The relationship between teacher ratings of kindergarten classroom skills and second-grade achievement scores: An analysis of gender differences

The Kindergarten Performance Profile, a criterion-referenced teacher rating scale, was developed by a multidisciplinary group of public school teachers, child development specialists, and evaluators. The present study analyzed the social and work skill areas of the rating scale, focusing on the relationship of classroom skills in the fall and spring of kindergarten to second-grade achievement scores. Gender differences, as well as the impact of assessing children's skills in the fall versus the spring of kindergarten were explored. Results indicated that kindergarten work skills were significantly related to California Achievement Test scores for both boys and girls; however, kindergarten social skills were related to achievement scores for girls but not boys. Teacher ratings from either the fall or the spring were predictive of achievement test scores for girls, although different girls were identified as having problems at the two time periods: whereas spring evaluations were more strongly related to boys' later achievement. The implications of these findings for assessment programs are discussed.     

Teacher–child relationships and academic achievement: A multilevel propensity score model approach

A robust body of research finds positive cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between teacher–child relationships and children's academic achievement in elementary school. Estimating the causal effect of teacher–child relationships on children's academic achievement, however, is challenged by selection bias at the individual and school level. To address these issues, we used two multilevel propensity score matching approaches to estimate the effect of high-quality teacher–child relationships in kindergarten on math and reading achievement during children's transition to first grade. Multi-informant data were collected on 324 low-income, Black and Hispanic students, and 112 kindergarten and first-grade teachers. Results revealed significant effects of high-quality teacher–child relationships in kindergarten on math achievement in first grade. No significant effects of teacher–child relationships were detected for reading achievement. Implications for intervention development and public policy are discussed.     

The effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child academic outcomes

This study examined the effect of school-based kindergarten transition policies and practices on child outcomes. The authors followed 17,212 children from 992 schools in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten sample (ECLS-K) across the kindergarten school year. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that the number of school-based transition practices in the fall of kindergarten was associated with more positive academic achievement scores at the end of kindergarten, even controlling for family socioeconomic status (SES) and other demographic factors. This effect was stronger for low- and middle-SES children than high-SES children. For low-SES children, 7 transition practices were associated with a .21 standard deviation increase in predicted achievement scores beyond 0 practices. The effect of transition practices was partially mediated by an intervening effect on parent-initiated involvement in school during the kindergarten year. The findings support education policies to target kindergarten transition efforts to increase parent involvement in low-SES families.     

小学生的师生关系特点与学生因素的关系研究

采用师生关系教师评定量表,由14名班主任教师对498名3—6年级学生与教师的关系进行评价,旨在了解学生因素对其师生关系的影响.结果表明:(1)小学生的年级与其师生关系有显著的联系.五年级学生表现出高亲密、高反应和高冲突的特点,而六年级则表现出低亲密、低反应和低冲突的特点.(2)男女学生在师生关系的亲密性和反应性上有显著差异,女生的师生关系比男生更为积极.(3)学生的学业表现与师生关系特点有显著的联系,学业表现好的学生有更积极的师生关系.(4)运用分层回归分析的结果表明,学生的年级、性别、学业表现对师生关系均有显著的回归效应.     

Behavioral Self‐Regulation,Early Academic Achievement,and the Effectiveness of Urban Schools for Low‐Income Ethnic Minority Children

The independent and joint associations between child behavioral self‐regulation ability and school effectiveness in relation to academic achievement were examined in a sample of low‐income African American (n = 132) and Latino (n = 198) children attending kindergarten and first grade across a large metropolitan area. Child behavioral self‐regulation and school effectiveness were positively associated with both reading and mathematics performance. School effectiveness moderated the effect of behavioral self‐regulation on reading but not math achievement. Lower child behavioral self‐regulation during early elementary school was associated with lower reading achievement the following year but only among children attending less effective schools. Behavioral self‐regulation was not related to reading achievement among children attending more effective schools. Implications of these findings for policies addressing disparities in early academic achievement are discussed.     

青少年未来时间洞察力与学业成绩的关系:坚韧性的中介作用

对756名青少年进行问卷调查,考察未来时间洞察力、坚韧性与学业成绩之间的关系。结果发现：（1）未来消极、未来迷茫显著负向预测学业成绩,未来坚持和未来计划能显著正向预测学业成绩;（2）坚韧性在未来时间洞察力的六个维度与学业成绩之间的关系各不相同。具体而言,坚韧性在未来积极和未来清晰与学业成绩之间无中介效应,坚韧性在未来消极与学业成绩之间起部分中介作用,坚韧性在未来迷茫、未来坚持、未来计划与学业成绩之间起完全中介作用。     

School Mobility and Achievement: Longitudinal Findings From an Urban Cohort

This study investigated the effects of school mobility on reading and math achievement for 1,087 low-income Black children in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Between kindergarten and seventh grade, 73% of the students changed schools at least once during elementary school and 21% changed schools three or more times. The prospective longitudinal design of the Chicago Longitudinal Study allowed for controlled analyses of both the predictors and the consequences of school mobility. The significant predictors of the number of moves included prior achievement, the number of years of preschool participation in an education intervention program, and parent education. Although the students who changed schools frequently between kindergarten and seventh grade performed approximately one year behind their nonmobile peers on reading and mathematics achievement tests taken at the end of seventh grade, only one half of this difference appears attributable to frequent mobility. The remaining portion is due to the fact that the mobile students were lower achieving even before they started to change schools. The negative consequences of past school mobility are lower for students who moved into better quality schools such as magnets or academic academies. Findings indicate that it is frequent, rather than occasional, mobility that significantly increases the risk of underachievement.     

A longitudinal study of the relationship of maternal autonomy support to children's adjustment and achievement in school

A longitudinal study examined the relations of maternal autonomy support to children's school adjustment. Autonomy support and other parenting dimensions were measured when children were 5 years old. School measures were teacher-rated academic and social adjustment and achievement in reading and math in grade 3. Regression analyses controlling for age 5 family and child factors (e.g., socioeconomic status [SES], kindergarten adjustment, IQ) revealed that autonomy support was positively related to grade 3 adjustment (social and academic) and reading achievement. Maternal emphasis on school performance was positively related to achievement measures but negatively related to social adjustment. Maternal use of rewards and praise was unrelated to grade 3 school measures. Finally, supplemental analyses revealed that autonomy support was associated with greater consistency in children's adjustment across social and academic domains as well as higher overall adjustment. These results highlight the developmental significance of parental autonomy support in early childhood.     

Children’s effortful control and academic achievement: do relational peer victimization and classroom participation operate as mediators?

Given that early academic achievement is related to numerous developmental outcomes, understanding processes that promote early success in school is important. This study was designed to clarify how students’ (N = 291; M age in fall of kindergarten = 5.66 years, SD = 0.39 year) effortful control, relational peer victimization, and classroom participation relate to achievement, as students progress from kindergarten to first grade. Effortful control and achievement were assessed in kindergarten, classroom participation and relational peer victimization were assessed in the fall of first grade, and achievement was reassessed in the spring of first grade. Classroom participation, but not relational peer victimization, mediated relations between effortful control and first grade standardized and teacher-rated achievement, controlling for kindergarten achievement. Findings suggest that aspects of classroom participation, such as the ability to work independently, may be useful targets of intervention for enhancing academic achievement in young children.     

Piaget's data and spearman's theory—An empirical reconciliation and its implications for academic achievement

A hierarchical simple structure factor solution was obtained for item scores from a psychometrized battery of Piagetian-type tasks individually administered to 660 kindergarten children. At the first level of factors were the Piagetian theoretical entities of seriation, classification, conservation of number, and temporal and spatial reasoning, with numeration loading on seriation and classification as indicated by the theory. At the second level were two factors identified as Piaget's logicomathematical and infralogical operations. A third-level factor was identified as a g factor. The association of the Piagetian-type tasks with kindergarden and first grade academic achievement was through the third-level g factor. The second-level factors appeared to be similar to Vernon's k:m and v:ed but, like the first level factors, made no important contribution to predicted achievement above that contributed by the g factor. A socioeconomic factor made no unique contribution to predicted first grade achievement. It was concluded that the Piagetian concrete operations variables have no unique role in the prediction of kindergarten or first grade academic achievement.     

Conflictual relationships between kindergarten children and their teachers: Associations with child and classroom context variables

The focus of this study was on kindergarten children's reports of teacher-child relational conflict and the associations of the reported conflict with (a) child characteristics (gender, behavior problems, and academic achievement); (b) the quality of classroom practices (teacher instructional practices, transition-to-school activities, and perceptions of support provided by the school); (c) teachers' perceptions of the classroom and school relational climates; and (d) teachers' perceptions of workload stress. These variables were examined with a group of 103 economically disadvantaged children and their kindergarten teachers in 24 public schools. There was evidence that teacher-child conflict was related to problem behaviors, teachers' perceptions of workload stress, as well as classroom instructional practices and the classroom/school relational climate.     

中小学生学业自我概念与学业成绩的交叉滞后分析:符合交互影响模型,还是发展观?

以小学五年级、初二年级和高二年级共357名学生为研究对象,采用10个月的追踪设计,运用交叉滞后回归分析,旨在揭示中小学生学业自我概念与学业成绩的相互影响,检验交互影响模型和发展观。结果发现,在前、后测中,小五学生学业自我概念得分呈现发展性差异,且均显著高于初二和高二学生;中小学生样本总体T1时间学业自我概念能显著正向预测T2时间学业成绩,T1时间学业成绩能显著正向预测T2时间学业自我概念,符合交互影响模型;小学五年级T1时间学业自我概念能显著正向预测T2时间学业成绩,符合自我增强模型;初二和高二学生T1时间学业成绩能显著正向预测T2时间学业自我概念,符合技能发展模型。结果表明随着年龄的变化,中小学生学业自我概念与学业成绩的因果关系顺序也在发生变化,支持发展观。     

A model for achievement motives, goal orientations, intrinsic interest, and academic achievement

This study investigated the effects of approach and avoidance achievement motives (the motive to achieve success and the motive to avoid failure) on three goal orientations (mastery, performance-approach, performance-avoidance goals) and the effects of goal orientations on intrinsic interest in learning and academic achievement for 157 tenth and 135 eleventh grade students of a Japanese girls' high school. Structural equation modeling indicated that mastery goals arose mainly from the motive to achieve success; however, the positive relation between the motive to avoid failure and mastery goals was also found. Performance-approach goals were related both the motive to achieve success and the motive to avoid failure. Performance-avoidance goals arouse mainly from the motive to avoid failure; however, the positive relation between the motive to achieve success and these goals was found. Mastery goals positively correlated with intrinsic interest and academic achievement, and scores on both performance-approach goals and performance-avoidance goals had no significant effects on either intrinsic or academic achievement.     

Time perspective and school membership as correlates to academic achievement among African American adolescents

This study examined the relationship of academic achievement to time perspective (future, present) and school membership (belonging, acceptance, rejection) among 232 low-income, urban African American adolescents. Findings indicated positive, significant relationships among academic achievement, future time perspective, school belonging, and school acceptance. A negative, significant relationship was found between academic achievement and present time perspective. Based on multiple regression analysis, the ability of time perspective and school membership to predict academic achievement differed across gender. Whereas present time perspective was predictive of academic achievement among males, school acceptance and future time perspective emerged as significant predictors of academic achievement among females. Present time perspective contributed negatively to academic achievement among males, while school acceptance and future time perspective contributed positively to academic achievement among females.     

学校氛围与初中生学业成就:学业情绪的中介和未来取向的调节作用

采用问卷法对1243名初中生进行调查研究,考察了学业情绪在学校氛围与初中生学业成就间的中介效应,以及未来取向对这一中介过程的调节效应。结果发现,（1）在控制了性别、年级、社会经济地位后,学校氛围对学业成就具有正向预测作用;（2）积极低唤醒学业情绪和消极低唤醒学业情绪显著中介学校氛围与学业成就的关系;（3）未来取向显著调节学校氛围对初中生学业成绩的直接路径,以及通过积极低唤醒和消极低唤醒学业情绪影响学业成绩的间接路径;即学校氛围和积极低唤醒学业情绪对学业成绩的影响在低未来取向的青少年群体中更为强烈;而学校氛围对消极低唤醒学业情绪的影响在高未来取向的青少年群体中更为强烈。总之,在学校氛围影响初中生学业成就的过程中,既存在中介效应,又存在调节效应。实际干预时,可以通过改善初中生学业情绪提高初中生的学业成就,未来取向可以进一步调节该过程。     

校园氛围与青少年学业成就的关系：一个有调节的中介模型

大量研究表明,校园氛围对青少年学业成就具有重要影响,但是关于校园氛围起作用的中介和调节机制却少有研究涉及。本研究提出一个有调节的中介模型,考察了学校依恋在校园氛围与学业成就关系中的中介作用,以及该过程是否受到自控水平的调节。采用分层整群抽样的方法,选取广东省10所学校2758名初中生作为被试,匿名填写校园氛围问卷、学校依恋问卷、自控问卷、学业成就问卷。结果显示:(1)在控制了性别、年级、社会经济地位后,校园氛围对学业成就具有正向预测作用;(2)学校依恋是校园氛围与学业成就之间的中介变量;(3)校园氛围通过学校依恋对学业成就的间接效应受到自控的调节,相对于自控水平高的青少年,间接效应对于自控水平低的青少年更显著。因此,校园氛围与学业成就之间既存在中介效应,又存在调节效应。     

Approaches to learning and academic achievement of Filipino students

Research has shown that a critical variable in determining academic achievement in different cultures and educational systems is approaches to learning. In this study, the author sought to determine whether this variable influences academic achievement among Filipino college students. The Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ; J. B. Biggs, 1987) was used to assess approaches to learning. The results indicated that (a) the LPQ was a valid instrument to assess the learning approaches of non-low-achieving Filipino college students; (b) the Deep and Achieving subscale scores of the LPQ were positively related to academic achievement even when the effects of school ability and prior academic achievement were controlled; and (c) with some slight exceptions, the relationship between the LPQ scale scores and academic achievement were generally similar between male and female Filipino students. Implications for the study of student approaches to learning in different cultures and educational systems are discussed.     

Maternal Perceptions of Competence and Children’s Academic Adjustment: Longitudinal Relations across Early Elementary School

Children’s perceptions of their academic ability play an important role in their academic adjustment, but relatively little research has examined the factors affecting academic self perceptions of young children, especially the role of parents. Seventy-seven children and their mothers were followed longitudinally from kindergarten to fourth grade to assess the association between mothers’ early perceptions of children’s academic abilities in reading and math and children’s later academic adjustment. Mothers’ perceptions of children’s reading ability in kindergarten were associated with children’s later self-perceptions of academic competence and later achievement, above and beyond kindergarten achievement. However, mothers’ perceptions of math ability in kindergarten were not significantly associated with later outcomes. In reading, mothers’ perceptions of children’s natural talent were positively associated with later self-perceptions and mothers’ perceptions of children’s difficulty in school were negatively associated with later self-perceptions. Additionally, mothers’ perceptions of children’s reading competence were positively associated with later reading achievement. This was the youngest sample in which these relations have been examined to date. Longer-term implications for early parental perceptions are discussed.     

小学生不同课堂情境的成就归因及再归因训练

在广泛调查的基础上,考察了小学生对不同课堂情境的成就归因特点;并运用韦纳的归因训练模式与策略指导相结合的方法,根据不同课堂的成就情境对小学生进行再归因训练。结果表明：小学生把课堂成就归因于努力、策略、能力、基础、兴趣、目的、难度。教法、心境和家境等１０个主要因素,这些因素除家境外,均在不同课堂的成就情境中存在显著的差异;韦纳的归因训练模式与策略指导相结合的再归因训练能有效地改变小学生对不同课堂情境的成就归因倾向,增强其学习动机水平,提高学业成绩。     

Approaches to Learning and Academic Achievement of Filipino Students

Research has shown that a critical variable in determining academic achievement in different cultures and educational systems is approaches to learning. In this study, the author sought to determine whether this variable influences academic achievement among Filipino college students. The Learning Process Questionnaire (LPQ; J. B. Biggs, 1987) was used to assess approaches to learning. The results indicated that (a) the LPQ was a valid instrument to assess the learning approaches of non-low-achieving Filipino college students; (b) the Deep and Achieving subscale scores of the LPQ were positively related to academic achievement even when the effects of school ability and prior academic achievement were controlled; and (c) with some slight exceptions, the relationship between the LPQ scale scores and academic achievement were génerally similar between male and female Filipino students. Implications for the study of student approaches to learning in different cultures and educational systems are discussed.