The impact of peer relations on academic progress in junior high

The purpose of this study is to examine whether peer relations within classrooms were related to students' academic progress, and if so, whether this can be explained by students' relatedness and engagement, in line with Connell and Wellborn's self-system model. We analyzed data of 18,735 students in 796 school classes in Dutch junior high schools, using multilevel analysis. Academic progress, conceptualized as regular promotion to the next year versus grade retention, moving upward, and moving downward in the track system, was measured at the time of transition between Grades 1 and 2 (equivalent to US Grades 7 and 8). The results indicated that students who were accepted by their peers had lower probabilities to retain a grade or to move downward in the track system. Although peer acceptance was associated with relatedness and engagement, these variables did not explain why peer acceptance was associated to academic progress. Furthermore, peer acceptance and relatedness were more strongly related in classes with more negative class climates.     

Classroom engagement mediates the effect of teacher–student support on elementary students' peer acceptance: A prospective analysis

Participants were 360 (52.2% male) ethnically diverse and academically at-risk first-grade children attending one of three school districts in southeast and central Texas. Using latent variable structural equation modeling, we tested a theoretical model positing that the quality of the teacher–student relationship in first grade predicts children's peer acceptance the following year, controlling for children's previous externalizing problems and peer acceptance. We also expected that children's classroom engagement would mediate the effect of teacher–student relationship quality on peer acceptance. The hypothesized model provided a good fit to the data. Engagement fully mediated the effect of teacher support on subsequent peer acceptance. Neither ethnicity nor gender moderated the mediation findings.     

Profiling Marital Satisfaction among Graduate Students: an Analysis of the Perceptions of Masters and Doctoral-Students

This study investigated marital satisfaction among graduate students. Using the Marital Satisfaction Inventory-R (MSI-R), 65 graduate students were surveyed. The results revealed multiple common areas of marital concern based on degree program of the student. These findings offer implications for psycho-educational and responsive interventions for clinicians working with this population.     

Life Satisfaction and Violent Behaviors among Middle School Students

We explored relationships between violent behaviors and perceived life satisfaction among 2,138 middle school students in a southern state using the CDC Middle School Youth Risk Behavior Survey (MSYRBS) and the Brief Multidimensional Student Life Satisfaction Scale (BMSLSS). Logistic regression analyses and multivariate models constructed separately revealed significant race by gender results. Odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for the variables of interest. Having ever carried a gun, ever carried a knife/club, physical fighting and physical fighting with need for medical treatment were associated (p ≤ .05) with reduced life satisfaction for specific race/gender groups, while controlling for SES and grade. Results suggest implications for school-community based violence prevention programs. Future research should consider measures of life satisfaction as a component of comprehensive assessments of middle school student violence and aggressive behaviors in fieldwork, intervention research and program evaluation.     

Vanishing Boundaries: When Teaching About Religion Becomes Spiritual Guidance in the Classroom

Abstract. This article revisits the pedagogical dilemma of maintaining neutrality in the religious studies/theology classroom. I argue that if the boundary between teaching about religion and actually teaching spirituality seems to be vanishing, it is because the boundary was inappropriately constructed in the first place. To the extent that the religious concepts, even when compressed into religious studies categories, inherently inspire personal transformation, how can a boundary exist between the ideas students encounter and the power of those ideas to transform? Spiritual guidance emerges naturally in the academic study of religion, and those of us who teach in the field might as well get used to it. In explaining my position, I draw on my experience as a teaching assistant in Professor Walter Capps's course, “Religion and the Impact of the Vietnam War.” I, then, develop a pragmatic teaching strategy, neutral enthusiasm, which preserves the important neutrality of classroom presentation in religious studies courses, yet recognizes the unavoidable evocative power present in the intellectual territory that is religion. Neutral enthusiasm allows the content to do the work.     

Maternal attributions and young children's conduct problems: a longitudinal study

The association between negative maternal attributions and child conduct problems is well established in correlational studies. However, little is known about how these variables influence each other over time. The present study examined patterns of prediction over time between maternal attributions and pre‐school conduct problems. Sixty mothers and their 3‐year‐old children with a range of levels of conduct problems were interviewed when the child was just 3, and then again when the child was just 4. Childhood conduct problems were assessed using the parental account of childhood symptoms and parental attributions were assessed using a modification of Walker's Parental Attribution Questionnaire. Results indicate that even as young as age 3, child conduct problems are associated with negative maternal attributions. In longitudinal analyses, children's conduct problems at age 3 predicted mothers' attributions at age 4, but mothers' attributions did not predict children's conduct problems over the same time period. The data are consistent with the notion that negative attributions may be a result, rather than a cause, of having a difficult‐to‐manage child. This has implications for current proposed mechanisms that link maternal attributions and child conduct problems, and thus for interventions for these problems. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

大学生课桌文化的心理分析

运用因素分析法研究大学生课桌文化所反映的心理。结果表明,课桌文化反映的大学生心理由11个因素构成:(1)对人生意义及未来的思考;(2)对爱情的探索及情感困惑;(3)自我迷茫与情绪困扰;(4)对性的看法和渴望;(5)对学校及社会不满;(6)自我宣泄;(7)渴望解放个性;(8)对时事与历史的看法;(9)评论他人;(10)悔恨与反思;(11)调侃。不同年级、性别、专业及家庭经济状况的学生在课桌文化心理方面存在差异。     

学校组织气氛与教师工作绩效的关系分析

本研究借助于自编的学校组织气氛量表和教师工作绩效量表,通过对分层随机抽取的378名教师进行了调查,探讨了学校组织气氛与教师工作绩效的关系,结果发现学校组织气氛与教师工作绩效相关非常显著。回归分析和差异检验的结果进一步揭示:学校组织气氛是教师工作绩效的较好预测变量。其中,教学气氛是教师工作绩效的显著预测变量。同时,本研究还发现学校组织气氛对教师任务绩效影响非常显著,但对教师情境绩效影响不显著。     

重庆市中学生与其父母价值观的差异研究

从与其父母间具有差异的价值观的角度出发,本研究自编了重庆市中学生价值观量表,并对重庆市的中学生及其家长进行了调查。结果显示:(1)自编的问卷具有良好的信效度;(2)重庆市中学生的价值观具有显著的性别主效应和年级主效应,学校区域和学校类型均不存在主效应;父亲职业、母亲职业在某些维度上存在主效应。(3)中学生与其父母的价值观在多个维度上都存在差异。在六个主因素中,学生最看重自我方面,而家长最看重家庭。次因素中,学生最看重的是家庭气氛、平等、独立和隐私,家长最看重的是家庭气氛、家庭责任、平等、知识价值。