Adolescent students’ grit: Do parents’ grit and educational expectations matter?

Despite the widespread enthusiasm towards grit, little attention has been paid to how stable grit remains over time and what contextual factors can predict longitudinal changes in grit. The present study investigated adolescent students’ grit and its change over one year. We employed nationally representative longitudinal data from a sample of Korean adolescent students (N = 2,590) and their parents (N = 2,590). Specifically, we evaluated the temporal stability of student grit, parent grit and educational expectations as determinants of student grit, and the relative importance of student grit in predicting academic achievement compared to academic self-concept. Results of autoregressive cross-lagged modeling revealed that grit was fairly stable over one year. In addition, parents’ grit and educational expectations for students’ educational attainment emerged as significant predictors of longitudinal changes in students’ grit. Finally, when students’ academic self-concept was controlled, students’ grit was not predictive of their academic achievement. Implications and areas of future research are presented and discussed.     

Exploring the educational aspirations–expectations gap in eighth grade students: implications for educational interventions and school reform

Over the past three decades, more and more students are expressing a desire to attend college, yet for many members of disenfranchised groups, this goal is often not attained. While many factors contribute to these disparities, research has shown that students begin adjusting their expectations (what they think they can achieve) for the future in relation to their idealised aspirations (what they would like to achieve). The current study explores this gap among 207 eighth grade students from two urban middle schools. Using the School Attitude Assessment Survey-Revised, three factors were found to predict expectations which matched student aspirations. These factors were academic motivation and self-regulating behaviours, academic self-perception and attitudes towards teachers. Implications for educational interventions and school reform are discussed.     

Instructor characteristics and students’ evaluation of teaching effectiveness: evidence from an Italian engineering school

This study examines the relationship between students’ evaluation of teaching effectiveness and the instructor's characteristics, based upon an original data set from an Italian university. Age and seniority (academic rank) are both found to affect negatively teaching evaluation, although the effect of rank depends heavily on the discipline. Profession-oriented disciplines are more poorly evaluated and exhibit stronger effects for rank; in the same disciplines, many courses are taught by non-faculty members, who are evaluated poorly. Gender is also found to be relevant, as it affects students’ evaluation of female instructors, although this result might be biased by the gender composition of classes. Past research outputs, as measured by an instructor's publication track record, has a positive impact on students’ evaluation of teaching effectiveness, although the rate of impact decreases with the amount of publications.     

Violence and maltreatment in Tanzanian families—Findings from a nationally representative sample of secondary school students and their parents

Though the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations aim to end all forms of violence against minors, child maltreatment remains a globally prevalent phenomenon. Despite the fact that parents in numerous countries apply violent discipline methods to control children’s behavior, little is known about the prevalence of maltreatment and violent discipline in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, we examined the prevalence of maltreatment and violent discipline from both the adolescents’ and parents’ perspectives. In addition, we explored risk factors that could be associated with violent discipline by parents. We administered questionnaires to a nationally representative sample of 700 Tanzanian secondary school students (52% girls, mean age: 14.92 years, SD = 1.02, range: 12–17) and 333 parents or primary guardians (53% females; mean age: of 43.47 years, SD = 9.02, range: 19–71). More than 90% of all students reported exposure to violent discipline by a parent within the past year. Concurrently, more than 80% of parents acknowledged using violent discipline techniques. Using a path model, we found that violent discipline by parents was associated with parental stress. Other risk factors contributed to a higher stress level but were not directly linked to maltreatment. Our findings indicate high levels of violent discipline in Tanzanian families. There is a pressing need to design and implement interventions that prevent children from experiencing violence at home. Reducing parents’ stress levels may be a starting point for intervention. Yet, due to the high levels of violent discipline, societal beliefs also need to be considered.     

Whose children gain from starting school later? – evidence from Hungary

We look at the effect of school starting age on standardized test scores using data covering all Grade 4 and Grade 8 students in Hungary. Instrumental variables estimates of the local average treatment effect suggest that children generally gain from starting school 1 year later, and the effects are much stronger in the case of students coming from low-educated families. We test the robustness of the results by allowing for heterogeneity in the age effect, distinguishing between fields of testing, using discontinuity samples and relying on alternative data. The hypothesis that delayed entry has a stronger impact on low-status children is supported by the robustness checks. The observed patterns are most probably explained by the better performance of kindergartens, as opposed to schools, in developing the skills of low-status children.     

Middle and high school students’ conceptions of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies

Both scientists and policy-makers emphasize the importance of education for influencing pro-environmental behavior and minimizing the effects of climate change on biological and physical systems. Education has the potential to impact students’ system knowledge – their understanding of the variables that affect the climate system – and action knowledge – their understanding of behaviors that can impact the system. Research on climate change education has largely focused on system and action knowledge that address mitigation while overlooking equally necessary adaptive responses. This study used a pre/post-test format to identify aspects of middle and high school students’ climate system knowledge and action knowledge of both mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. Results indicate that adolescents currently conflate climate change mitigation strategies with unrelated environmental problems far less than in previous surveys. However, students demonstrated limited understanding of adaptive responses to climate change. After engaging in an instructional unit on climate change, students expressed stronger system and action knowledge, but significant misconceptions remained that conflated mitigation of and adaptation to climate change.     

Learning fractions with and without educational technology: What matters for high-achieving and low-achieving students?

Instructional design research promotes interactive and adaptive scaffolds as features of educational technology. Mathematics education research can guide elaborated fractions curricula to develop basic fraction concepts while challenging the natural number bias. Thus, we developed theory-grounded interactive material for learning fractions providing scaffolds in an eBook. Evaluating both, curriculum and scaffolds, we split 745 high-achieving and 260 low-achieving 6th graders into three groups: Scaffolded Curriculum group (using the eBook on iPads), Curriculum group (using a paper copy of our developed material), and Traditional group (using conventional textbooks). Generalized linear mixed models revealed diverse positive effects on the achievement of students in the experimental conditions: Results showed that high-achieving students did benefit from the curriculum, regardless of whether it was presented with or without scaffolds, while for low-achieving students using scaffolds was decisive. This suggests that interactive and adaptive scaffolds can support students in learning mathematical concepts, especially for low-achieving students.     

School choice and parents’ preferences for school attributes in Chile

A key assumption of school choice and competition policies is that parents’ most important (if not only) priority when choosing a school is its quality. However, evidence about which of a school's attributes really drives parental choice is still scarce. We use census data from a parent questionnaire in Chile, a country with a national school choice and competition system, to describe the attributes most commonly considered by parents when choosing a school, and to assess how the probability of prioritizing those attributes varies with the parents’ socioeconomic characteristics, while controlling for other characteristics of the family. We find that parents choosing a school prioritize its proximity, its quality, and whether it provides religious education. Furthermore, the probability of parents prioritizing proximity is higher for parents of low socioeconomic status, while the probability of them prioritizing quality and religious education is higher for parents of high socioeconomic status. These findings show that only advantaged families choose schools based on their quality, and therefore school choice and competition policies may offer a limited benefit for disadvantaged pupils, possibly maintaining or reinforcing socioeconomic segregation in the education system.     

Can holistic school readiness evaluations predict academic achievement and special educational needs status? Evidence from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile

This study examined the predictive validity of holistic school readiness evaluations using the ‘good level of development’ outcome from the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP). The EYFSP assesses a range of abilities at school entry including academic, language, socio-emotional, and motor skills. In particular, we examined whether the assessment predicted reading, writing, maths, and science ability two years later and future special educational needs (SEN) status (N = 3739–5768). Children who reached a good level of development had higher odds of performing at expected (vs. below expected) levels on later academic assessments. This was particularly true for children with SEN. Reaching a good level of development also increased the odds of performing at above expected (vs. expected) levels on the academic assessments and lowered the odds of requiring SEN support. This demonstrates that holistic school readiness evaluations are powerful tools that can identify ‘at risk’ children.     

Can educational engagement prevent Early School Leaving? Unpacking the school’s effect on educational success

There is growing evidence that school engagement, or more specifically disengagement, is a key indicator for predicting Early School Leaving. The aim of this article is to explore the impact of secondary schools in student (dis)engagement and subsequent opportunities to succeed in school. Drawing on data from a qualitative study in five secondary schools in Barcelona, the article discusses the role of school context in inhibiting or facilitating school engagement by exploring compositional effects, organisational and pedagogical practices, and teachers’ expectations. To do so a twofold perspective is adopted: firstly, we look at the main school features and their impact on students’ educational opportunities; and secondly, a systematic analysis of the dimensions of school engagement (behavioural, emotional and cognitive) is carried out. As a result, the article contributes to the identification of the most significant variables at school level that influence student engagement and their opportunities for school success.     

What do foreign students eat for lunch at school?

One of your favorite topics of conversation at lunchtime must be the foodprovided by your school(食堂)."The dishes are boring,"you may say.You are not alone.It seems children all over the world complain about theirschool food.So what do students of your age eat for lunch at school?     

Can a school change its spots? The first year of transforming to an innovative school

Transforming into an innovative school is one of the strategies schools apply when facing changes in a turbulent environment. In the first year of such a transformation these schools face an essential dilemma: how to facilitate changes without jeopardizing their environmental legitimacy. Examining an Israeli elementary school as an instrumental case study through two theoretical frameworks—institutional theory and resource dependence theory—we found two ways in which the school faces this dilemma. First it seals its technical core while demonstrating the innovation by symbolical practises, and second, it employs buffering and bridging tactics in its reciprocal relations with its various partners according to the nature of their expectations. We conclude that the question is not why innovation does not change a school, but why a school needs innovation in order to change and improve. Further research directions and implications for innovative schools are discussed.     

The effects of principal’s leadership style on support for innovation: evidence from Korean vocational high school change

A climate of innovation and principal leadership in schools are regarded as significant factors in successfully implementing school change or innovation. Nevertheless, the relationship between the school climate supportive of innovation and the principal’s leadership has rarely been addressed to determine whether schools successfully perform their intended change. In this vein, this study investigated the impacts of the principal’s leadership style on the teacher’s perceived school climate in terms of support for innovation. The participants were 981 full-time teachers in 32 public vocational high schools in South Korea. To examine the unobserved characteristics of schools and principals that promote a school climate supportive of innovation, both traditional multiple regression and HLM analyses were conducted and compared to the estimated effects of the principal’s leadership style as a predictor at both the teacher level and the group level. While the unobserved characteristics of school type and principals’ demographics were considered, results of the study revealed that the leadership style of the principal significantly affects how the teachers perceive the school climate in terms of support for innovation. More specifically, the findings of the study assert that principal’s leadership style as an Initiator or a Manger, rather than a Responder, can provide support for an organizational climate which enhances innovation in schools. Additionally, evaluating the government’s change initiative, the study illustrates that the government’s top-down mandate requiring schools to change was not related to the creation of a climate supportive of innovation in schools.     

Do reading practices make a difference? Evidence from PIRLS data for Hong Kong and Taiwan primary school Grade 4 students

This study examined the influence of classroom pedagogic reading practices and out-of-school practices in explaining why the reading attainment of Hong Kong Grade 4 students was superior to that of their counterparts in Taiwan in the 2006 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. Analyses of scores from 9301 students (4712 from Hong Kong and 4589 from Taiwan) revealed that independent reading in school made a distinctive contribution to the reading performance of Hong Kong and Taiwan students after controlling for the effects of students’ and parents’ reading attitudes, the availability of supportive home educational resources and student engagement in a range of reading practices. Out-of-school informational reading was found to be negatively associated with students’ reading attainment for both Hong Kong and Taiwan students. There was evidence that reading aloud in class in Taiwan classrooms significantly contributed to the Taiwan students’ poor reading performance.     

Problematising school space for Indigenous education: teachers’ and parents’ perspectives

This interpretive study explores the relationship between spatial qualities and school-parent engagement in three primary schools which serve low income periurban Indigenous families in north Australia. Drawing from interviews with educators and parents, school-based observations and community fieldwork conducted over the course of two years in two different towns, we found that educators are very concerned that schools, as western institutions, present cultural and physical barriers to effective engagement; but that this view is not shared by Indigenous parents. Rather than seeing this as a simple issue of cultural difference, our analysis seeks to unravel the curious way in which the otherness of school space is acknowledged in educator discourse. Only some place features of school are suggested as a barrier by educators while other aspects – such as the clear identification of insiders and outsiders through school routines and locales – remain unremarked. We conclude by suggesting that schools are inherently exclusionary, a foundational fact which both parents and educators accept and respond to, in ways which both explain the push for engagement within education policy and its irrelevance as a concern for parents.     

Ready for school? Impacts of delayed primary school enrollment on children's educational outcomes in rural China

This paper estimates the causal impacts of delayed primary school enrollment on children's educational outcomes in rural China. Instrumental variable estimates exploiting the discontinuity in children's enrollment age around the enrollment cut-off date indicate that a one-year delay in school enrollment increases the incidence of first-grade retention by approximately 10 percentage points for boys and reduces the probabilities of middle school enrollment by 6 percentage points for both boys and girls. These results suggest that delayed enrollment, even if it may be an optimal choice made by poor parents in response to financial constraints, is likely to be harmful to children's educational development in rural China.