High-Ability Grouping: Benefits for Gifted Students’ Achievement Development Without Costs in Academic Self-Concept

Effects of full-time ability grouping on students’ academic self-concept (ASC) and mathematics achievement were investigated in the first 3 years of secondary school (four waves of measurement; students’ average age at first wave: 10.5 years). Students were primarily from middle and upper class families living in southern Germany. The study sample comprised 148 (60% male) students from 14 gifted classes and 148 (57% male) students from 25 regular classes (matched by propensity score matching). Data analyses involved multilevel and latent growth curve analyses. Findings revealed no evidence for contrast effects of class-average achievement or assimilation effects of class type on students’ ASC. ASC remained stable over time. Students in gifted classes showed higher achievement gains than students in regular classes.     

On reliability and robustness of scientometrics indicators based on stochastic models. An evidence-based opinion paper

In the present paper we give an overview over the opportunities of probabilistic models in scientometrics. Four examples from different topics are used to shed light on some important aspects of reliability and robustness of indicators based on stochastic models. Limitations and future tasks are discussed as well.     

Home Literacy Environments and Foundational Literacy Skills for Struggling and Nonstruggling Readers in Rural Early Elementary Schools

Factors such as weak early literacy skills and living in poverty may put young students at risk for reading disabilities. While home literacy activities and access to literacy materials have been associated with positive reading outcomes for urban and suburban students, little is known about home literacy environments of rural early elementary school students living in poverty and their relationship to foundational reading skills for struggling and nonstruggling readers. This study examined how home literacy environments might relate to rural kindergarten and first grade students’ reading performance. Parents of 1,108 kindergarten and first grade students in the rural Southeast completed questionnaires on the frequency of home literacy activities and access to literacy materials. Multilevel model analyses revealed that home literacy activities and access to literacy materials were positively related to basic word reading skills, passage comprehension, and spelling. Implications for families and educators are discussed.     

Bulking Up (Identities): A Communication Framework for Male Fitness Identity

The goal of this interview study is to build upon a rich history of masculinities research, complicating the arenas in which masculinity is communicated, performed, negotiated, and enacted. Using Hecht’s communication theory of identity, analysis of this data reveals that men pursuing fitness find misalignment between the personal, relational, and enacted frames. Consequently, they engage in a host of discursive strategies to manage the uncertainty that is produced by these identity gaps. This study identifies three: excessive body discipline, forceful negotiation, and constant comparison. By exploring these gaps and strategies, this study aims to situate fitness as a space ripe for the production of identity work and as an intersectional identity element.