School climate and ethnic‐racial identity in school: A longitudinal examination of reciprocal associations

The messages youth receive in schools about how they matter as individuals and as members of ethnic‐racial groups are influential in constructing their developing ethnic‐racial identities (ERI). However, the developing ERI students hold also have a role in shaping their experiences at school. The current study examined the longitudinal and reciprocal association between ERI (exploration and resolution) and school climate (support for cultural pluralism and teacher supportiveness) among 491 Black, Latino, and White middle school youth (M_age = 12.03, SD = 1.05, range: 11–17) in the Midwest. Cross‐lagged analyses revealed that greater perceptions of support for cultural pluralism within the school predicted greater exploration and resolution at later time points for all students. Moreover, greater exploration and resolution among White students was predictive of greater perceptions of support for cultural pluralism at the school. Higher quality teacher–student relationships predicted greater engagement in ERI exploration for all youth. The findings highlight the importance of school climate in helping shape ERI among youth attending a culturally diverse school and the role of such youth in shaping the climate at their school.     

Victimization in South Korean children's peer groups

This study reports a cross-sectional investigation of the behavioral, academic, and psychosocial correlates of victimization in South Korean children's peer groups. The participants were 122 children (66 boys, 56 girls; from 10–12-years-old) recruited from a primary school in Seoul, South Korea. Multi-informant assessments (peer nominations, teacher ratings, and self-reports) of peer victimization, social behavior, loneliness/social dissatisfaction, and academic functioning were obtained. Multivariate analyses indicated that peer victimization was associated with poor academic adjustment, loneliness, submissive–withdrawn behavior, aggression, and low levels of assertive–prosocial behavior. These findings suggest that there is considerable similarity in the social processes underlying peer group victimization across South Korean and Western cultural settings.     

中小学生的师生关系与其学校适应

采用问卷法,考察了小学五年级到初中三年级665名学生的师生关系及学校适应特点。结果表明,在师生关系的亲密性维度,初中三年级显著低于其他3个年级,而在冲突性维度则显著高于其他3个年级;在冲突性维度上,女生得分显著低于男生。师生关系可以归为3种类型:亲密型、一般型和冲突型。亲密型师生关系的学生在学校态度、学业行为和社会行为方面均显著好于一般型和冲突型师生关系的学生;师生关系对学校态度、学业行为和亲社会行为均有显著的预测作用;学校喜欢和回避对学业行为、退缩行为有显著的预测作用。     

Examining classroom influences on student perceptions of school climate: The role of classroom management and exclusionary discipline strategies

There is growing emphasis on the use of positive behavior supports rather than exclusionary discipline strategies to promote a positive classroom environment. Yet, there has been limited research examining the association between these two different approaches to classroom management and students' perceptions of school climate. Data from 1902 students within 93 classrooms that were nested within 37 elementary schools were examined using multilevel structural equation modeling procedures to investigate the association between two different classroom management strategies (i.e., exclusionary discipline strategies and the use of positive behavior supports) and student ratings of school climate (i.e., fairness, order and discipline, student–teacher relationship, and academic motivation). The analyses indicated that greater use of exclusionary discipline strategies was associated with lower order and discipline scores, whereas greater use of classroom-based positive behavior supports was associated with higher scores on order and discipline, fairness, and student–teacher relationship. These findings suggest that pre-service training and professional development activities should promote teachers' use of positive behavior support strategies and encourage reduced reliance on exclusionary discipline strategies in order to enhance the school climate and conditions for learning.     

Unselfish Motivations and Deviance: An Empirical Examination of Social Concern Theory among South Korean Adolescents

ABSTRACT

The study tested the mediating role of social concern – or intrinsic unselfish motivations – in the relationship among teacher bonds, deviant peer association, and youth delinquency in Korea, a cultural setting that promotes social concern. Multi-group path analysis with nationally representative data of Korean adolescents (N = 2,089) indicated that teacher bonds predicted lower levels of delinquency, whereas deviant peer association predicted higher levels. Bonding with teachers was significantly related to social concern; however, social concern predicted less deviant behavior for boys only. Prevention policies that improve the quality of teacher-youth relationships may more effectively restrain self-interested behavior than intensified punishment.     

Similarities and dissimilarities between teachers' and students' relationship views in upper elementary school: The role of personal teacher and student attributes

The present study aimed to advance insight into similarities and dissimilarities between teachers' and students' views of closeness and conflict in their dyadic relationship, and personal teacher and student attributes that contribute to these views. In total, 464 students (50.2% girls) and 62 teachers (67.5% females) from grades 4 to 6 participated in this study. Teachers filled out questionnaires about their background characteristics, self-efficacy (TSES), and student–teacher relationship perceptions (STRS) and students answered questions about their demographics and the student–teacher relationship quality (SPARTS). Peer-nominations were used to measure students' internalizing and externalizing behavior. Tests for measurement invariance suggested that the conflict and closeness constructs both approximated similarity across students and teachers. Multilevel structural equation models furthermore indicated that students' relationship perceptions, and conflict in particular, were predicted by their own gender, socioeconomic status, and internalizing and externalizing behavior. Additionally, teaching experience negatively predicted students' perceived conflicts. Teachers' relationship perceptions were both predicted by their own characteristics (teaching experience) and student features (gender, socioeconomic status, and externalizing behavior). These predictors explained between 39% and 61% of the variance in student- and teacher-perceived closeness and conflict. Last, teachers' general self-efficacy was positively associated with mean levels of closeness, and negatively associated with mean levels of conflict across student–teacher dyads.     

Adolescent empathy and prosocial behavior in the multidimensional context of school culture

The authors investigated whether students' positive perceptions of their high school's culture were associated with higher levels of empathy and prosocial behavior. The authors collected information from 2 samples to ensure a wide range of school culture perceptions. As expected, empathy and prosocial behavior were correlated. As evidence of the validity of the measure of school culture, students in a small alternative school perceived their school culture as more positive than did students in the companion large, traditional high school. More positive perceptions of school culture were associated with higher levels of empathy but not with prosocial behavior. Results were moderated by gender but not by age. Male students with higher levels of emotional concern (one aspect of empathy) perceived peer relationships (one aspect of school culture) to be more positive than did those with lower levels of emotional concern. This study highlights the importance of using multidimensional constructs for school culture and empathy to understand the effects of schooling on youth.     

Teacher preference, peer rejection, and student aggression: A prospective study of transactional influence and independent contributions to emotional adjustment and grades

This study assessed the importance of teacher preference of individual students, relative to peer rejection and student aggression, as an independent predictor of children's emotional adjustment and grades. First, a longitudinal, cross-lagged path analysis was conducted to determine the patterns of influence among teacher preference, peer rejection, and student aggression. Then, parallel growth analyses were examined to test whether lower initial and declining teacher preference, beyond the influence of initial level and change in peer rejection and student aggression, predicted change in loneliness, depression, social anxiety, and grades. Social adjustment, emotional adjustment, and academic adjustment were assessed in the fall and spring of two consecutive school years with 1193 third-grade students via peer-, teacher-, and self-report instruments as well as school records. In the cross-lagged path analysis, reciprocal influence over time between teacher preference and peer rejection was found, and student aggression predicted lower teacher preference and higher peer rejection. In the growth analyses, initial and declining teacher preference were independent predictors of increasing loneliness and declining grades. Discussion focuses on the relevance of the results within a transactional model of school adaptation.     

ADHD Behaviors and Social Functioning in Preschool Children: The Moderating Role of Emotion Recognition

This study examined the moderating role of emotion recognition on the association between preschoolers’ ADHD behaviors and social functioning outcomes. Sixty preschoolers (48.3% female; M_age?=?3.94, SD_age?=?.56) were recruited from Head Start-affiliated classrooms. Teacher-rated ADHD behaviors and an objective measure of children’s emotion recognition were assessed at the beginning of the school year. Teacher ratings of social functioning outcomes were obtained approximately three months after the start of school. Hierarchical regressions examined the unique and interactive effects of ADHD behaviors and emotion recognition on preschoolers’ social functioning outcomes (i.e., oppositional behaviors, peer behavior problems, and social-emotional school readiness). The interaction between ADHD behaviors and emotion recognition predicted oppositional behaviors, peer behavior problems and social-emotional school readiness such that higher levels of emotion recognition appear to buffer the negative association between ADHD behaviors and adaptive social functioning. Preliminary considerations for interventions aimed at promoting preschoolers’ social functioning are discussed.

     

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。     

Concurrent and short‐term longitudinal associations between peer victimization and school and recess liking during middle childhood

Background Prior studies outside of the UK have shown that peer victimization is negatively associated with school adjustment. Aims To examine concurrent and short‐term longitudinal associations between peer victimization (physical, malicious teasing, deliberate social exclusion, and malicious gossiping) and two measures of school adjustment (school liking and recess liking), and test if these associations were moderated by year and sex. Sample A UK sample of 429 pupils in Years 4, 5, and 6 (Grades 3, 4, and 5, respectively, in USA) participated in the Autumn/Winter (Time 1) and 189 of these provided follow‐up data during the Spring/Summer (Time 2) of the same school year. Method Peer nominations of victimization, and self‐reports of school adjustment were collected in individual and small group interviews. Results At time 2 (but not Time 1), victimization predicted concurrent school liking among year 6 pupils but not among year 4/5 pupils, and victimization predicted recess liking among all pupils. Victimization also predicted changes in School liking among boys (not girls) and among Year 6 (not Year 4/5) pupils, and victimization predicted changes in recess liking among all pupils. Conclusions The associations between victimization and poor school adjustment found elsewhere were replicated with this British sample. The implications of these results for children's social adjustment at school were discussed.     

The Positive Plus Program: Affirmative classroom management to improve student behavior

This study describes the Positive Plus Program, a multicomponent intervention combining behavior‐specific praise with an interdependent group contingency and teacher feedback. An elementary school teacher wanting to improve her classroom management skills implemented the Positive Plus Program. Four second‐grade students participated in the study, and each of the students emitted disruptive behavior in class previously. This study, using an ABAB design, indicated that when the teacher reliably delivered high levels of behavior‐specific praise and awarded points, disruptive behavior was less likely. Student outcomes showed increased academic engagement and decreased off‐task motor and verbal behavior from pre‐ to post‐intervention. Teacher ratings indicated high levels of social validity. In light of these findings, implications for future research and implementation are discussed.     

Evaluating the impact of human rights education on the adjustment of Greek primary school students

Human rights education has an encouraging effect on children's school routine. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of a 12-session transformative human rights education intervention in improving children's school adjustment. Participants were 340 Greek primary school students assigned to intervention group (n = 187) and control group (n = 153). All members completed a written questionnaire 1 week before the implementation of the intervention, measuring their knowledge of human rights, school engagement, perceptions of the school environment, interpersonal relationships, empathy and perceptions, attitudes and feelings towards school. The completion process of the same questionnaire was repeated 1 week after the termination of the intervention and 4 months later. The results showed that the intervention was particularly beneficial as the intervention group members demonstrated a significant increase in their knowledge of human rights, school engagement, perceptions of the school environment, empathy and school liking, while experiencing a significant decrease in school avoidance and loneliness. Members of the control group did not report any significant improvement over time. The study's implications for future research on school-based human rights interventions are discussed.     

Middle school student perceptions of school climate: Examining protective functions on subsequent adjustment problems

The present study examined the roles of student perceptions of four aspects of school climate (friction, cohesion, competition among students, and satisfaction with classes) as moderators of the relations between effortful control and subsequent conduct problems and depressive symptoms. Participants were 488 10-to-14-year old students involved in two waves, with one year between each wave, of a study. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that high levels of perceived friction predicted more subsequent conduct problems and depressive symptoms, even after baseline levels of these problems were partialled out. Low levels of effortful control also elevated risk for subsequent conduct problems. However, perceptions of the school as high in cohesion offset the risk associated with low levels of effortful control. Perceived satisfaction with classes also offset this risk, but only for females. Contrary to expectations, student perceptions of school climate did not interact with effortful control to predict subsequent depressive symptoms.     

A longitudinal study of mother-child interactions at school entry and social and academic outcomes in middle school

This study examines the association between quality of mother-child interaction assessed at kindergarten entry and children's social and academic outcomes in middle school. The relation between early mother-child interactions and later school performance was examined controlling for demographic variables (e.g., maternal education, family's ethnicity, estimated child IQ, and child's gender) often associated with school outcomes. Ratings of mother-child interaction were assessed for 122 mother-child dyads on the first day of kindergarten. Children's social and academic performance in school (e.g., discipline problems, classroom behavior, and grades) was assessed via teacher observation and grade reports through the eighth grade. Results indicate that positive quality of mother-child interaction accounted for unique variance in social and academic success in early adolescence over and above the contribution of demographic variables. Further, the relation between mother-child patterns and middle school social outcomes varied as a function of ethnicity. These findings support the exploration of process-oriented social variables for predicting later social and academic competence.     

Achievement of Children in Orphan Homes as Revealed by the Stanford Achievement Test

Regression surface analysis was used to examine relationships between teacher perceptions of school related behavior and children's academic achievement at different levels of intelligence, social status, and family environment. Data were collected as part of a national survey of 11-, 12-, and 15-year-old English schoolchildren (N = approximately 3000). The regression surfaces were constructed from models which examined possible linear, curvilinear, and interaction relations between the variables. In the analysis the Jackknife technique was used to adjust the significance levels. Two propositions are suggested by the results that (a) at each level of intelligence and social environment, changes in the teacher perceptions of student behavior are associated with modest changes in academic achievement, and (b) at each level of teacher perceptions, increases in intelligence and social environment scores are related to sizable increments in academic achievement.     

The reciprocal relations among prosocial behavior,satisfaction of relatedness needs at school,and subjective well-being in school: A three-wave cross-lagged study among Chinese elementary school students

We examined the reciprocal relations among prosocial behavior, satisfaction of relatedness needs at school, and subjective well-being in school among Chinese elementary school students using a 3-wave longitudinal study with a 6-month interval. A total of 1018 elementary school students (M_age = 9.44 years; 53.90% male) completed a multi-measure questionnaire that tapped the targeted variables at three time points. After controlling for gender, age, and parental educational level, the results revealed that (a) Prosocial behavior, satisfaction of relatedness needs at school, and subjective well-being in school reciprocally facilitated each other directly; (b) prosocial behavior indirectly enhanced subjective well-being in school via satisfaction of relatedness needs at school, and subjective well-being in school indirectly enhanced prosocial behavior via satisfaction of relatedness needs at school. Limitations and practical applications were discussed.

     

Life skills development in physical education: A self-determination theory-based investigation across the school term

ObjectivesGrounded in self-determination theory (SDT), the main aim of this study was to examine the longitudinal associations between teacher autonomy support, students’ basic psychological need satisfaction and life skills development in physical education (PE).DesignThis study employed a two-wave longitudinal research design.MethodStudents (N = 266, Mage = 12.94 years, SD = 0.70) completed measures assessing perceived autonomy-supportive teaching, need satisfaction (autonomy, competence, and relatedness), and life skills development in PE (teamwork, goal setting, social skills, problem solving and decision making, emotional skills, leadership, time management, and interpersonal communication). Data collections took place during week 6 (timepoint 1; T1) and week 15 (timepoint 2; T2) of the autumn school term.ResultsCross-lagged panel analyses showed that T1 teacher autonomy support did not significantly predict students’ three basic psychological needs, total need satisfaction or life skills development at T2. Students’ T1 total need satisfaction positively predicted their development of all eight life skills at T2. Additionally, students’ T1 autonomy satisfaction positively predicted their teamwork, social skills, emotional skills, leadership, and interpersonal communication skills at T2, T1 competence satisfaction positively predicted students’ teamwork skills at T2, and students’ T1 relatedness satisfaction positively predicted their social skills at T2.ConclusionsProviding partial support for SDT, the findings highlighted that satisfaction of students’ three basic psychological needs had some positive effects on students’ life skills development in PE. As such, a climate that satisfies students’ basic psychological needs should help to develop their life skills in PE.     

The relationships between negative life events, perceived support in the school environment and depressive symptoms among Norwegian senior high school students: a prospective study

The present study prospectively explored the main and interactive effect of negative life events and social support from teachers and classroom peers on depressive symptoms in a sample of 198 (111 females, 87 males) students in a Norwegian senior high school. In the longitudinal multivariate analyses, self-reported depressive symptom levels at time-point two (T₂) were predicted by initial levels of depressive symptomatology, teacher support, and gender. Support from classroom peers at time-point one (T₁) was not associated with symptoms of depression at (T₂). Multivariate cross-sectional analysis also detected a significant positive association between negative life events and depressive symptoms. Finally, results suggest that perceived teacher support may buffer against negative life events leading to symptoms of depression.     

Perceptions by and of lonely people in social networks

Although past research has associated loneliness with negative perceptions of others, P. Christensen and D. A. Kashy (1998), using the social relations model (SRM), found that among new acquaintances, loneliness was associated with more positive other‐perceptions. SRM was used to examine loneliness and interpersonal perception within existing social networks. Seventy‐three university students in the United States rated themselves and others on 19 attributes and also judged how they thought others saw them (meta‐perceptions). Results indicated that lonely people tended to be more negative toward closer targets and somewhat positive toward less close acquaintances. Lonely people had lower self‐regard and perceived self‐regard, invariant across acquaintanceship, and were rated more negatively by others. Relationship contexts thus moderate effects of loneliness on other‐perceptions.