Sex differences in secondary school achievement – The contribution of self-perceived abilities and fear of failure

While previous studies demonstrated the existence of a ‘gender gap’, according to which girls outperform boys in their scholastic achievement, the reason for these differences is yet unclear. We used structural equation analyses and multiple-group comparisons to determine sex-specific influences of self-reported motivational variables (domain-specific self-perceived abilities, fear of failure) on teacher-reported mid-term school grades of 140 boys (M_age = 10.9) and 185 girls (M_age = 10.8) from Germany. Our results suggest that the gender gap derives at least partly from sex differences in the contribution of these motivational variables to children's performance in school: Regarding German, girls' level of self-perceived abilities was higher and also more relevant for their performance. Moreover, higher levels of fear of failure led to worse Math grades only for girls, suggesting the presence of gender-stereotypic beliefs. Further research should investigate the impact of additional constructs, e.g., gender-stereotype awareness, self-regulation.     

Inequalities in school leavers’ labour market outcomes: do school subject choices matter?

Abstract

Despite a wide international literature on the effect of vocational and general education on school-to-work transition, relatively little is known about the role of having studied specific subjects in explaining inequalities in young people’s labour market outcomes. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining differences in employment chances of young people who left education early, either at the end of compulsory schooling or at the end of secondary school. Using data from the Scottish Longitudinal Study, a large-scale linkage study created using data from administrative and statistical sources, we found little gender differences but strong parental background differences in school leavers’ employment status and type of occupation entered. Social inequalities in labour market outcomes were only partly explained by curriculum choices. Moreover, after controlling for social origin and grades, only history and business for lower-secondary leavers and maths for upper-secondary leavers were associated with a reduction in the chances of being unemployed/inactive.     

Associations between school absence and academic achievement: Do socioeconomics matter?

This study examined the extent to which the association between increased student absence and lower achievement outcomes varied by student and school‐level socioeconomic characteristics. Analyses were based on the enrolment, absence and achievement records of 89,365 Year 5, 7 and 9 students attending government schools in Western Australian between 2008 and 2012. Multivariate multi‐level modelling methods were used to estimate numeracy, writing and reading outcomes based on school absence, and interactions between levels of absence and school socioeconomic index (SEI), prior achievement, gender, ethnicity, language background, parent education and occupation status. While the effects of absence on achievement were greater for previously high‐achieving students, there were few significant interactions between absence and any of the socioeconomic measures on achievement outcomes. The results of first‐difference regression models indicated that the negative effect of an increase in absence was marginally larger for students attending more advantaged schools, though most effects were very small. While students from disadvantaged schools have, on average, more absences than their advantaged peers, there is very little evidence to suggest that the effects of absence are greater for those attending lower‐SEI schools. School attendance should therefore be a priority for all schools, and not just those with high rates of absence or low average achievement.     

Promotion and reassignment in public school districts: How do schools respond to differences in teacher effectiveness?

We use a unique administrative database from the state of Florida to provide the first evidence that promotion and other job reassignments within school districts are systematically related to differences in teacher effectiveness in raising student achievement. We follow the career paths of a cohort of almost 25,000 classroom teachers during the 2001-2002 school year for seven subsequent years. Our results confirm that effective teachers are more likely to become assistant principals or principals and less likely to be reassigned to a low-stakes teaching position. The tendency of highly effective teachers to continue teaching in high-stakes grades and subjects is strongest in schools receiving low ratings from the state's school accountability system. Teachers entering the principal track experience a large increase in annual earnings, but the share of teachers promoted in this way is small enough that future compensation remains largely unrelated to effectiveness for teachers as a whole.     

Why do girls do better in reading than boys? How parental emotional contagion explains gender differences in reading achievement

Previous studies that attempted to explain why girls often perform better than boys in reading have emphasized the role of values and beliefs, with little attention paid to the role of emotions. This study focused on the role of parent–child emotional contagion in explaining gender differences, by investigating how parents’ reading emotion predicts students’ reading emotion and subsequent reading achievement. The data that was used was from a subsample of students from the Program for International Students Assessment (n = 84,429) from 14 countries. Multi-group structural equation modeling was conducted to assess a model of parents’ enjoyment of reading predicting reading achievement through students’ enjoyment of reading. Results provided support for a model of parents’ enjoyment of reading, predicting students 'enjoyment of reading, and subsequent reading achievement for both girls and boys. However, the indirect effect of parents’ enjoyment of reading on reading achievement through students’ enjoyment of reading was found to be stronger in girls than in boys. Findings emphasize the important role of parents’ emotions on student outcomes and how gender biases in a certain context can affect the extent to which parents’ emotions can influence student achievement.     

Mainstream and immigrant students’ primary school mathematics achievement differences in European countries

European Journal of Psychology of Education - The few studies on the achievement differences of mainstream and immigrant primary school students in large-scale assessments point to an achievement...     

Academic achievement in first-year university: who maintains their high school average?

The present study investigates the characteristics which differentiate between first-year university students who maintain their high school averages (Maintainers: n = 165) and those whose averages decrease at least one letter grade (Decliners: n = 435). The 600 students entered first year at one of six Canadian Universities, which varied in size and ethnic diversity. Data were collected in August, prior to the start of school, and in November of first year. Multivariate analyses indicated significant group differences between Maintainers and Decliners on familial variables (gender, fathers’ education level, but not family income, parental reciprocity, parental support or immigrant/generational status), psychological well-being (perceived stress in August and November, and November depression, self-esteem and health), and university adjustment (university plans, transition perception, time management and university adaptation). The current study addresses a gap in the existing academic achievement literature, while providing practical information to students, parents, and educators involved in the transition to university.     

What did I do in school today?

Rina went to school 1 she was six yearsold.She liked her first day 2 .Her teacher,Miss Yates,was very nice,and 3 in her classwere 4 ,too.But at the end of the secondday,when the other children 5 the class-room,Rina stayed behind and waited.     

What did I do in school today?

Rina went to school 1 she was six years old.She liked her first day 2. Her teacher, Miss Yates,was very nice,and 3 in her class were 4,too.But at the end of the second     

ICT use in mathematics lessons and the mathematics achievement of secondary school students by international comparison: Which role do school level factors play?

By means of an international comparison, the research presented in the article aims to identify supporting and hindering school level factors for the use of ICT in secondary school mathematics lessons. The relationship between ICT use and the performance of Grade 9 students in mathematics is examined and further integrated into a multi-level model including school level factors. Against the background of a theoretical allocation (1) the IT equipment of schools, (2) school leadership, (3) aspects of school goals and educational strategies as well as (4) teachers’ attitudes will be analyzed by means of a multi-level regression model as well as a multi-level path model including the mathematics achievement of students as measured in the context of PISA 2012. Representative school and student data from five countries, namely Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Singapore are taken into consideration, as the integration of ICT in teaching and learning is firmly emphasized in these countries (overall 24,579 students in 1263 schools). By modeling the complex structure, school characteristics are examined with respect to their effect on the use of ICT for mathematics teaching. Moreover, the relation between different factors and students’ mathematics achievement will be synchronously assessed in the different educational systems. The results show that characteristics at school level do play a major role in the integration of ICT into teaching and learning and turn out to be relevant across the educational systems. In addition to further in-depth country-specific findings, the results point to cross-national future challenges in the field of using technologies to enhance teaching and learning.     

Students’ achievement goals and beliefs of causes of success: Temporal relations and gender differences

According to the goal orientation model, students’ achievement goals and beliefs are interrelated. Within this framework, research and theory have so far assumed that achievement goals are associated with students’ beliefs of causes of success, the latter representing students’ subjective beliefs about the factors contributing to success at school. So far, this line of research has been restricted to a few cross-sectional studies. We examined the temporal relations between achievement goals (mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals) and students’ beliefs of causes of success, the latter operationalized by asking the students to rate the subjective importance of diligence, effort, and ability for school success. Achievement goals and beliefs of causes of success were measured twice with a time lag of one school year with a sample of N = 2044 German secondary school students. Cross-lagged panel models were estimated to examine the temporal relations between achievement goals and beliefs of causes of success while controlling for students’ secondary school track, socio-economic status, and Grade Point Average. Former mastery goals were found to be positively related to later importance ratings of diligence for school success; former performance-approach goals were found to be positively related to later importance ratings of ability. Boys and girls were found to display similar relations among constructs but they showed differential mean levels on both the achievement goal constructs and the beliefs of causes of success. Implications for research on achievement goals and practice using intervention approaches are discussed.     

Teacher effects on student achievement in first grade: which aspects matter most?

The present study investigates the effects of teachers (background qualifications, attitudes and beliefs, and instructional practices) on student achievement in mathematics, reading, and spelling in 1st grade. Its theoretical framework and methodology are based on recent work by Palardy and Rumberger (2008). Data from the SiBO Project, a longitudinal study in Flemish primary education, were analyzed for the present study using 2-level regression analysis. The results showed that teacher background had the largest effect on mathematics achievement, whereas instructional practices had the largest effects on both reading and spelling achievement. Moreover, the size of teacher effects depended upon the specific learning domain: Larger teacher effects were found for mathematics than for spelling and reading. Overall, the results suggest that teachers had a modest to strong effect on student achievement in first grade.     

Children’s school placement in Germany: does Kindergarten attendance matter?

The positive effects of Early Childhood Programs (ECP’s) on children’s school success have been demonstrated in the literature. However, most studies were completed in the U.S.A., where ECP’s vary widely, based on differing auspice, regulation, cost, and other factors. In European countries, ECP’s are generally far more homogenous. This is particularly true for Germany where most programs are community-based Kindergartens operated under similar structural conditions.In this study, we examine the relationship between Kindergarten attendance and the 7th grade school placement of children in West Germany, differentiating associations for the children of German citizens as compared to those of immigrants. Using information from a representative population sample, the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), different models were estimated. The results indicate that there is no significant relationship between Kindergarten attendance of children of German citizens and children’s later school placement. However, for children in immigrant households the reverse is true: later school placement was significantly associated with Kindergarten attendance prior to school enrollment. Additionally, the analysis showed that controlling for Kindergarten attendance changed the level of significance for other well-known “school attainment determinants,” such as father’s education and household income.     

Explaining social class inequalities in educational achievement in the UK: quantifying the contribution of social class differences in school ‘effectiveness’

There are large social class inequalities in educational achievement in the UK. This paper quantifies the contribution of one mechanism to the production of these inequalities: social class differences in school ‘effectiveness’, where ‘effectiveness’ refers to a school’s impact on pupils’ educational achievement (relative to other schools). It builds on the small number of existing studies, whilst overcoming a number of their limitations. It estimates the effectiveness of the (state) schools attended between ages 7/8 and 10/11 by a cohort of children born in the 1990s in Avon, a former county of England, and then compares the effectiveness of the schools attended by children from different social classes. It finds that ‘higher’ social class children attend more effective schools, on average, and that these social class differences in average school effectiveness between ages 7/8 and 10/11 account for 7% of social class differences in average educational achievement age 10/11. This is not a causal analysis, however.     

Conceptualizing a basis for understanding: What differences do differences make?

The purpose of our commentary is to offer ways of understanding the differences in theoretical positions and of exploring what difference the differences make. To conceptualize a basis for understanding the theoretical transformation currently taking place in the field of educational psychology, we bring two constructs from the philosophy of science to bear. We suggest that one way to understand the differences is to consider the expressive potential of the research programs. In so doing, we suggest that the research programs be seen as intellectual ecologies created by members within these traditions. We argue that to understand the emic point of view of a tradition, one must become initiated into the discourse within that community and understand the historical development of the ideas within that intellectual ecology.     

Does the reason matter? How student‐reported reasons for school absence contribute to differences in achievement outcomes among 14–15 year olds

While an emerging body of research has examined the effects of school absences on student outcomes, there is comparatively little research examining the different reasons contributing to school absence, how common these reasons are, and the extent to which different types of absences are differentially associated with achievement. To address these gaps, we used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children to examine the reasons for school absence as reported by 14–15 year olds and how these reasons relate to achievement outcomes in Year 9. Only 7% of 14–15 year olds indicated they had been absent in the previous six months without parental consent, of which 46% indicated the most recent absence was due to problems at school. Of the 90% of students who had been absent with parental consent, only 6% said the most recent absence was due to problems at school. After controlling for student, family and school characteristics and Year 7 achievement, Year 9 achievement was most strongly associated with absences related to student‐ or family‐level reasons. While schools typically bear the responsibility for monitoring and responding to absenteeism, the drivers of absence may not be related to factors that schools can realistically address. For schools, addressing absenteeism requires a dual approach of preventing avoidable absences and mitigation strategies for when either avoidable or unavoidable absences occur.     

What makes a landmark effective? Sex differences in a navigation task

In Experiment 1, two groups of female rats were trained in a triangular pool to find a hidden platform whose location was defined in terms of a single a landmark, a cylinder outside the pool. For one group, the landmark had only a single pattern (i.e., it looked the same when approached from any direction), while for the other, the landmark contained four different patterns (i.e., it looked different when approached from different directions). The first group learned to swim to the platform more rapidly than the second. Experiment 2 confirmed this difference when female rats were trained in a circular pool but found that male rats learned equally rapidly (and as rapidly as females trained with the single-pattern landmark) with both landmarks. This second finding was confirmed in Experiment 3. Finally, in Experiment 4a and 4b, male and female rats were trained either with the same, single-pattern landmark on all trials or with a different landmark each day. Males learned equally rapidly (and as rapidly as females trained with the unchanged landmark) whether the landmark changed or not. We conclude that male and female rats learn rather different things about the landmark that signals the location of the platform.     

Do performance goals promote learning? A pattern analysis of Singapore students’ achievement goals

This study investigated how achievement goals are combined to affect students’ learning. We used a multiple goals perspective, based on mastery (i.e., mastery approach) and performance (including both approach and avoidance components) goals, to examine the achievement goal patterns of 1697 Singapore Secondary 3 students in their math study. Four types of goal clusters emerged from latent class cluster analyses: Diffuse (moderate multiple), Moderate Mastery (moderate mastery/low performance approach and avoidance), Success Oriented (moderate mastery/high performance approach and avoidance), and Approach (high mastery and performance approach/low performance avoidance). Analyses of covariance were conducted to compare these four clusters on eleven cognitive, behavioral, and affective learning outcomes. In general, students in the Success Oriented and Approach groups were higher on self-efficacy, subjective task values, class engagement, homework engagement, time management, and meta-cognitive self-regulation than those in the other two groups. In addition, students in the Approach and Moderate Mastery groups were more likely to make effort when encountering difficulties in learning math, showed lower test anxiety, lower negative affect, and achieved higher scores in math than students in the other two groups. These findings suggest that the goal profile with high mastery and performance approach goals combined with low performance avoidance goals is most beneficial for learning, whereas high performance approach goals, when associated with performance avoidance goals, have some negative effects on affective outcomes. The patterns help to refine distinctions in performance goals, and are discussed in the context of academic achievement in Singapore.     

Assimilation of immigrants: Does earlier school exposure matter?

This paper studies the effect of migration age on school performance. We exploit that siblings have different migration age, but share the same family background to identify the effect of migration age on educational attainment in lower secondary education in Norway. We estimate a separate effect for migrants from countries with low access to a high quality school system.We find negative effects of migration age on exam results, and larger effects for migrants from countries with low school access. Language intensive subjects are substantially affected for all migrants, while there are differences according to school access for mathematics performance.     

Understanding achievement differences between schools in Ireland – can existing data-sets help?

Recent years have seen an increased focus on school accountability in Ireland and calls for greater use to be made of student achievement data for monitoring student outcomes. In this paper, it is argued that existing data-sets in Ireland offer limited potential for the value-added modelling approaches used for accountability purposes in many other countries. Some reasons for this include: few longitudinal studies of student achievement, few population data-sets and limited data on student home background in the State examination data-sets. A cross-sectional contextualised attainment model (CAM) is presented using Junior Certificate data from 2009. While the model offers some potential for identifying schools performing significantly above or below average, its explanatory power is limited by the availability of appropriate student background data. It is proposed that the use of statistical models for the purposes of identifying high or low performing schools in Ireland would need to take account of findings from other countries regarding technical difficulties such as variable selection, missing data, and the need to avoid aggregated data. Other practical concerns discussed include the appropriateness of publishing league tables and the usefulness of such information for informing parental choice.