Reading,metacognition and motivation: A follow-up study of German students in Grades 7 and 8

This follow-up study to van Kraayenoord and Schneider (1999) examined the performance in reading, metacognition and motivation related to reading of students in Grades 7 and 8. Results showed significant correlations between all of the variables. A multivariate analysis of variance showed that “good” and “poor” readers differed in reading self-concept and metacognitive measures related to reading and memory. A stepwise regression analysis suggested that the metacognitive variables were the best predictors of reading. Furthermore, a comparison of the results of the previous study with those of the current investigation revealed that the findings were stable over time. Since the period between the two studies is the time during which students make important decisions related to enrolment in one of three distinct school-types in Germany, we examined the results of various groups of students: those in “Gymnasium” (high educational track), “Realschule” (middle educational track), and “Hauptschule” (low educational track). Students in the Gymnasium scored significantly better than students in the other two groups on almost all variables related to reading. A re-analysis of the data from our first investigation found that the results of the Gymnasium students in the second study could be predicted from their results obtained during elementary school.     

Gendered pathways to educational aspirations: The role of academic self-concept,school burnout,achievement and interest in mathematics and reading

The aim of this study was to examine lower secondary school students' (N = 1152) pathways to educational aspirations. The study used multi-group structural equation modelling to investigate the predictions of academic self-concept, school burnout, achievement, and interest in mathematics and reading, in relation to educational aspirations for boys and girls. While certain factors were influential for students' academic aspirations irrespective of gender, some interesting differences also emerged. Academic self-concept and interest in reading predicted educational aspirations for both groups. However, gendered pathways emerged in how achievement and interest in mathematics predicted educational aspirations. Interest in mathematics predicted girls’ educational aspirations, whereas mathematics achievement was a significant predictor for boys. School burnout had negative indirect effects through interest in reading and mathematics in both groups, but for girls, there was also a direct positive effect on educational aspirations.     

Learning progress assessment and goal setting: Effects on reading achievement,reading motivation and reading self-concept

This study investigates the effects of learning progress assessment (LPA) combined with student-set goals on students’ reading achievement, reading motivation, and reading self-concept in fourth grade. Classes (n = 41) were assigned to either an LPA group with goal setting (LPA-G), an LPA group only (LPA), or a control group (CG). Students of both LPA groups completed eight LPA tests over a period of six months, and teachers received information about their learning progress. Students in the LPA-G group specified goals before the tests and reflected their goal achievement afterwards. Results indicate that growth in reading was higher for students in the LPA group compared to students in the two other groups. Unexpected negative effects of the goal-setting procedure were found on the development of intrinsic reading motivation and individual reading self-concept. The results are discussed with regard to teacher behavior and the use of diagnostic information for instruction.     

Patterns of word reading skill,interest and self-concept of ability

The majority of previous research on academic skills, self-concept of ability and interest has deployed the variable-oriented approach and focused on self-concept, or ability, or interest only. This study examined the patterns and dynamics of pattern change in Finnish children’s word reading skill, self-concept of ability and interest from kindergarten to Grade 2. Six groups of children were identified by using the I-states as objects analysis (ISOA) procedure: (a) low skills, negative self-concept but high interest; (b) high skills but low interest; (c) average; (d) high skills, positive self-concept and high interest; (e) low skills, negative self-concept and low interest; and (f) positive self-concept but low interest. The typically occurring transitions between groups were characterised by changes in either reading-related interest or simultaneously in self-concept and skills. Gender, risk for reading difficulties (RD), being an early reader, mother’s level of education and home literacy environment predicted group membership in kindergarten, and gender, RD risk, being an early reader, and mother’s level of education also predicted transitions between groups.     

Teacher feedback,disciplinary climate,student self-concept,and reading achievement:A multilevel moderated mediation model

Research has confirmed the importance of teacher feedback on student learning. The mechanism of how they are related, however, is not clear enough. In this study, we explored this relation with 60,501 fifteen-year-old students from collectivistic and individualistic cultures in PISA 2018. Importantly, we examined the possible mediating role of reading self-concept and the moderating role of disciplinary climate at both student level and school level in multi-level structural equation models (MSEM). Results demonstrated that the association between teacher feedback and reading achievement was significantly mediated via reading self-concept at student level across cultures, and this indirect effect was significant irrespective of the disciplinary climate level. Moreover, results showed that a positive disciplinary climate would facilitate the building of students’ reading self-concept which subsequently would enhance their reading achievement at school level. This study has important theoretical, practical, cross-cultural, and methodological implications for teacher feedback research and student learning.     

Calibration of reading self-concept and reading achievement among 15-year-olds: Cultural differences in 34 countries

Self-concept is linked to student achievement in many domains. In this study, we examined reading self-concept's (RSC) and RSC calibration accuracy's links to reading achievement across different contexts via multi-level analyses of 34 countries' 158,848 fifteen-year-olds' reading tests and questionnaire responses. Students with higher RSC, higher calibration accuracy (of RSC to their reading scores) or underconfidence (relative to their reading scores) had higher reading scores. RSC was more strongly linked to reading scores in countries that were richer, less equal, more collective, less uncertainty averse, less hierarchical, or less rigid regarding gender roles. Calibration accuracy was also more strongly linked to reading achievement in more hierarchical, individualistic, or uncertainty-tolerant countries. In more individualistic countries, underconfident students were more likely to have above average reading achievement. Hence, excessive confidence does not necessarily benefit students, especially in more individualistic countries.     

Academic self-concept, interest, grades, and standardized test scores: reciprocal effects models of causal ordering

Reciprocal effects models of longitudinal data show that academic self-concept is both a cause and an effect of achievement. In this study this model was extended to juxtapose self-concept with academic interest. Based on longitudinal data from 2 nationally representative samples of German 7th-grade students (Study 1: N = 5,649, M age = 13.4; Study 2: N = 2,264, M age = 13.7 years), prior self-concept significantly affected subsequent math interest, school grades, and standardized test scores, whereas prior math interest had only a small effect on subsequent math self-concept. Despite stereotypic gender differences in means, linkages relating these constructs were invariant over gender. These results demonstrate the positive effects of academic self-concept on a variety of academic outcomes and integrate self-concept with the developmental motivation literature.     

Reading achievement of Rhode Island compensatory education students: A school effects study

This study investigated the unique and common contributions of four sets of predictor variables: (1) background, (2) mental ability, (3) program, and (4) parental involvement, to the variance in reading achievement scores—vocabulary and comprehension—for Title I students enrolled in Rhode Island remedial reading programs. The vocabulary analysis indicated that the four sets accounted uniquely for 7, 13, 9, and 9% of the variance, respectively. The comprehension analysis indicated that the four sets accounted for 7, 25, 5, and 4% of the variance, respectively. Joint contributions are also presented.     

Academic self-concept and academic interest measurement: A multi-sample European study

Academic self-concept and academic interest are crucial concepts for understanding students’ academic achievement. Yet, few questionnaires currently exist that have been used and validated in more than one country. This study aimed at assessing these concepts using an academic self-concept questionnaire (Marsh, 1990) and an academic interest questionnaire (Corbière & Mbekou, 1997) with French and Italian student samples. Confirmatory Factor Analyses enabled us to assess the structure of the two questionnaires with regard to two academic subjects — Math and First Language (French or Italian) — and to determine the theoretical directions between the concepts. Results from Confirmatory Factor Analyses of both French and Italian samples supported a theoretical model in which academic self-concept and academic interest were intercorrelated, yet maintaining their unique characteristics. On the other hand, results from Multi-Sample Confirmatory Factor Analyses (French and Italian samples) endorsed a correlational model between the two concepts. Finally, the results indicated a significant and positive correlation between academic self-concept, academic interest, and academic achievement in both academic subjects.     

Culture,motivation, and reading achievement: High school students in 41 countries

This study examined how cultural values and family cultural capital were linked to adolescents' motivation and reading achievement using multilevel analyses on reading tests and questionnaire responses of 193,841 fifteen-year-olds in 41 countries. In countries that valued more rigid gender roles, girls had lower reading achievement than girls in other countries. Also, the link between extrinsic motivation and achievement was weaker for both boys and girls in more masculine countries than those in other countries, supporting the view that discouraging students from their preferred non-traditional career tracks reduces competition for the remaining students. This reduces the impact of extrinsic motivation on reading achievement for both types of students. Students with more family cultural capital (cultural possessions and cultural communication) had higher interest in reading, extrinsic motivation, effort and perseverance, and higher reading achievement than other students. These findings can inform education policy to improve students' reading achievement.     

Special education, academic self-concept and achievement: profile differences between six groups of students

The aims of the study presented in this paper were twofold:

• to analyse if and how pupils who received some kind of special education differed from students who received no such support with respect to different self-concept and ability factors; and

• to investigate substantive consequences of different theoretical bases for statistical modelling.

     

Print exposure, reading habits, and reading achievement among deaf and hearing college students

This study explored relations of print exposure, academic achievement, and reading habits among 100 deaf and 100 hearing college students. As in earlier studies, recognition tests for book titles and magazine titles were used as measures of print exposure, college entrance test scores were used as measures of academic achievement, and students provided self-reports of reading habits. Deaf students recognized fewer magazine titles and fewer book titles appropriate for reading levels from kindergarten through Grade 12 while reporting more weekly hours of reading. As in previous studies with hearing college students, the title recognition test proved a better predictor of deaf and hearing students' English achievement than how many hours they reported reading. The finding that the recognition tests were relatively more potent predictors of achievement for deaf students than hearing students may reflect the fact that deaf students often obtain less information through incidental learning and classroom presentations.     

Tasks,Texts and Contexts: A study of reading and metacognition in English and Irish primary classrooms

This paper is an adaptation of a paper presented at the British Educational Research Association Conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in August 1998. It reports on a study on reading pedagogy and metacognition in six classrooms in Leeds and six classrooms in Dublin. The evidence is based on 12 teacher interviews, 43 separate lesson observations and school/class, policy/lesson documents. The paper analyses the teachers' thinking and their classroom practices with reference to inter-related themes, tasks, texts and contexts, and it draws out the implications for the development of metacognitive awareness among the 9-year-old children that these teachers teach. It attempts to explain practice with reference to teachers' conceptions of teaching, the learner and reading.     

Kindergarten reasoning and achievement in grades K-3

Performance of kindergarten children on reasoning (Piaget tasks of logical thinking), visual-motor integration, and verbal development was related to achievement scores in kindergarten, second grade, and third grade. Subjects were 52 children in the kindergarten classes of a middle-class, suburban/rural school. Reasoning and visual-motor integration were related to achievement on the Metropolitan Achievement Test at the end of kindergarten. For the 43 children remaining in second grade, there was a relationship between reasoning in kindergarten and achievement on the Reading and Math Concepts sections of the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. For the 38 children remaining in third grade, kindergarten reasoning was related to total and Vocabulary scores of the California Achievement Test. Kindergarten visual-motor integration and verbal development were not related to achievement test performance at the end of the second and third grade for these subjects. Early intervention programs that encourage the development of thinking and match the child's reasoning to his academic tasks may stimulate both reasoning and achievement.     

The relationship between self-concept and achievement in TIMSS 2007: A comparison between American and Japanese students

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between eighth-grade students?? maths-related self-concepts and their achievements in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007. The students?? maths self-concept was compared with other variables, namely their mothers?? education, their fathers?? education and the amount of books held in the students?? households. To investigate the potential role of culture, a comparison between American and Japanese students?? scores was also included. The findings demonstrated that students?? maths self-concept was positively associated with their achievement both in the United States and Japan, but Japanese students, while having higher achievement, had a lower maths self-concept than American students. Maternal education, paternal education and the number of books at home were also found to be positively related to achievement. Examining standardised coefficients, the study confirmed a strong interaction between maths self-concept and country, as well as a positive connection between maths self-concept as such (irrespective of the country) with maths achievement.     

Relations between mathematics achievement growth and the development of mathematics self-concept in elementary and middle grades

Creating an educational program that results in positive science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or STEM-oriented outcomes for all students is an important education objective and federal policy directive in the United States. In addition to developing strong mathematics foundations in Grades K–8 that are closely associated with successful STEM outcomes, intrapersonal skill development is also critical to academic and postsecondary success. Using nationally representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 the current study applied structural equation growth modeling to examine relationships among mathematics achievement in Grades K–1 and Grades 3–8, and mathematics self-concept development across Grades 3–8. Study results revealed that students reported declining levels of mathematics self-concept across the middle grades. Importantly, third grade reports of self-concept were associated with both mathematics achievement at kindergarten entry and third grade mathematics achievement; however, mathematics achievement at kindergarten entry was also associated with the development of mathematics self-concept in third through eighth grade. In addition, after accounting for mathematics achievement in Grades K–1, mathematics achievement growth in Grades 3–8 was directly associated with mathematics self-concept development across the same time period. Implications for future research, mathematics instruction, and curriculum development are discussed.     

A study of self-actualization and self-concept in intellectually gifted students

The self-actualization and self-concept of 368 intellectually gifted students in grades 4 through 12 from a rural school district in a southern state were investigated using the Reflections of Self by Youth (ROSY; Schatz & Buckmaster, 1981), the Maslowian Scale (Falk, Bard, Duffy, Grieco, & Markus, 1988), and the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale (Piers & Harris, 1969). School level and gender had significant effects on the ROSY. The mean for students at the high school level was higher than at either the elementary or junior high school level. The mean for girls was higher than for boys. A significant interaction between school level and gender was observed only on the Psychological subscale of the Maslowian Scale. The ROSY and Self-actualization subscale and Total score of the Maslowian Scale were significantly related to the Piers-Harris. The ROSY and the Maslowian Scale were found to share a significant relationship (r = .51).