Mastery motivation,parenting, and school achievement among Hungarian adolescents

European Journal of Psychology of Education - Children’s motivation to master challenging tasks is an important predictor of school success, and yet, such motivation declines during...     

Working toward equitable gifted programming: The school psychologist's role

As culturally, linguistically, and economically diverse students continue to be underrepresented in gifted programs, the beliefs that frame teacher perceptions of giftedness remain an important area of focus. Literature indicates that a lack of gifted-specific coursework in teacher preparation programs may sustain ill-formed preconceptions regarding giftedness, leading new teachers to rely on bias and stereotypic thinking when nominating students for gifted identification. Furthermore, deficit thinking and colorblind racial attitudes may interfere with the implementation of culture-fair identification practices and the implementation of multicultural pedagogy meant to elicit unique strengths and engage culturally diverse students. This article explores these barriers to equitable programming and concludes with broad recommendations for school psychologists in advocating for traditionally underrepresented gifted students.     

Curriculum and instruction for the gifted: The role of school psychologists

This paper explores the school psychologist's role in the academic and psychosocial development of students identified as gifted and talented via curriculum. Given the school psychologists' assessment expertize, they can inform the identification to service placement process for students, including advocacy for curricular and instructional opportunities that best meet the student's needs. We discuss modern conceptualizations of giftedness and talent development, the function of curriculum and instruction in meeting the needs of students who are gifted and the school psychologist's role in identifying which curricular adaptations are appropriate for students based on learner data. We also discuss how a school psychologist can work with educators to support the needs of twice exceptional learners and gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning students and recommend professional learning opportunities for school psychologists to remain abreast of current issues in gifted education.     

Supporting the career development of gifted students: New role and function for school psychologists

The American ethos that you can be whatever you want to be has not always been a helpful adage for gifted students. Gifted students require career counseling to understand the world of work, and to identify their interests and values in addition to their already-identified talents. Academic planning and career development for gifted students is an important and complex process that requires thoughtful consideration. School psychologists have the skills and abilities to provide valuable career development services to gifted students. The authors explore the unique challenges and career development needs of gifted students and provide suggestions for interventions.     

The gifted underachiever in the middle school

Underachievement among gifted early adolescents may be the result of the nature of the youngsters at this stage of their development.     

Goal orientations and achievement among Chinese gifted students in Hong Kong

This study examined four goal orientations and their relationships to achievement among 1041 Chinese gifted students in Hong Kong. These students endorsed learning and social goals over performance‐approach and performance‐avoidance goals. The endorsement of learning goals emerged consistently as the significant predictor predicting achievement in academic, non‐academic, and social/leadership areas. Implications of the findings for coordinating different goal orientations for enhancing achievement in different areas are discussed.     

Academic achievement among a sample of youth in foster care: The role of school connectedness

Research shows that youth in foster care experience poor academic performance and disciplinary actions in school more frequently than do non-foster care youth. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to further examine youth in foster care and the relationship between individual/intrapersonal factors (future orientation and school connectedness) and exosystem factors (number of placement and school moves) and academic performance (grades) and disciplinary referrals among 363 youth (9–11 years of age; males = 52.9%). Controlling for key variables, hierarchical linear regression analysis was utilized to understand how well students' school connectedness, future outlook, number of placement changes, and number of school moves predicted academic and disciplinary outcomes. Beyond the variance explained by control variables, school connectedness made a significant contribution to this model. Results are discussed in the context of implementing interventions that foster school connectedness among this vulnerable population.     

The relationship between the WAIS-R and academic achievement among EMR adolescents

This study examined the relationship between the WAIS-R and WRAT-R among 78 EMR adolescents enrolled in resource classes in a public school setting. Results indicated that the WAIS-R Verbal IQ was significantly correlated with all WRAT-R subtests (r range = .66 to .77). The Performance IQ was found to be significantly related only to Arithmetic (r = .26). The Full Scale IQ was significantly related to Reading (r = .25) and Arithmetic (r = .56), but not Spelling. Results suggest that the WAIS-R Verbal IQ and Full Scale IQ generally show moderate correlations with achievement but the Performance IQ generally shows no or little relationship to achievement. This pattern of findings is somewhat different from prior Wechsler research with other populations. Implications for the diagnostic activities of school psychologists are discussed.     

Improving teaching capacity to increase student achievement: The key role of communication competences in Higher Education

The educational model based on competences established under the unifying framework of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), has brought new challenges and threats for educational institutions at university level, who now have to adapt, update and face up to this new educational paradigm. This paper addresses the competences from two different perspectives; the first relating to the level reached by the student through university training received; and the second concerning the level required by labour market in the profession studied. The empirical analysis was performed using nonparametric statistics on a sample of 236 individuals, following the methodology of the Tuning project. The results support the existence of differences between the two blocks of analysed competences, as well as the importance of communication competences and the relationships of competences related to communication with all other competences with highest differences. This point to a course of action based on these competences, especially communication competences, as a way for working on improving the competence results in higher education.     

Learning support and academic achievement among Malaysian adolescents: the mediating role of student engagement

The aim of this study was to examine the associations between learning support, student engagement and academic achievement among adolescents. We also examined the extent to which affective, behavioural and cognitive engagement play a mediating role in students’ perceived learning support from parents, teachers and peers, and contribute to their academic achievement. Malaysian adolescents (aged 12–17 years, N = 2359) completed a self-administered questionnaire based on an adapted version of the Student Engagement And Learning Support Scale. Item and factor analyses were performed to ensure appropriate psychometric properties of the scales. Pearson correlation analysis identified the relationship between variables and structural equation modelling was conducted to identify the role of student engagement as a mediator between learning support and academic achievement. The study provides empirical support for the hypothesis that perceptions of learning support influence adolescents’ affective, behavioural and cognitive engagement in school in different ways, which in turn influences their academic achievement. Cognitive engagement seemed to be the best predictor of academic achievement and the strongest mediator for all three types of learning support. Behavioural engagement was negatively associated with academic achievement, and affective engagement did not have a direct relationship with academic achievement, although it contributed indirectly through cognitive and behavioural engagement. The results of this study provide a basis for policy makers to initiate prevention and intervention programs for increasing the quality of parent–child, teacher–student and peer–peer relationships which ultimately could lead to improved academic competence and outcomes.     

小学高年级儿童元认知发展特点及干预

以自编修订的《儿童元认知问卷》,对420名儿童（其中学习不良儿童96人）进行测试,结果发现：该阶段非学习不良儿童元认知发展上六年级显著高于四、五年级,不存在性别差异;学习不良儿童元认知发展不存在年级差异,他们在元认知整体水平以及六个维度上均显著落后于一般儿童和成绩优秀儿童;此外,以小学四年级学生为被试,考察了开展元认知训练的意义。研究发现,元认知训练可以较好地促进该阶段儿童元认知水平的提高,元认知训练对学生学业成就有着积极影响。     

The reciprocal relations among basic psychological need satisfaction at school,positivity and academic achievement in Chinese early adolescents

This study examined the reciprocal relations among basic psychological need satisfaction at school (BPNSS), positivity, and academic achievement in Chinese early adolescents, using a six-wave longitudinal design. A total of 712 students from Grades 7 in China (M_age = 12.92 years, 375 girls) completed measures of BPNSS and positivity in the middle of three consecutive semesters. Students exam scores for Chinese, mathematics, and English courses were obtained from school records at the end of each semester. Structural equation modeling indicated that: (a) BPNSS directly predicted academic achievement and vice versa; (b) positivity directly predicted academic achievement but not vice versa; (c) BPNSS directly predicted positivity and vice versa; (d) BPNSS indirectly predicted academic achievement via positivity; and (e) academic achievement indirectly predicted positivity via BNPSS. The findings are helpful for understanding how BPNSS and positivity temporally interrelate with academic outcomes from a positive youth development perspective.     

The psychological sense of school membership among adolescents: Scale development and educational correlates

This article discusses the development and validation of a measure of adolescent students' perceived belonging or psychological membership in the school environment. An initial set of items was administered to early adolescent students in one suburban middle school (N = 454) and two multi-ethnic urban junior high schools (N = 301). Items with low variability and items detracting from scale reliability were dropped, resulting in a final 18-item Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM) scale, which had good internal consistency reliability with both urban and suburban students and in both English and Spanish versions. Significant findings of several hypothesized subgroup differences in psychological school membership supported scale construct validity. The quality of psychological membership in school was found to be substantially correlated with self-reported school motivation, and to a lesser degree with grades and with teacher-rated effort in the cross-sectional scale development studies and in a subsequent longitudinal project. Implications for research and for educational practice, especially with at-risk students, are discussed.     

Perceptions of the learning environment and associations with cognitive achievement among gifted biology students

This study assessed the perceptions of 146 gifted and 115 non-gifted high school biology students and investigated associations between student perceptions and cognitive achievement. The What Is Happening In this Class? (WIHIC) was used to assess perceptions of actual and preferred learning environments. Data indicated that all students preferred a more favourable environment than the one that they were currently experiencing, but gifted students perceived their actual environment more positively than non-gifted students. Statistically significant associations between the actual learning environment and achievement on a standardised biology test were found for the majority of scales. Teacher Support, Investigation and Equity were all statistically significant independent predictors of student achievement, while Student Cohesiveness had a negative association with achievement. Interviews revealed that students interpreted some WIHIC items differently from how the developers had intended.     

Mathematically gifted students and high achievement: the role of motivation and classroom structure

One of the most intriguing questions for those who study intellectually gifted students is why some of them reach peak performances at school and others don’t. Moderator theories of giftedness assume that domain-specific gifts are transformed into achievement in a process influenced by non-cognitive and environmental variables. Thus, the current study investigates differences in the non-cognitive construct motivation (achievement goals, interest, self-concept, self-efficacy, implicit theories) and perception of classroom environment (classroom structure, class climate) between mathematically gifted high achievers (n = 66) and mathematically gifted students with non-high achievement (n = 144) using a latent variable approach. Gifted high achievers expressed higher levels of motivation than non-high achievers. Furthermore, they perceived a classroom structure that provides more tasks with a focus on learning and more autonomy.     

Fostering metacognitive awareness among teachers: Implications for the Nigerian school system

Abstract

This article focused on the concept of metacognition. Some theoretical models of metacognition were discussed to provide a general framework to understand the relationship between the different aspects or components of this phenomenon. The study also looked at five metacognitive strategies that enhance learning in schools, namely: (1) graphic organizers; (2) metacognitive scaffolding; (3) reciprocal teaching; (4) explicit instruction; and (5) collaborative learning. The work also briefly highlighted the problems of metacognitive strategies used in Nigerian schools. We noted that all learners do not engage spontaneously in metacognitive thinking unless they are explicitly encouraged to do so through carefully designed instructional activities. The study therefore recommended effective practice of scaffolded instruction on metacognitive strategies use in Nigerian schools and other countries in the world.     

Creative cognition in gifted adolescents

Although outcome‐based education (OBE) is currently a popular reform movement, it is difficult to describe because of its many versions. Central to all interpretations, however, is a commitment to equity and excellence in learning for all students—particularly the traditional “have nots.” Whether OBE currently achieves these goals is not so clear, and its ramifications for gifted programs may be not only an operational definition of giftedness that expands opportunities, but also potential losses for bright students who, for whatever reasons, do not meet criteria for enrichments. These ramifications should pose concerns for gifted educators.     

元认知监控的发展

自上世纪八十年代以来,关于元认知监控的研究已取得许多有价值的研究成果。其中,关于元认知监控的发展规律上也得到广泛的关注。但是受到实验范式、实验条件、实验材料等的影响,关于该研究点上仍有许多问题值得探索。     

Attitudes of school role groups toward learning needs of gifted students

The cognitive approach to creativity emphasizes the processes involved in producing effective novelty, as well as the control mechanisms that regulate novelty production, and the structures that result. Merely novel structures display surprisingness and incongruity, to be sure, but they must also be meaningful and practicable to be effective. There are no special processes or control mechanisms unique to the production of effective novelty, but metasystematic operations are particularly favorable for it. Effective novelty can be produced at lower levels of cognitive development, but children's creativity is likely to differ qualitatively from that of adults. Although the cognitive approach takes little account of motivation, personality, or the social environment, it provides an operationizable definition of some aspects of creativity, and offers insights into what needs to be fostered to promote it.