What children say about classroom performance: sex and grade differences in perceived competence

Naturalistic observations and interviews with children in kindergarten, first, second, and fourth grades (ages 5 1/2-10 years) were used to examine sex and age differences in evaluations of, and attributions to performance of, self and others. Observers coded the content of peer verbal exchanges during class work times, and the children were subsequently interviewed about their and their peers' classroom performance, as well as expectancies of performance on a novel task. Analyses of classroom observations generally supported previous laboratory findings; positive evaluation declined with grade level, and more negative self-evaluations and attributions were made by girls than by boys. In contrast, the interview measures did not show grade or sex differences in self-assessment; however, the consistency across interview and observation measures was greater at higher grade levels and for boys than for girls. Previous interpretations of age and sex differences in performance assessment are reexamined, and the possible impact of social context on evaluative statements is discussed.     

The emergent academic self-image of first graders: its response to social structure

One aim of this investigation was to determine the kinds of information a large and racially diverse sample of urban first-grade children take into account in forging their image of an academic self, especially the extent to which evaluations of significant others versus self-evaluations are influential. Another aim was to determine whether the nascent academic self-image affects the school achievement of these first-grade children. There was no difference in children's academic self-image according to race or parent background, but children of the 2 sexes defined their images differently. Girls' images strongly reflected stereotypic sex-role notions; boys' images reflected instrumental role concerns. Math performance was relevant only for boys. Boys depended more on self-evaluations than girls did, while girls depended more on parents' evaluations. Black girls were the only group for whom the academic self-image was a significant influence on achievement gains over first grade. The discussion points up the correspondence between these findings and what has been found for adolescents.     

Dynamic Assessment for Identification of Twice-Exceptional Learners Exhibiting Mathematical Giftedness and Specific Learning Disabilities

The purpose of this research was to investigate the utility of dynamic assessment (DA) in identifying a group of twice-exceptional students who exhibited mathematical giftedness and specific learning disabilities (MG/LDs). A quantitative method was applied by a multidisciplinary team to identify 30 students (16 girls and 14 boys) in the fifth and sixth grades, aged 10 years to 11 years 11 months, at three public elementary schools in Amman, Jordan. The findings of the dynamic mathematics assessment showed (a) a high variance in performance between the pre- and posttests and (b) a lack of relation with conventional static assessment (e.g., mathematics achievement tests and the arithmetic subtest in the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Jordanian version). DA was found to be beneficial for elementary school boys and girls and to affect their mathematics achievement to the same extent. No group differences were observed between low and high achievers in their learning potential as revealed by their performance on DA.     

Providing medical evaluations for possible child maltreatment to children with special health care needs

OBJECTIVE: Children with special health care needs are known to be at increased risk of all forms of child maltreatment when compared to children without such needs. We describe a health care team's experience providing medical evaluations for suspected child maltreatment to children with special health care needs. METHOD: Consecutive cases seen as outpatients in the Abuse Referral Clinic for Children with Disabilities were abstracted and analyzed. Mail and telephone follow-up contact was attempted after the medical evaluation to determine adherence with treatment recommendations. A subsample of cases for which complete financial information was available was reviewed to determine a reimbursement rate. RESULTS: During the study, 49 children received complete outpatient evaluations. Ages ranged from 3 to 16 years old, and 54% were males. Special needs spanned a wide range of physical, developmental/cognitive and behavioral conditions. The largest number of referrals came from child protective services (42%) followed by referrals from physicians (27%). After the team's comprehensive evaluation, 18% of the children were found to have a history or physical examination that was diagnostic for child maltreatment, 13% were thought to be at high risk, 25% were thought to be at low risk and 44% were thought to have non-abusive etiologies. The collection rate was 14% for an average reimbursement of $38 per case. Only 29 caregivers could be found at follow-up and 22 remembered the recommendations made by the team. Of the 25 cases that were referred for outpatient mental health counseling, 12 (48%) complied. CONCLUSION: Children with a wide range of special health care needs were evaluated in an outpatient special health care needs clinic that offered comprehensive medical evaluations for possible child maltreatment. Medical evaluation services for this group of children were poorly reimbursed. Mental health services were frequently recommended but often not accessed. Child maltreatment teams seeking to serve children with special health care needs will need to plan for service delivery to a potentially diverse group of children and families who may experience difficulty in carrying through on the team's treatment recommendations.     

Financing medically-oriented child protection teams in the age of managed health care: a national survey

OBJECTIVE: The direct and indirect costs to society from child maltreatment are estimated to be quite high. The costs related to medical care are of interest to professionals serving on medically-oriented child protection teams that conduct medical evaluations of alleged abuse. This study was designed to explore a number of financially related issues on medically-oriented child protection teams specifically examining the team's staffing, funding sources, reimbursement, budgeting, perceived impact of managed health care and their perception of funding stability. METHOD: Mailed survey of medically-oriented child protection teams throughout the United States using a questionnaire that contained 28 items focused on a variety of financial issues; 14 items were drawn from a similar study done 6 years earlier, which allowed for comparison over time. RESULTS: Responses were received from 320 out of 472 organizations, yielding a response rate of 68%. Inclusion criteria were met by 153 responses and were included in the analysis; 22 of these had also responded to the earlier survey. Median total budget was $300,000 and state and local government funding was the largest revenue source (Mdn = 30%, range: 0-100%), followed by patient care generated revenue (Mdn = 20%, range: 0-100%). The mean charge for an evaluation was $283 (SD = 196.11, range: $0-$800). Forty percent of teams indicated that managed care had no impact where as 49% saw a negative impact. Comparisons between the responses to this survey and the one done 1993 demonstrated that teams were seeing about the same number of patients and showed trends towards increased budget amounts and broader inclusion of various health care and non-health care disciplines on the teams. CONCLUSIONS: No single source of funds for such teams has emerged as the uniform solution for all teams. Creative patchworks composed of various funding sources remain the typical solution to the funding needs of medically-oriented child protection teams.     

Boys lag behind: How teachers’ gender biases affect student achievement

I use a combination of blind and non-blind test scores to show that middle school teachers favor girls in their evaluations. This favoritism, estimated as individual teacher effects, has long-term consequences: as measured by their national evaluations three years later, male students make less progress than their female counterparts. On the other hand, girls who benefit from gender bias in math are more likely to select a science track in high school. Without teachers’ bias in favor of girls, the gender gap in choosing a science track would be 12.5% larger in favor of boys.     

Exploring the Impact of Receiving Sender‐Based Negative and Positive Feedback on Team‐Level Process Outcomes Using a Mobile Application

Team‐based projects continue to be important for structuring work in many organizations, and employees are increasingly using mobile applications (apps) for peer evaluations as part of a performance appraisals process. Since a graduating student can expect to work in a team at some point in their career, exposure to class‐related group projects is important. This study explored using a mobile application (app) called DevelapMe (DMe), which allowed for 273 business undergraduates in 54 teams to give and receive real‐time peer‐based feedback during a 5‐week group project. Prior empirical research has shown that technology can improve the group development process, but such research has not used a mobile app. The general goal of this study was to investigate how receiving real‐time feedback through a mobile app (DMe) can affect the team development process over time. Two online surveys, Time 1 (T1) and Time 2 (T2), were administered over a 5‐week period. Results showed that two of the three team‐level process outcomes, team trust and team commitment (but not team value‐goal fit), significantly increased from T1 to T2. Results also showed that receiving T1 sender‐based positive, but not negative, feedback scales had a significant impact on all three team‐level process outcomes.     

Task-Specific Self-Evaluation as a Measure of Achievement Motivation

The validity of an internalized self-reinforcement paradigm as a model of achievement motivation was investigated with a sample of 230 ninth grade black pupils of an inner-city public school located in a midwestern metropolitan area. If achievement behavior is controlled and sustained by covert internal evaluations of performance, then students who more frequently report positive self-evaluations during some specific school-like task may be predicted to: a.) have higher grade point averages than students who less frequently report self-evaluations of task performance; b.) have lower rates of absence from school than students who less frequently report positive self-evaluations of task performance; c.) have greater levels of expected task performance than students who less frequently report positive self-evaluations of performance; d.) have greater expectations that they will be able to positively evaluate themselves for task performance than students who less frequently report positive self-evaluations; e.) have greater congruence between self-established standards and actual performance. Analyzed by 2-way analysis of variance (self-evaluation x sex), the data supported each of the predictions. The results were interpreted to support the conception of self-evaluations of task performance as a model of achievement motivation. In the absence of external rewards, the student sustains his academic behavior by the quality of the covert self-evaluations of his own performance. The positive or negative value of these evaluations depends on self-established standards. Students who tend to evaluate themselves negatively may do so as a function of arbitrarily high standards. Their performance on academic tasks will be less well sustained and their functioning at consequently lowered levels of achievement. The paper-and-pencil self-reports used in the study yielded results comparable to the elaborate laboratory instrumentation of previous studies.     

The Relationship Between Development Maturity and Attitude to School Science: an exploratory study

This longitudinal study was in the main concerned with the relationship between developmental maturity (in the physiological sense) and attitude to school science, among a group of secondry school children. The sample consisted of 269 boys and girls in a midland secondary school. They were administered a non‐verbal intelligence test, a Piagetian conceptual development test, and an attitude to school science scale, in the first and second years. In the fifth year they were again administered the attitude to school science scale. On the basis of the onset of menstruation, the girls were divided into early, normal and late developers.

The results showed that between the second and fifth years, attitudes to school science became more negative‐‐this applied to both boys and girls, but it was more marked in the case of the girls. It was also found that in the first and second years of the study, early maturing girls showed significantly more negative attitudes to school science, but that by the fifth year, early and late maturing girls were showing equally negative attitudes to this subject. Although the normal developers shared in the general decline in attitudes between the second and fifth years, their reactions to school science were less unfavourable throughout. The implications of these findings are discussed at length within the framework of current reserch and theory in this area.     

2010年世界男子锦标赛前16名球队名次排名的回归分析

本文对2010年世界男子篮球锦标赛前16名球队的11项技战术指标进行统计,运用逐步回归分析法和秩相关分析法对所得数据进行分析和检验.结果表明:运用逐步回归分析法对2010年世界男子篮球锦标赛前16名球队的名次排名情况分析具有较高可靠性,能够客观反映出2010年世界男子篮球锦标赛前16名球队的名次排名情况;影响2010年世界男子篮球锦标赛前16名球队名次排名情况的最主要因素是得分和防守篮板两项技术指标;2010年世界男子篮球锦标赛前16名球队可以根据数据分析进行有针对性的技术训练,从而提高球队的名次.     

The Joint Influence of Intra- and Inter-Team Learning Processes on Team Performance: A Constructive or Destructive Combination?

In order for teams to build a shared conception of their task, team learning is crucial. Benefits of intra-team learning have been demonstrated in numerous studies. However, teams do not operate in a vacuum, and interact with their environment to execute their tasks. Our knowledge of the added value of inter-team learning (team learning with external parties) is limited. Do both types of team learning compete over limited resources, or do they form a synergistic combination? We aim to shed light on the interplay between intra- and inter-team learning in relation to team performance, by including adaptive and transformative sub-processes of intra-team learning. A quantitative field study was conducted among 108 university teacher teams. The joint influence of intra- and inter-team learning as well as structural (task interdependence) and cultural (team efficacy) team characteristics on self-perceived and externally rated team performance were explored in a path model. The results showed that adaptive intra-team learning positively influenced self-perceived team performance, while transformative intra-team learning positively influenced externally rated team performance. Moreover, intra-team and inter-team learning were found to be both a constructive and a destructive combination. Adaptive intra-team learning combined with inter-team learning led to increased team performance, while transformative intra-team learning combined with inter-team learning hurt team performance. The findings demonstrate the importance of distinguishing between both the scope (intra- vs. inter-team) and the level (adaptive vs. transformative) of team learning in understanding team performance.     

Gender differences in both tails of the distribution of numerical competencies in preschool children

Gender differences in mathematical achievement have been examined in a wide range of age groups but only a few studies addressed this issue in preschool children. We compared preschool girls (n?=?570) and boys (n?=?524) from Germany with regard to numerical competencies. Differences in overall group means and the frequency of representation at low, middle, or high levels of performance were explored for girls and boys. Analysis of overall group means revealed that boys showed a better performance than girls (d?=?.32). The analysis of frequencies showed differences in both tails but not in the middle of the distribution of numerical competencies. While boys were more often found at higher levels of performance, girls were found to be overrepresented in the low-ability end of the distribution. These findings demonstrate that gender differences in mathematical achievement can emerge before school entry and stress the importance of further research looking for gender divides in mathematical achievement in preschool children from different countries as well as possible underlying factors.     

Gender-inclusive game-based learning in secondary education

Boys show a stronger preference for digital entertainment games than girls. For this reason, it may be that game-based learning is more acceptable to boys than to girls. Yet game-based learning might improve the performance of both boys and girls, depending upon the instructional design. In a quasi-experimental study with a secret-trail game, effects were examined on students' subject-matter knowledge. Analysis of covariance revealed that both boys and girls of the game intervention group showed a higher test performance, compared to students of the control group. However, different game activities mediated this effect of the secret-trail game on performance: girls seemed to profit more from searching the Internet to complete assignments and boys from competing with others. The performance of both boys and girls was negatively influenced by technical problems. The results are discussed within the framework of gender-inclusive game design.     

Gender differences in academic and social behavior of elementary school transfer students

This study describes a tutoring program designed to help children in grades 3 through 5 who underwent an unscheduled school transfer. We examined gender differences in self-concepts, academic performance, teacher evaluations, and peer ratings. Gender differences were found in several measures, although gender did not substantially interact with the intervention. As expected, female transfer students reported lower self-concepts than males; teachers reported that boys were more popular; peers also rated boys as more aggressive and girls as more likable. Findings suggest that preventive interventions for transfer students need to account for effects of gender.     

Gender Differences in College Preparedness: A Statewide Study

In this study, the authors investigated the extent to which boys and girls differed in their college-ready performance in reading, in math, and in both subjects for the 2006–2007 school year for the state of Texas (n = 1,099 high schools). Also examined were the extent to which boys and girls differed in their performance on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT) for the 2005–2006 and 2006–2007 school years. Differences in criterion scores, as well as how many boys and girls actually took these exams, were examined in addition to their average scores. Statistically significant differences were present between the college-ready scores of boys and of girls in reading, math, and in both subject areas. Of special note is that less than one-third of all students were deemed to be college-ready in both subject areas. Statistically significant differences also were revealed between boys and girls in the percentage taking the SAT or ACT, in the percentage meeting the SAT or ACT criterion, and in their SAT average scores, but not in their ACT average scores. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Academic self-concept and causal attributions for success and failure amongst elementary school children

A great deal of research shows that the way in which children attribute causes to their successes and failures in school has implications for the development of their academic self-concept (ASC). The most common attributions are ability, effort, task difficulty, and luck. The present study asked 68 elementary school children aged seven to eight years how they explained their successes and failures in school subjects. The aim of the study was to examine whether there were gender differences in the children’s responses which might indicate differences in ASCs or in their explanations for the causes of success or failure. Data were collected via quantitative questionnaires. Results showed no gender differences in ASC but, within the group, boys were more likely to attribute their success to high ability; on the other hand girls were more likely to attribute their failures to low ability or the difficulty level of task. This suggests that boys are more likely than girls to provide positive, self-enhancing reasons for their success while girls are more likely than boys to provide negative, self-deprecating reasons for their failures.     

Gender and Performance in Mathematical Tasks: Does the Context Make a Difference?

This study investigates how the context of mathematical tasks affects the performance of young children (ages 5–11). Subjects were 523 children from age 5 to 11. Three contexts of mathematical tasks (stereotypically boys’ contexts, stereotypically girls’ contexts and neutral contexts) are examined in three age groups (young, medium, and old). Boys’ and girls’ mean scores were compared for each age group in each of the three contexts. The data show that girls’ performance is affected by the context of the task while boys’ performance is not. The comparison between boys and girls in the three different contexts showed that in neutral contexts, the scores of boys and girls are similar. In (stereotypically) boys’ contexts, however, boys score significantly higher than girls. In (stereotypically) girls’ contexts, a significant interaction is found between age and gender, showing that the way girls are affected by such contexts depends on their age. The implications of these findings for gender-fair mathematics learning are discussed.     

Finnish secondary school students’ interreligious sensitivity

The aim of this study was to assess the self-evaluations of Finnish secondary school students’ (N?=?549) interreligious sensitivity. The data were collected from 12–16-year-old young people with a 15-item Interreligious Sensitivity Scale Questionnaire (IRRSSQ). The IRRSSQ is based on Abu-Nimer’s Developmental Model of Interreligious Sensitivity, which is based on the Developmental Model of Interreligious Sensitivity by Bennett. The IRRSS measures the orientations towards religious differences in five categories: Denial, Defence, Minimisation, Acceptance and Adaptation, of which the first three are religiocentric orientations and the last two religiorelative. Three research questions were examined: Are there any differences in the interreligious sensitivity between (1) girls and boys, (2) students who study religious education and (religion-free) ethics education in school, and (3) students who differ in academic achievement, measured with the grade point average (GPA)? The results showed that the girls assessed their interreligious sensitivity higher than did the boys. Further, no statistically significant differences were found between the students attending religious education in school and the students attending ethics education. However, the low GPA scores were related to a religiocentric framework and the high GPA scores to a religiorelative framework.     

A Stereotype Threat Account of Boys' Academic Underachievement

Three studies examined the role of stereotype threat in boys' academic underachievement. Study 1 (children aged 4–10, n = 238) showed that girls from age 4 years and boys from age 7 years believed, and thought adults believed, that boys are academically inferior to girls. Study 2 manipulated stereotype threat, informing children aged 7–8 years (n = 162) that boys tend to do worse than girls at school. This manipulation hindered boys' performance on a reading, writing, and math test, but did not affect girls' performance. Study 3 counteracted stereotype threat, informing children aged 6–9 years (n = 184) that boys and girls were expected to perform similarly. This improved the performance of boys and did not affect that of girls.