–student support predicted children's peer acceptance and classroom engagement, above the effects of child gender, ethnic minority status, and individual teacher–student support. Results are discussed in terms of implications for teacher preparation and professional development.     

Exploring the link between principal leadership and family engagement across elementary and middle school

As leaders in the school, principals play an important role in fostering family engagement. Unfortunately, little is known about specific aspects of leadership that promote family engagement. Collegial leadership, an aspect of principal leadership that promotes organizational health via trusting relationships and a sense of community, may be particularly useful to understanding how principals influence family engagement. Drawing on data from two randomized controlled trials evaluating the effects of teacher training in universal classroom management practices, the current study explores the relationship between teacher reports of family engagement and principal collegial leadership. Participants included 3208 students and 207 teachers across 18 elementary and middle schools in the Midwest United States. Utilizing hierarchical linear modeling, results revealed a significant positive relationship between family engagement and overall collegial leadership in addition to specific collegial leadership practices/characteristics. Further, baseline collegial leadership predicted increased end-of-year family engagement when controlling for baseline family engagement, developmental context, intervention status, and student-level characteristics. Overall, results provide empirical evidence for an important link between principal leadership practices and family engagement. Albeit promising, more research is needed to identify and explain the particular mechanisms by which principal collegial leadership may promote family engagement.     

Understanding how children's engagement and teachers' interactions combine to predict school readiness

This study examined the quality of preschool classroom experiences through the combination of children's individual patterns of engagement and teachers' classroom-level interactions in predicting children's gains in school readiness. A sample of 605 children and 309 teachers participated. The quality of children's engagement and teacher interactions was directly observed in the classroom, and direct assessments of children's school readiness skills were obtained in the fall and again in the spring. Latent profile analysis was used to examine children's patterns of engagement with teachers, peers, and tasks. Children's engagement and the quality of teacher interactions were associated with gains in school readiness skills. The effect of children's individual classroom engagement on their expressive vocabulary was moderated by classroom-level teacher interactions. The results suggest that when teachers engage in highly responsive interactions across the children in their classrooms, children may develop more equitable school readiness skills regardless of their individual engagement patterns.     

Revealing the invisible hand: The role of teachers in children's peer experiences

To introduce this special issue, the concept of the teacher as an “invisible hand” is presented as a metaphor to describe the potentially influential but relatively understudied contribution that educators are likely to have on children’s peer relationships and their broader interpersonal growth. Building from conceptual work distinguishing between the role of adults and peers in children’s social development, we summarize empirical support for the view that teachers are in a position to develop and guide the classroom as a society by simultaneously directing institutional expectations while also providing students with opportunities to collectively construct their own peer culture. Key social development constructs are reviewed from this lens, and the four articles and two commentaries that constitute this special issue are discussed in relation to their contributions to clarifying and extending current views of the role of teachers in school social dynamics. We conclude by considering intervention implications of this work, and we argue that teachers are the one professional in a child’s life who have the opportunity to view the whole child in relation to the social ecology in which he or she is embedded.     

Professional learning as ‘diffractive’ practice: rhizomatic peer coaching

Acknowledging an abundance of technicist models for teacher continuing professional development (CPD), the authors draw from Deleuzoguattarian theory to frame peer coaching as rhizomatic practice. Rhizome theory enables engagement with the creative breaks and departures in peer coaching assemblages. Agentic and innovative teacher learning can occur when teachers can take lines of flight to think differently about their teaching practices. Deleuzoguattarian notions of rupturous lines signal teacher-generated possibilities for new initiatives. Located in an Aotearoa/New Zealand facilitated inquiry CPD context, the article explores how nine teachers engaged in a formal process of collaborative dialogue. A rhizomatic approach to dialogue encompasses a dynamic view of teacher learning. Openness to emergence can enable educators to theorise pedagogy creatively to potentiate a multiplicity of pathways forward.     

The role of social support in fostering school engagement in urban schools characterised by high risk of early leaving from education and training

Tackling early leaving from education and training (ELET) is one of the main education policy targets of the European Union and many of its member states. This paper offers new insights on this issue by studying how so-called at-risk students develop their educational trajectory by embedding their attitudes towards and engagement in schooling within the various support networks they navigate. We argue that the concept of school engagement, operationalized within the broader theoretical framework of the self-system model of motivational development, is crucial for better understanding ELET. The structural equation modelling is based upon survey data from 1401 students in grade 10 and 12 of vocational tracks across 26 different urban school locations in Flanders, Belgium. The results show that parental, peer and in particular teacher support directly and indirectly strengthen students’ academic and behavioural engagement. We argue that universal and targeted support by educators can positively impact pro-school attitudes and school engagement of so-called at-risk students and may be one of the most important strategies in addressing ELET.

     

Perceived organizational structure for teacher liking: the role of peers’ perceptions of teacher liking in teacher–student relationship quality,motivation, and achievement

Previous research has identified the role of perceived peer hierarchies, or organizational structures, in affecting students’ adjustment to school (Lease et al. 2003, Journal of Early Adolescence, 23, 194–217). The purpose of this study was to examine whether middle school classrooms can be described in terms of the perceived status individual students hold for who will and will not be ‘liked’ by the teacher. Specifically we examined: (1) Do students share a mutually agreed on representation, a perceived organizational structure, for describing relative status with their teacher? (2) Are teachers perceived as systematically favoring girls or boys? (3) Are peers’ perceptions of teacher liking associated with individual students’ social and academic motivation and relationship quality with teachers? (4) Are students identified by peers as ‘not liked’ at risk for long-term teacher rejection and underachievement? And, (5) What are the underlying criteria students use to judge teacher likeability? Data for this study were drawn from peer ratings from 516 (262 boys, 254 girls) middle school students in 20 classrooms. Findings indicate multidimensional scaling techniques can be used to map the ‘teacher-liking space,’ accounting for  > 90% of the variability in peers’ ratings of teacher likeability. Additionally, findings indicate perceived status in the teacher-liking space has consequences for students’ achievement and teacher relationship quality.     

Teachers use of fear appeals and timing reminders prior to high-stakes examinations: pressure from above,below, and within

Teachers often communicate to students the consequences of success and failure (fear appeals) and the timing (timing reminders) of forthcoming examinations. Prior research has examined how fear appeals and teaching reminders are evaluated by students and how they relate to educational outcomes such as engagement. Few studies have addressed the use of these behaviours from a teacher’s perspective. We examined teacher use of consequence and timing reminders, used prior to examinations, and its relation to perceived accountability pressure, teacher self-efficacy, perceived importance of tested outcomes, and the belief that students would interpret such messages as threatening. Data were collected from 854 English primary and secondary school teachers. Results showed that fear appeals and timing reminders were used more frequently when teachers believed that tested outcomes were important, when they had lower self-efficacy to engage students, and when they believed that students would interpret messages as threatening. Timing reminders, but not fear appeals, were used more frequently when perceived accountability pressure was greater. These findings help to understand why teachers are using such behaviours. In this study it was pressures from above, below, and within.     

Peer victimization and social‐emotional outcomes: The role of teacher and peer support

The relation between peer victimization, risk of social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties, and school‐based sources of social support for students in elementary and middle school were examined. Participants included 656 students in third to eighth grade from one school district. Results indicated that peer support mediated the relation between peer victimization and risk of social, emotional, and behavioral difficulties, but teacher support did not mediate this relation. Conditional indirect effects analyses revealed that the indirect effect of peer support varied as a function of school level (i.e., intermediate and middle school). The implications and limitations of the current study are discussed, as well as directions for future research.

     

Do girls and boys perceive themselves as equally engaged in school? The results of an international study from 12 countries

This study examined gender differences in student engagement and academic performance in school. Participants included 3420 students (7th, 8th, and 9th graders) from Austria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The results indicated that, compared to boys, girls reported higher levels of engagement in school and were rated higher by their teachers in academic performance. Student engagement accounted for gender differences in academic performance, but gender did not moderate the associations among student engagement, academic performance, or contextual supports. Analysis of multiple-group structural equation modeling revealed that perceptions of teacher support and parent support, but not peer support, were related indirectly to academic performance through student engagement. This partial mediation model was invariant across gender. The findings from this study enhance the understanding about the contextual and personal factors associated with girls' and boys' academic performance around the world.     

Job demands and job resources as predictors of teacher motivation and well-being

We analyzed how teacher perception of job demands and job resources in the school environment were related to teacher well-being, engagement and motivation to leave the teaching profession. Participants were 760 Norwegian teachers in grade 1–10. Data were analyzed by means of confirmatory factor analysis and SEM analysis. A second order job demand variable strongly predicted lower teacher well-being, whereas job resources more moderately predicted higher well-being. Teacher well-being was in turn predictive of higher engagement and lower motivation to leave the profession. Analysis of primary factors showed that time pressure was the strongest predictor of teacher well-being.     

Teacher beliefs,teacher characteristics,and school contextual factors: What are the relationships?

Background. There is a plethora of research around student beliefs and their contribution to student outcomes. However, there is less research in relation to teacher beliefs. Teacher factors are important to consider since beliefs mould thoughts and resultant instructional behaviours that, in turn, can contribute to student outcomes. Aims. The purpose of this research was to explore relationships between the teacher characteristics of gender and teaching experience, school contextual variables (socio‐economic level of school and class level), and three teacher socio‐psychological variables: class level teacher expectations, teacher efficacy, and teacher goal orientation. Sample. The participants were 68 male and female teachers with varying experience, from schools in a variety of socio‐economic areas and from rural and urban locations within New Zealand. Method. Teachers completed a questionnaire containing items related to teacher efficacy and goal orientation in reading. They also completed a teacher expectation survey. Reading achievement data were collected on students. Interrelationships were explored between teacher socio‐psychological beliefs and the teacher and school factors included in the study. Results. Mastery‐oriented beliefs predicted teacher efficacy for student engagement and classroom management. The socio‐economic level of the school and teacher gender predicted teacher efficacy for engagement, classroom management, instructional strategies, and a mastery goal orientation. Being male predicted a performance goal orientation. Conclusions. Teacher beliefs, teacher characteristics, and school contextual variables can result in differences in teacher instructional practices and differing classroom climates. Further investigation of these variables is important since differences in teachers contribute to differences in student outcomes.