Social Background and Achievement in Public and Catholic High Schools

One of the more provocative findings from the 1980 – 1982 High School and Beyond comparisons of public and Catholic high school students was the apparent lower effects of social class and race on achievement test scores in Catholic schools. A number of changes in American society and public education since that time suggest that relationships may have changed either in the direction of greater or lesser Catholic school benefits for less-advantaged youth. The analyses presented here represent an update of the High School and Beyond public-Catholic comparisons using the 1988 – 1992 National Education Longitudinal Study (NELS:88). As in the early 1980s, results indicate that Catholic high schools in the early 1990s had positive effects on student achievement test score gains. Without adjusting for other public-Catholic background differences, Catholic school minority and lower-SES students finished high school with higher average test scores than their public school counterparts. When adjustments for the effects of prior achievement and other background variables are made, however, differential benefits of Catholic schools for minority and lower-SES students are not found. Instead, Catholic schools appear to confer roughly equal benefits to students from more- and less-advantaged social backgrounds.     

Homework and achievement: Explaining the different strengths of relation at the elementary and secondary school levels

Four explanations were tested for why the correlation between homework and achievement is weaker in elementary school than secondary school. Eighty-two teachers answered questions about their homework practices, and their responses were related to their students' achievement test scores. No evidence was found to suggest the weaker correlation in elementary school associated with a restricted variation in amounts of homework in early grades nor that teachers assigned more homework to poor-performing classes. Evidence did suggest that teachers in early grades assigned homework more often to develop young students' management of time, a skill rarely measured on standardized achievement tests. Also consistent with this hypothesis, elementary school teachers were more likely to use homework to review class material and to go over homework in class, while secondary school teachers more often used homework to prepare for and enrich class lessons. Finally, there was weak evidence that young students who were struggling in school took more time to complete homework assignments.     

English as a foreign language (EFL) homework diaries: evaluating gains and constraints for self-regulated learning and achievement

Although homework completion is said to be rather important to achievement, nowadays there is a growing concern of educators about the increasing number of students who do not engage properly on doing the homework tasks and the subsequent impact on school failure rates. Focusing on English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and using a sample of 591 Portuguese fifth and sixth graders, the present study analyses the role played by a number of homework variables on students' achievement (proximal and distal), and their mediating role on the use of self-regulated learning strategies and perceived self-efficacy in the domain. Data confirm the indirect effect of homework on school achievement, by means of the referred cognitive and motivational variables (use of self-regulated learning strategies and self-efficacy). These findings are further discussed in order to highlight the significant role homework completion can play on fighting school failure.     

学校归属感与学生发展的探索研究

采用问卷调查法探讨中小学生的学校归属感与学校适应、自我概念、同伴关系及班级环境的关系。结果表明:1)学校适应、自我概念、同伴关系和班级环境与中小学生的学校归属感有密切的关系;2)学校归属感能有效的预测学生的自我概念;3)师生关系和同伴关系对学校归属感有重要影响,是学校归属感显著的预测变量;4)学校类型对学校归属感有显著的影响,重点中学学生的学校归属感显著高于其他类型学校的学生。     

积极同伴压力、自尊对青少年不同冒险行为的影响

该研究基于问题行为理论,采用问卷法对普通高中、中职院校689名青少年学生进行调查,探讨了积极同伴压力、自尊对青少年不同冒险行为的影响及其交互作用和学校差异。结果表明:(1)中职院校生的积极同伴压力和冒险行为都显著高于普通高中生;(2)积极同伴压力不能预测青少年的适应不良冒险行为,但可显著预测普通高中生的社会可接受冒险行为;(3)自尊可显著负向预测青少年的适应不良冒险行为,显著正向预测普通高中生的社会可接受冒险行为;(4)自尊仅可以调节普通高中生的积极同伴压力与社会可接受冒险行为的关系:高自尊增强了高积极同伴压力对青少年社会可接受冒险行为的影响;但它不能调节无论哪所学校青少年的积极同伴压力与适应不良冒险行为的关系。     

青少年早期学业成就的同伴团体社会化:感知学校氛围的调节作用

通过对1275名初一青少年开展为期半年的追踪调查,考察了同伴团体对青少年早期个体学业成就的影响,及感知学校氛围对这种影响的调节作用。结果表明:(1)在控制学校虚拟变量、年龄、性别、同伴团体规模及个体前期学业成就之后,所在班级前期的平均学业成就能显著预测个体后期学业成就;(2)同伴团体的学业成就能正向预测个体后期的学业成就变化,但班级相对于同伴团体的情境效应不显著。(3)在个体和同伴团体水平,感知学校氛围各维度不能显著预测个体后期学业成就,但同伴团体平均学业成就与该团体整体感知到的教师支持的交互项可以正向预测个体学业成就间隔半年后的变化。     

Multiculturalism as a dimension of school climate: the impact on the academic achievement of Asian American and Hispanic youth

Multiculturalism constitutes an important element of school climate, but the relation between perceived multiculturalism and academic achievement has not been widely studied. This study examined the influence of students' perceptions of school support for multiculturalism on academic achievement among 280 Asian American and Hispanic youth, including ethnic identity and ethnocultural empathy as potential mediators. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that perceived multiculturalism was significantly positively related to ethnocultural empathy for Asian Americans and Hispanics, and that ethnocultural empathy, in turn, was predictive of academic achievement for Hispanics only. Results of bootstrapping to test for mediation effects revealed ethnocultural empathy to be a salient mediator for Hispanic youth. Although ethnic identity did not mediate the link between multiculturalism and academic achievement, ethnic identity was significantly predictive of achievement for Hispanics. On the whole, these findings suggest that fostering a school climate supportive of multiculturalism may improve empathy toward ethnic out-groups. Furthermore, schools that promote compassion and tolerance for diverse ethnic groups may achieve better academic outcomes among Hispanic youth.     

父母参与作业的自主动机与小学生积极作业情绪:学生作业自主动机与教师支持的作用

采用问卷调查法,以702名小学生为被试,探讨了教师支持、父母参与作业的自主动机和学生家庭作业自主动机影响积极数学家庭作业情绪的内在作用机制。结果发现：（1）父母参与作业的自主动机是积极数学家庭作业情绪的预测因素;（2）学生家庭作业自主动机在父母参与作业的自主动机与积极数学家庭作业情绪之间起完全中介作用;（3）教师支持在父母参与作业的自主动机通过学生家庭作业自主动机影响其积极数学家庭作业情绪的过程中起有中介的调节作用。研究表明,教师支持、父母参与作业的自主动机和学生家庭作业自主动机均是学生积极家庭作业情绪的重要影响因素。     

Ineffective Schools as Organizational Reactions to Stress

Educational research has identified effective schools in terms of characteristics associated with high student achievement, and conversely, schools lacking these characteristics are often conceived as ineffective schools. In this article, I propose that organizational stress responses create the conditions that make schools effective or ineffective. In other words, low achievement does not make schools ineffective but rather organizational behavior associated with stress creates and perpetuates school ineffectiveness, including low achievement. Drawing on the threat-rigidity thesis and open systems theory, hypotheses regarding how groups and organizations respond to stress were tested using demographic and achievement data for students attending elementary schools, in addition to survey data obtained from students (N= 18,189), principals (N= 75), and parents (N= 13,768). Using cluster analysis, schools were grouped and described in terms of the schools stress level (student populations requiring more resources for learning), school adaptations to stress (emphases on varied school internal processes), and school output (student achievement). To lessen input from the external environment, schools experiencing more stress had less permeable bound- aries, as indicated by parent reports of less school involvement and less positive school climate. Schools experiencing more stress also had more internal disruption, as indicated by less consensus among parents and students regarding school internal processes and by more principal changes. However, in such schools, there was little evidence of more control over school internal processes in terms of principals self-reported behavior and student and parent perceptions of school order and discipline, and teacher support of learning. Results call for a better understanding of school ineffectiveness in terms of organizational adaptations to stress and points at which to intervene for more effective school adaptation and functioning.     

教师期望对初中生心理特点的影响

本研究以31名初中教师及其所教的1438名初中生为被试,运用多层线性模型(HLM)从个体和班级两个层面探讨了教师期望对初中生的学业、同伴接纳和学校满意度等心理发展指标的影响。结果表明:个体层面,教师对学生的期望影响该生的学校满意度、同伴接纳和学业成绩;班级层面:教师对班级的平均期望影响班级的学校不满意感和同伴接纳水平,但不影响班级的学业成绩。     

School Context Protective Factors Against Peer Ethnic Discrimination Across the High School Years

Ethnically diverse high school contexts present unique social opportunities for youth to form interethnic relationships, but they may also subject students to certain social challenges such as peer ethnic discrimination. With a sample of 1,072 high school students (55% girls; 54% Latino, 20% African American, 14% Asian, 12% White) attending 84 high schools, school context factors that protect students’ exposure to peer ethnic discrimination across the high school years were investigated with a three-level hierarchical linear model. Each spring for four consecutive years (grades 9–12), self-reported peer ethnic discrimination, interracial climate at school, and perceived school ethnic composition were assessed. At the school level, objective high school ethnic composition data were collected. Peer ethnic discrimination was found to decline slightly across the high school years. Above and beyond this decline, more positive perceptions of the school interracial climate and both objective and perceived numerical ethnic majority status predicted lower levels of peer ethnic discrimination. Taken together, the results highlight the significance of both objective (e.g., ethnic composition) and subjective (e.g., interracial climate) aspects of the school ethnic context to students’ high school social experiences.     

Peer pressure: a cause of scholastic underachievement? A cross-cultural study of mathematical achievement among German,Canadian, and Israeli middle school students

The present study examines consequences of high peer pressure on academic performance in mathematics among 14-year-old middle-school students in Germany, Canada, and Israel. Its core assumption is that students with very high abilities in mathematics underachieve in order to avoid social exclusion (in the form of being called, e.g., nerds) in their schools. Altogether almost 1,700 students were surveyed in the three cultures. Findings of the study make it obvious that—concerning achievement in mathematics—the primary victims of peer pressure in middle school are girls, boys more likely than girls being the perpetrators. High individual preferences of achievement values can buffer effects of peer pressure. However, from a pedagogical point of view it may nevertheless seem an option to teach mathematics in mono-gender courses, in order to improve the chances of both girls and boys to show an academic performance that concurs with their real competence.     

School counselors as gatekeepers: guidance in poor versus affluent neighborhoods

Previous studies reveal that career guidance is usually based on a mixture of meritocratic criteria (academic ability and achievement) and nonmeritocratic considerations (students' SES and their social labeling by counselors). The present study argues that school counselors in affluent neighborhoods emphasize the meritocratic criteria, while those in poorer neighborhoods tend to focus on the more nonmeritocratic. This hypothesis is examined in a random sample of 210 male, primary school graduates from the 10 state schools of an Israeli town, 125 of whom are from schools in affluent neighborhoods, and 85 from schools in poorer neighborhoods. A path analysis of determinants of guidance to specific high school tracks shows that students' ethnicity and labeling as problematic directly affect guidance by counselors only in the poor neighborhoods. The effect of students' "problems" is due to their being labeled as problematic with respect to psychological or physical attributes rather than to behavioral problems at school. The findings are subsequently interpreted as reflecting a patronizing attitude toward lower status students by counselors. Additional studies which may further elaborate the determinants of guidance in poor versus affluent neighborhoods are proposed.     

小学生学业负担与数学成绩的关系研究:基于潜在剖面分析

应用潜在剖面分析方法对广州市58所学校的六年级学生数学成绩进行潜在分类,并分析不同类别学生的学业负担状况。结果表明,学生样本按数学成绩可以分为三个类别:数学成绩良好组、数学成绩中等组、数学成绩较差组。此外,学业负担的轻重对不同数学成绩层次的学生会产生不同程度的影响。     

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.     

When and why people <Emphasis Type="Italic">don</Emphasis>’<Emphasis Type="Italic">t</Emphasis> accept cheating: self-transcendence values,social responsibility,mastery goals and attitudes towards cheating

Although self-transcendence values have received top rankings as moral values, research has yet to show how they relate to cheating. In two studies, (N = 129) and (N = 122), we analyze the indirect motivational path between self-transcendence values and acceptance of cheating. Both studies were carried out with third-year students in an international management school: Study 1 included 58 male and 65 female students (six missing values), mean age: 22.38 (SD = 1.60). The study 2 sample comprised 46 male and 73 female students, (three missing values), mean age: 22.01 (SD = 1.74). We find that adherence to self-transcendence values positively predicts a social-responsibility driven motivation to study, namely wanting to study to help improve society. This, in turn, predicts the adoption of study-related mastery-approach achievement goals, characterized by a desire to understand course material. These learning-oriented goals negatively predict the acceptance of cheating. Study 2 also reveals that exposing individuals to representations of society characterized by opposing self-enhancement values of power and achievement is sufficient to render non-significant the negative relation between self-transcendence values and acceptance of cheating. The theoretical and practical significance of understanding motivational connections between higher-order life values and context-specific acceptance of dishonest behaviors is discussed.     

Peer Victimization, Aggression, and Their Co-Occurrence in Middle School: Pathways to Adjustment Problems

An ethnically diverse sample of 6th-grade students completed peer nomination procedures that were used to create subgroups of students with reputations as victims, aggressors, aggressive victims, and socially adjusted (neither aggressive nor victimized). Self-report data on psychological adjustment, attributions for peer harassment, and perceived school climate were gathered. In addition, homeroom teachers rated participating students on academic engagement and students' grades were collected from school records. Victims reported the most negative self-views, aggressors enjoyed the most positive self-views, and aggressive victims fell between these two groups, although their psychological profile more closely resembled that of victims. However, all three subgroups encountered more school adjustment problems when compared to their socially adjusted classmates. Different pathways to school adjustment problems for aggressors and victims were examined. For victims, characterological self-blame for victimization and psychological maladjustment were the key mediators, whereas for aggressors, the significant pathway was mainly through perceived unfairness of school rules. Analyses by ethnicity revealed that African American boys were most likely to be perceived as aggressive and as aggressive victims and they were doing most poorly in school. Implications for intervention with subgroups of problem behavior youth and the particular vulnerabilities of African American adolescents were discussed.     

Schooling without learning: thirty years of cheating in high school.

A survey instrument, developed in 1968 and administered to 1,629 high school students in 1969, 1,100 students in 1979, and 1,291 students in 1989, asked them to respond to items regarding the following: (1) the amount of cheating believed going on, (2) who was most guilty, (3) reasons given for cheating, (4) the courses in which most cheating occurred, (5) how to punish cheaters and by whom, (6) beliefs regarding dishonesty in society, and (7) confessions of their own dishonest behaviors in school. Between 1969 and 1989, student responses reflected increasingly pessimistic opinions about dishonesty in school and society. Fear of failure remained the most common reason for cheating. Math and science were the courses in which cheating most often occurred. The home was considered the best place and school the worst place to inculcate honesty. Over the three decades covered by this study, dishonesty was viewed as increasingly necessary, more people believed advertising was suspect, and success in business was attributed to fraudulent activities. More students admitted to cheating on tests and homework. More parents were not aiding and abetting students in avoidance of school rules. Polls, studies, and reports recently published by state, federal, and private agencies appear to confirm these findings.     

Adolescent Girls’ and Boys’ Science Peer Relationships and Perceptions of the Possible Self as Scientist

Girls tend to have less peer support for their science interests than do boys, which may contribute to gender differences in science motivation. The effect of science peer relationships on adolescents visions of their possible personal future lives as scientists was studied in 161 female and 163 male gifted high school students who participated in summer science enrichment programs. Student reports of having positive science peer relationships were associated with more positive expectations of the possible personal self as scientist prior to the programs, and both program-related and nonprogram-related science peer relationships were associated with changes in the possible self at posttesting and at 6 month follow-up. These relations held for both male and female students. At follow-up, girls reported a stronger social niche with fellow program participants and stronger science peer relationships than did boys. Implications of the findings are discussed within the larger gendered societal context for science achievement.     

中学生学习主观幸福感及其影响因素的初步研究

以910名从初一到高三的中学生为被试,采用自编的《中学生学习主观幸福感量表》进行研究。结果表明:(1)中学生学习主观幸福感普遍偏低,且存在学校类型、年级的差异,非重点学校学生学习主观幸福感更低;高二、初二学生学习主观幸福感最低。(2)影响中学生学习主观幸福感的直接因素是学习体验和现有学习成绩,其中,前者作用更大。(3)影响中学生学习主观幸福感的间接因素是社会压力和希望学习成绩,它们通过学习体验或现有学习成绩间接作用于学习主观幸福感。