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Showing papers on "Academic achievement published in 1996"


Journal ArticleDOI
Frank Pajares1
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the contribution made by the self-efficacy component of Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory to the study of self-regulation and motivation in academic settings.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine the contribution made by the self-efficacy component of Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory to the study of self-regulation and motivation in academic settings. The difference between self-efficacy beliefs and other expectancy constructs is first explained, followed by a brief overview of problems in self-efficacy research. Findings on the relationship between self-efficacy, motivation constructs, and academic performances are then summarized. These findings demonstrate that particularized measures of self-efficacy that correspond to the criterial tasks with which they are compared surpass global measures in the explanation and prediction of related outcomes. The conceptual difference between the definition and use of expectancy beliefs in social cognitive theory and in expectancy value and self-concept theory is then clarified. Last, strategies to guide future research are offered.

4,166 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Parents' sense of academic efficacy and aspirations for their children were linked to their children's scholastic achievement through their perceived academic capabilities and aspirations and the full set of self-efficacy, aspirational, and psychosocial factors accounted for a sizable share of the variance in academic achievement.
Abstract: This research analyzed the network of psychosocial influences through which efficacy beliefs affect academic achievement. Parents' sense of academic efficacy and aspirations for their children were linked to their children's scholastic achievement through their perceived academic capabilities and aspirations. Children's beliefs in their efficacy to regulate their own learning and academic attainments, in turn, contributed to scholastic achievement both independently and by promoting high academic aspirations and prosocial behavior and reducing vulnerability to feelings of futility and depression. Children's perceived social efficacy and efficacy to manage peer pressure for detrimental conduct also contributed to academic attainments but through partially different paths of affective and self-regulatory influence. The impact of perceived social efficacy was mediated through academic aspirations and a low level of depression. Perceived self-regulatory efficacy was related to academic achievement both directly and through adherence to moral self-sanctions for detrimental conduct and problem behavior that can subvert academic pursuits. Familial socioeconomic status was linked to children's academic achievement only indirectly through its effects on parental aspirations and children's prosocialness. The full set of self-efficacy, aspirational, and psychosocial factors accounted for a sizable share of the variance in academic achievement.

1,726 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Cooperative learning is one of the greatest success stories in the history of educational research as discussed by the authors, and the most frequent objective of this research is to determine the effects of cooperative learning on student achievement.

1,563 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A universe of education production function studies was assembled in order to utilize meta-analytic methods to assess the direction and magnitude of the relations between a variety of school inputs and student achievement as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: A universe of education production function studies was assembled in order to utilize meta-analytic methods to assess the direction and magnitude of the relations between a variety of school inputs and student achievement. The 60 primary research studies aggregated data at the level of school districts or smaller units and either controlled for socioeconomic characteristics or were longitudinal in design. The analysis found that a broad range of resources were positively related to student outcomes, with effect sizes large enough to suggest that moderate increases in spending may be associated with significant increases in achievement. The discussion relates the findings of this study with trends in student achievement from the National Assessment of Educational Progress and changes in social capital over the last two decades.

1,534 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the role of personal achievement goals and feelings of school belonging in mediating the relation between perceptions of the school psychological environment and school-related beliefs, affect, and achievement.
Abstract: In a sample of 296 8th-grade middle school students, the authors examined the role of personal achievement goals and feelings of school belonging in mediating the relation between perceptions of the school psychological environment and school-related beliefs, affect, and achievement. Sequential regression analyses indicated that perceiving a task goal structure in middle school was positively related to academic self-efficacy and that this relation was mediated through personal task goals. Perceiving an ability goal structure was related to academic self-consciousness and this relation was mediated through personal relative ability goals. Perceiving positive teacher-student relationships predicted positive school-related affect and this relation was mediated through feelings of school belonging. Feelings of academic efficacy and school belonging in turn were positively related to final-semester academic grades. Results are discussed in relation to current middle school reform efforts. During the early adolescent years, middle schools play an important role in facilitating or inhibiting successful adolescent development (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1989). Schools potentially can provide early adolescents with opportunities to develop their intellectual capacities, to experience a sense of competence and belonging, and to interact with supportive, nonparental adults. Unfortunately, just when adolescents are particularly in need of these opportunities, the middle-school learning environment often fails to provide them (Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development, 1989; Eccles & Midgley, 1989). For instance, at a time when adolescents are known to be sensitive about how they appear to others, middle schools emphasize relative ability and social comparison in learning situations (Midgley, Anderman, & Hicks, 1995); and at a time when adolescents are particularly in need of supportive relationships with adults outside the home, the quality of relationships with teachers is less than optimal (Midgley, Feldlaufer, & Eccles, 1989). Understanding how particular

1,323 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify features of study skills interventions that are likely to lead to success and conduct a meta-analysis of 51 studies in which interventions aimed to enhance student learning by improving student use of either one or a combination of learning or study skills.
Abstract: The aim of this review is to identify features of study skills interventions that are likely to lead to success. Via a meta-analysis we examine 51 studies in which interventions aimed to enhance student learning by improving student use of either one or a combination of learning or study skills. Such interventions typically focused on task-related skills, self-management of learning, or affective components such as motivation and self-concept. Using the SOLO model (Biggs & Collis, 1982), we categorized the interventions (a) into four hierarchical levels of structural complexity and (b) as either near or far in terms of transfer. The results support the notion of situated cognition, whereby it is recommended that training other than for simple mnemonic performance should be in context, use tasks within the same domain as the target content, and promote a high degree of learner activity and metacognitive awareness.

989 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of 39 studies indicated that achievement test scores decline over summer vacation as discussed by the authors, and the effect of summer break was more detrimental for math than for reading and most detrimental for computation and spelling.
Abstract: A review of 39 studies indicated that achievement test scores decline over summer vacation. The results of the 13 most recent studies were combined using meta-analytic procedures. The meta-analysis indicated that the summer loss equaled about one month on a grade-level equivalent scale, or one tenth of a standard deviation relative to spring test scores. The effect of summer break was more detrimental for math than for reading and most detrimental for math computation and spelling. Also, middle-class students appeared to gain on grade-level equivalent reading recognition tests over summer while lower-class students lost on them. There were no moderating effects for student gender or race, but the negative effect of summer did increase with increases in students’ grade levels. Suggested explanations for the findings include the differential availability of opportunities to practice different academic material over summer (with reading practice more available than math practice) and differences in the mater...

906 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article examined the relation between three goal orientations and students' motivational beliefs and self-regulated learning in a correlational study of 434 seventh and eighth grade students and found that adopting an extrinsic goal orientation led to more maladaptive motivational and cognitive outcomes.

891 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that African Americans and Hispanics exhibited both the lowest participation rates as well as the highest propensity to drop out from college, while white students were more likely to enroll and persist in college.
Abstract: College participation by minority students declined in the middle 1980s following a period of sustained growth [21]. This trend was particularly evident among African Americans and Hispanics [46] who exhibited both the lowest participation rates as well as the highest propensity to drop out from college. Porter's [45] analyses of the high-school senior class of 1980, for instance, revealed that Hispanic college students were 13 percent more prone to withdraw from college than were white students, whereas African American college students were 22 percent more likely to drop out than their white counterparts over a six-year period. These low persistence rates (even over extended periods of enrollment in college) are particularly troublesome from a policy perspective given the relationship that the attainment of a bachelor's degree has on subsequent occupational and economic attainment [44]. Several reasons have been advanced to account for these trends. Hauser and Anderson [21] explored the extent to which declines in college participation rates could be attributed to changes in college aspirations as well as to changes in high-school completion rates among African Americans. After analyzing college aspiration trends for both minorities and nonminorities over a period of thirty years and taking into account high-school completion rates and indicators of socioeconomic status, Hauser and Anderson could not find support for this hypothesis. Other researchers have speculated that the decline could be attributed to changes in the composition of federal assistance and to patterns of financing higher education exhibited by minority students. Porter [45] noted that declines in minorities' college participation rates correlated with the growth of student loans at the expense of grants. Olivas [41], Mortenson and Wu [31], and Mortenson [30] observed that African American and Hispanic students were less willing to go into debt to finance their college education than were white students. Moreover, Ekstrom [19] helped to establish and test the proposition that students willing to go into debt to finance their education were more likely to enroll and persist in college. An alternative explanation to the role of finances in the persistence process has stressed the influence of academic preparation for college. Tinto [56] argued that overall differences in persistence rates between minorities and nonminorities were primarily due to differences in their academic preparedness rather than differences in their socioeconomic backgrounds. Tinto further contended that these ability differences arise from prior educational experiences at the elementary and secondary educational levels which tend to favor the educational achievement of nonminorities relative to minorities. Some degree of support has been given to this hypothesis. St. John, Kirshstein, and Noell [50], for instance, reported that the effects of ethnicity disappeared once academic preparation for college was taken into account for the high-school class of 1980. The proposition that a lack of adjustment to predominantly white institutions and that perceptions of prejudice (racial climate) may lower the quality of college experiences of minority students has emerged as a competing explanation for the differences in persistence rates between minority and nonminority college students [for example, 1, 18, 23, 24, 28, 34, 35, 36, 53]. Fleming [18], in particular, has argued that adjustment problems with the curriculum, lack of support services, financial problems and the nature of interpersonal relationships with faculty, peers and academic staff are some of the experiences that negatively impact minority students attending predominantly white institutions. Likewise, Tracey and Sedlacek [57, 58, 59] have contended that noncognitive factors (that is, self-concept, an understanding of racism, and the ability to cope with it) play a more critical role in shaping academic performance in college and persistence decisions among minority students than do cognitive factors such as academic ability and study habits. …

799 citations


Book
04 Jun 1996
TL;DR: The authors of as discussed by the authors argue that the real problem with America's educational system is not a matter of school reform, diversity, mass media, or disadvantaged populations; rather, it is the disproportionate number of disengaged students.
Abstract: Beyond the Classroom: Why School Reform Has Failed and What Parents Can Do, by Laurence Steinberg, B. Bradford Brown, and Sanford Dornbusch. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1996. 233 pp. $22.00, paper. Reviewed by William Franklin, California State University-Monterey Bay. Beyond the Classroom provides parents, students, teachers, and administrators with a thought-provoking analysis of out-of-school factors that lead to academic underachievement. The authors of this book contend that the "real" problem with America's educational system is not a matter of school reform, diversity, mass media, or disadvantaged populations; rather, it is the disproportionate number of disengaged students. They further claim that America's classrooms are primarily filled with students who have not made an investment in their education, who spend more time participating in extracurricular activities and after school jobs, watching television, and hanging out with friends than studying. Moreover, their parents are unwilling or unable to sustain interest in their youngsters' educational endeavors after their elementary school years. They draw these conclusions after conducting a 10-year longitudinal study that examined out-of-school factors contributing to low commitment and achievement levels in adolescents. A multidisciplinary team of scholars surveyed over twenty thousand adolescents from nine high schools in Wisconsin and California. They not only surveyed and interviewed students but also consulted teachers, parents, counselors, and administrators. Clearly written for a general audience, the book is organized in such a way that the authors are able to present their case using language unobstructed by statistical inferences, tables, graphs, and scientific nomenclature. However, Steinberg et al. assert in the opening chapter that their findings and recommendations are supported by legitimate scientific research procedures. Chapter one, entitled "The Real Problem," provides an alarming and disturbing overview of the state of education in the United States and the role of student disengagement. The authors define disengagement as typifying those students who "do not exert much effort in the classroom, are easily distracted during class, and expend little energy on inschool or out-of-school assignments. They have a jaded or cavalier attitude toward education and its importance to their future success or personal development" (p. 15). Engagement is defined as "the degree to which students are psychologically connected to what is going on in their classes" (p. 15). Engaged students, according to the authors, "concentrate on the task at hand. . strive to do their best when tested or called upon, and when. . given homework or other outside assignments. . .do them on time and in good faith" (p. 15). In chapter two, the authors argue that not only is the U.S. a nation at risk, but it is also a nation in denial regarding the long-term negative effects of underachievement. They examine educational indices such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test and conclude that poor school performance is evident for students at all grade levels and in all social classes. When comparing educational achievement internationally, they find that U.S. students fare worse than their counterparts from nearly all other industrialized nations. They also cite research showing that even when comparing this nation's best students with their international counterparts, U.S. students fare worse. Beyond the Classroom contends that America's school reform efforts have been disproportionately directed at changing structural elements of the system such as curricula, pedagogy, school calendars, school choice options, teacher training methods, and so forth. Millions of dollars and hours have been directed at changing how we deliver services to students within schools, without any substantial regard to factors outside the classroom that contribute to underachievement. …

747 citations


Book
01 Sep 1996
TL;DR: Self-Regulated Learning into the Classroom - Introducing self-regulated learning into the classroom and final issues.
Abstract: Understanding the Principles of Self-Regulated Learning Developing Time Planning and Management Skills Developing Text Comprehension and Summarisation Skills Developing Classroom Note-Taking Skills Developing Test Anticipation and Preparation Skills Developing Writing Skills Final Issues - Introducing Self-Regulated Learning into the Classroom.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the nature and extent of the school principal's effects on reading achievement in a sample of 87 U.S. elementary schools. But they found no direct effects of principal instructional leadership on student reading achievement.
Abstract: In this article, we explore the nature and extent of the school principal's effects on reading achievement in a sample of 87 U. S. elementary schools. Our study responded to prior critiques of the literature in school administration by formulating and testing a multidimensional model of principal effects on student learning. By using principal and teacher questionnaires and student test scores, we examined relations between selected school context variables (student SES, parental involvement, principal gender, and teaching experience), principal instructional leadership (principal activity in key dimensions of the school's educational program), instructional climate (school mission, opportunity to learn, teacher expectations), and student reading achievement. Results showed no direct effects of principal instructional leadership on student achievement. The results did, however, support the belief that a principal can have an indirect effect on school effectiveness through actions that shape the school's l...

Book
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of public education on the development of deaf children is discussed. But the focus is on education of the deaf, and not on the specific issues of deafness, such as causes, prevention and treatment.
Abstract: Note: Each chapter begins with an Introduction and concludes with a Summary. 1. Overview: Education of the Deaf Introduction The Influence of Public Education Definitions of Terms Communication Modes and Methods of Instruction Educational Programs and Services The Deaf Community Impact of Diversity 2. Historical Perspectives: Prehistoric Times to the Twentieth Century The Ancient World The Middle Ages The Spread of Islam The Beginnings of Education of the Deaf The Twentieth Century to World War II 3. Historical Perspectives: The United States from the Eighteenth Century to World War II Early Efforts The Establishment of Schools for the Deaf The Spread of Education of the Deaf First Attempts at Oral Education and the Common School Movement in the United States The Establishment of Oral Schools in the United States in the Late Nineteenth Century Edward Miner Gallaudet and Alexander Graham Bell From 1900 to World War II--Stagnation 4. Deafness: Causes, Prevention, and Treatment Early Investigations of Causality Early Issues of Heredity and Deafness Contemporary Identified Causes of Deafness Current Developments and Projections 5. Deaf Individuals with Additional Conditions Changing Terminology Incidence Estimates Major Identified Educational Disabilities Related to Deafness Teacher Morale Modes of Communication Mild Impairments Training for Academically Low-Achieving Adults 6. Families with Deaf Members: Interpersonal Relations from Diagnosis to Adulthood The Impact of a Deaf Child on a Family Periods of Stress Facilitating Satisfactory Growth and Development The Need for Observational Data in Naturalistic Settings 7. Deafness and Cognitive Functioning The Development of Thought and Language Nineteenth-Century Views on Deafness and Thought The Assessment of Cognitive Abilities The Relationship Among Thought, Language, and Deafness Recent Developments 8. Deafness and Social-Emotional Adjustment Limitations of Research on Social-Emotional Development of Deaf Individuals Research on Personality Characteristics of Deaf Individuals The Establishment of Psychiatric and Mental Health Services for Deaf Persons The Facilitation of Optimal Development Group Counseling and the Use of Interpreters 9. American Sign Language and Manual Communication American Sign Language The Growth of the Deaf Community 10. Early Intervention, Infant, and Preschool Programs Meeting the Problems of Early Intervention: The Nineteenth Century Early Intervention, Infant, and Preschool Programs in the Twentieth Century Research on the Effectiveness of Programs The Methodology Issue ASL and Early Intervention 11. The Acquisition of English: Teaching and Training Techniques Instruction for the Development of Grammatical Structure Teaching Speech The Utilization of Residual Hearing Speech Reading 12. Literacy: The Development of Reading and Writing Reading Writing Literacy and Predictive Factors 13. Elementary and Secondary Education Educational Programs for Deaf Children Academic Achievement Educational Programs and Academic Placement Research on Academic Achievement Special Curricular Methods 14. Postsecondary Education and the Economic Status of Deaf Individuals Early Efforts Toward Postsecondary Education Investigations of the Vocational Status of Deaf Individuals Deaf Students in Colleges for Hearing Students Development of Programs for Deaf Individuals at Postsecondary Institutions for Hearing Students

Posted Content
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a variety of estimation strategies and samples to estimate the effect of the program on math and reading scores, and found that the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program appears to have had a positive effect on the math achievement of those who attended a private school; but had no benefits for reading scores.
Abstract: In 1990, Wisconsin became the first state in the country to provide vouchers to low income students to attend non-sectarian private schools. In this paper, I use a variety of estimation strategies and samples to estimate the effect of the program on math and reading scores. First, since schools selected students randomly from among their applicants if the school was oversubscribed, I compare the academic achievement of students who were selected to those who were not selected. Second, I present instrumental variables estimates of the effectiveness of private schools (relative to public schools) using the initial selection as an instrumental variable for attendance at a private school. Finally, I used a fixed-effects strategy to compare students enrolled in the private schools to a sample of students from the Milwaukee public schools. I find that the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program appears to have had a positive effect on the math achievement of those who attended a private school; but had no benefits for reading scores. I have found the results to be fairly robust to data imputations and sample attrition, however these limitations should be kept in mind when interpreting the results.

Journal ArticleDOI
Dale H. Schunk1
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated how goals and self-evaluation affect motivation and achievement outcomes of fourth-grade students in a setting where they worked under conditions involving either a learning goal of learning how to solve problems (learning goal) or a goal of merely solving them (performance goal).
Abstract: Two studies investigated how goals and self-evaluation affect motivation and achievement outcomes. In both studies, fourth-grade students received instruction and practice on fractions over sessions. Students worked under conditions involving either a goal of learning how to solve problems (learning goal) or a goal of merely solving them (performance goal). In Study 1, half of the students in each goal condition evaluated their problem-solving capabilities. The learning goal with or without self-evaluation and the performance goal with self-evaluation led to higher self-efficacy, skill, motivation, and task orientation than did the performance goal without self-evaluation. In Study 2, all students in each goal condition evaluated their progress in skill acquisition. The learning goal led to higher motivation and achievement outcomes than did the performance goal. Research suggestions and implications for educational practice are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a vision of authentic academic achievement and specific standards for pedagogy and student performance that are consistent with active learning, or constructivist, perspectives but that establish standards of intellectual quality rather than teaching techniques or processes as the central target of instruction.
Abstract: Reform efforts may increase active learning without enhancing the intellectual quality of students' work We present a vision of authentic academic achievement and specific standards for pedagogy and student performance that are consistent with active learning, or constructivist, perspectives but that establish standards of intellectual quality rather than teaching techniques or processes as the central target of instruction We show that in restructured elementary, middle, and high schools, authentic pedagogy is strongly associated with authentic academic performance, that authentic pedagogy can be equitably distributed among students of diverse social backgrounds, and that its achievement effects are reasonably equitable for students of different social backgrounds

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, self-determination theory and a motivational model of engagement were used to determine the impact of perceived competence and autonomy on engagement and performance in school of 77 3rd and 4th graders identified as above average in ability.
Abstract: Self-determination theory and a motivational model of engagement were used to determine the impact of perceived competence and autonomy on engagement and performance in school of 77 3rd and 4th graders identified as above average in ability by scoring above the median on the Stanford Achievement Test. Despite this high ability, children who reported experiencing a lack of competence (those less certain of their abilities) or a lack of autonomy (being externally motivated) reported more negative affect and withdrawal behaviors than did children who perceived themselves as having ability or who perceived themselves to be autonomous. Implications for the achievement and adjustment of children in school are discussed.

27 Mar 1996
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the relationship between high school size and student learning and found that the influence of school size on learning is different in schools that enroll students of varying SES and in schools with differing proportions of minority students.
Abstract: The study described in this article investigates the relationship between high school size and student learning. We used three waves of data from NELS:88 and hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) methods to examine how students’ achievement growth in two subjects (reading and mathematics) over the high school years is influenced by the size of the high school they attend. Three research questions guided the study: (a) Which size high school is most effective for students’ learning?, (b) In which size high school is learning most equitably distributed?, and (c) Are size effects consistent across high schools defined by their social compositions? Results suggest that the ideal high school, defined in terms of effectiveness (i.e., learning), enrolls between 600 and 900 students. In schools smaller than this, students learn less; those in large high schools (especially over 2,100) learn considerably less. Learning is more equitable in very small schools, with equity defined by the relationship between learning and student socioeconomic status (SES). An important finding from the study is that the influence of school size on learning is different in schools that enroll students of varying SES and in schools with differing proportions of minorities. Enrollment size has a stronger effect on learning in schools with lower-SES students and also in schools with high concentrations of minority students. Implications for educational policy are discussed.

BookDOI
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss how families and schools can work together to promote children's school success and how the structure of family-school relations affects the success of children and their families.
Abstract: Contents: Preface. Part I: Families and Schools: How Can They Work Together to Promote Children's School Success? J.S. Eccles, R.D. Harold, Family Involvement in Children's and Adolescents' Schooling. S.M. Dornbusch, K.L. Glasgow, The Structural Context of Family-School Relations. N.M. Haynes, M. Ben-Avie, Parents as Full Partners in Education. A. Lareau, Assessing Parent Involvement in Schooling: A Critical Analysis. Part II: How Do School Processes Affect Children and Their Families? K.L. Alexander, D.R. Entwisle, Schools and Children at Risk. T.D. Cook, Inequality in Educational Achievement: Families are the Source, But are Schools a Prophylactic? A. Gamoran, Effects of Schooling on Children and Families. C. Goldenberg, Schools, Children at Risk, and Successful Interventions. D.R. Entwisle, K.L. Alexander, Further Comments on Seasonal Learning. Part III: How is Changing Family Structure Affecting School Outcomes? N. Zill, Family Change and Student Achievement: What We Have Learned, What It Means for Schools. R.D. Mare, Changes in Families and Trends in Schooling. E.G. Menaghan, Family Composition, Family Interaction, and Children's Academic and Behavior Problems: Interpreting the Data. D. Scott-Jones, Toward a Balanced View of Family Change. Part IV: Building Research and Policy Agendas: New Directions. J.L. Epstein, Perspectives and Previews on Research and Policy for School, Family, and Community Partnerships. O.C. Moles, New National Directions in Research and Policy. G.M. Lloyd, Research and Practical Applications for School, Family, and Community Partnerships. D.T. Lichter, Family Diversity, Intellectual Inequality, and Academic Achievement Among American Children. K.L. Bierman, Family-School Links: An Overview.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the relationship among college students' self-reported goal orientation, perceived ability, cognitive engagement while studying, and course achievement and found that meaningful cognitive engagement suppressed the negative effects of shallow engagement on achievement.

Book ChapterDOI
TL;DR: This article provided an overview of research on accuracy, error, bias, and self-fulfilling prophecies and found that teacher expectations predict student achievement, mainly because they are accurate.
Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter provides an overview of research on accuracy, error, bias, and self-fulfilling prophecies. It also reviews a research showing that teacher expectations predict student achievement—mainly because they are accurate, although they do lead to small self-fulfilling prophecies and biases. The conditions under which self-fulfilling prophecies might be considerably more powerful are embarked. The results of new research showing that teacher expectancy effects are more powerful among girls, students from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds or African–Americans are also addressed. Some evidence of bias show differences in teacher's perceptions of students from the differing groups corresponded well to actual differences among those same groups of students. The chapter also analyzes ways to distinguish among self fulfilling prophecies, perceptual biases, and accuracy, and examines processes underlying expectancy-related phenomena—discoveries have some relevance and applicability to many other relationships beyond teachers and students. Conceptual model of relationships between teacher perceptions and student achievement and some evidence regarding the role of stereotypes in naturally occurring person perception is also explained in the chapter.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The literature relevant to the combined area of personality and education and learning is summarized in this paper, covering almost a century of research and theorizing in the field of personality, education, and learning.
Abstract: The literature relevant to the combined area of personality and education and learning is summarized, covering almost a century of research and theorizing. Different topics considered important from the aspect of education and learning or from the aspect of personality ape represented. For personality this means that broad domains such as motivation and disposition are represented, and that reference is made to topics such as achievement motivation, character education, and goal orientation. The first few decades of the century are coloured by the unitary character-derived construct persistence of motives ( Webb, 1915), which has an inherent connection to learning and education. The last three or four decades are characterized by a growing consensus in the personality field about basic constructs such as those represented by the Big-Five factors. In addition, emerging issues covering the relationship between personality and intelligence and personality, motivation, and achievement-orientation are described. This review is necessarily incomplete, but most of the central topics in the field of personality and education have been given a place.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors found that achievement gains are significantly higher in schools where teachers take collective responsibility for students' academic success or failure rather than blaming students for their own failure, rather than assigning blame on individual students.
Abstract: How the organization of teachers' work affects students in their early years of high school is the focus of this study. A nationally representative sample of 11,692 high school sophomores in 820 U. S. high schools and 9,904 of those students' teachers was used, drawn from the base year and first follow-up of the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88). Organizational effects were evaluated on students' gains in achievement (in mathematics, reading, science, and social studies) between eighth and tenth grade, as well as the social distribution of those gains. The study focused on three constructs measuring the organization of teachers' work: collective responsibility for student learning, staff cooperation, and control over classroom and school work conditions. Results were very consistent: achievement gains are significantly higher in schools where teachers take collective responsibility for students' academic success or failure rather than blaming students for their own failure. Achieve...

01 Dec 1996
TL;DR: Goldhaber et al. as discussed by the authors studied the effects of teacher race, gender, and ethnicity on student performance using NELS:88, published in Industrial and Labor Relations Review, and more recently with Dominic Brewer on the observable and unobservable influence of teachers.
Abstract: Dr. Dan D. Goldhaber is a Research Analyst with the Center for Naval Analyses in Alexandria, VA. His research focuses on a wide range of K–12 schooling issues including the productivity of private and public schools, the relative returns to educational resources, and teacher labor markets. Parts of his dissertation titled, "Public and Private High Schools: School Choice and the Consequences" have been published in Economics of Education Review, and in an upcoming article in Phi Delta Kappan. He has also worked on the issue of the effects of teacher race, gender, and ethnicity on student performance using NELS:88, published in Industrial and Labor Relations Review, and more recently with Dominic Brewer on the observable and unobservable influence of teachers on student performance, forthcoming in the Journal of Human Resources.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The importance of an ecological approach to the problem of academic underachievement within the African American community is highlighted, as neighborhood risk was examined as a moderator of the effects of parenting and peer support.
Abstract: Using a 1-year prospective design, this study examined the influence of family status variables (family income, parental education, family structure), parenting variables (maternal support and restrictive control), peer support, and neighborhood risk on the school performance of 120 African American junior high school students. In addition to main effects of these variables, neighborhood risk was examined as a moderator of the effects of parenting and peer support. Family status variables were not predictive of adolescent school performance as indexed by self-reported grade point average. Maternal support at Time 1 was prospectively related to adolescent grades at Time 2. Neighborhood risk was related to lower grades, while peer support predicted better grades in the prospective analyses. Neighborhood risk also moderated the effects of maternal restrictive control and peer support on adolescent grades in prospective analyses. These findings highlight the importance of an ecological approach to the problem of academic underachievement within the African American community.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1996
TL;DR: The importance placed on the enhancement of selfconcept is usually based on the premise that high self-concept will lead to feelings of self-worth and self-acceptance as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Publisher Summary Self-concept enhancement activities are included as a component of the school curriculum in some school districts. Also, teachers are sometimes called on to make judgments about the self-concepts of their students as part of the normal classroom assessment and school reporting practices. The importance placed on the enhancement of self-concept is usually based on the premise that high self-concept will lead to feelings of self-worth and self-acceptance. The research summarized in this chapter suggests that the attainment of a positive academic self-concept affects academic behavior, academic choices, educational aspirations, and subsequent academic achievement. The purpose of the chapter is to summarize research on the structure, assessment, measurement, and enhancement of academic self-concept in educational settings. It provides an overview of the theoretical structure of self-concept and the nature of valid and reliable self-concept measurement instruments. It also discusses the relationship of self-concept to other constructs and self-concept enhancement interventions. This discussion focuses on a model of self-concept originally developed by Richard Shavelson and his colleagues and subsequently revised by Marsh in collaboration with Shavelson and other colleagues. Throughout the chapter, the classroom implications of recent advances in self-concept theory and research are discussed.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors explored associations among children's beliefs about intelligence and effort, goal orientations, self-reported learning strategies, and academic achievement, and found that the belief that intelligence is relatively fixed was associated with the beliefs that performance is relatively stable and intelligence is global in its effects on performance.
Abstract: The study was designed, first, to explore associations among children's beliefs about intelligence and effort, goal orientations, self-reported learning strategies, and academic achievement. Assessments of all variables were conducted twice over 1 school year on 319 children in Grades 3-6. Results indicated that the belief that intelligence is relatively fixed was associated with the beliefs that performance is relatively stable and that intelligence is global in its effects on performance. This set of beliefs was differentiated from the belief that effort has positive effects on intelligence and performance. Children's beliefs in intelligence as fixed and affecting performance were negatively associated with academic achievement, but a path analysis provided only modest support for the hypothesis that the effect of such beliefs would be mediated by a performance goal orientation and accompanying superficial learning strategies.

Journal ArticleDOI
Ruth K. Chao1
TL;DR: In this article, a cross-cultural comparison of parental beliefs regarding the role of parenting in their children's school success was conducted. And the results showed that the Chinese mothers conveyed the great degree of value they place on education, the high investment and sacrifice they feel they need to offer, the more direct intervention approach to their childrens schooling and learning, and a belief that they can play a significant role in the school success of their children, while European American mothers primarily expressed a negation of the importance of academics or academic skills.
Abstract: In a cross-cultural comparison of parental beliefs, this study asked a sample of 48 immigrant Chinese and 50 European American mothers of preschool-aged children their perspectives regarding the role of parenting in their children's school success. In their responses, the Chinese mothers conveyed (a) the great degree of value they place on education, (b) the high investment and sacrifice they feel they need to offer, (c) the more direct intervention approach to their children's schooling and learning, and (d) a belief that they can play a significant role in the school success of their children. On the other hand, European American mothers primarily expressed (a) a negation of the importance of academics or academic skills (instead emphasizing the importance of social skills), (b) a less "directive" approach to learning explained under the "facilitative" model, and (c) a concern for building their children's self-esteem.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Many of the predicted relations between parents' child-rearing style and their adolescent children's behavior in the 4 domains assessed are found, including personality, adjustment, academic achievement, and substance use.
Abstract: The purpose of the present study was to examine Baumrind's T3 conceptual framework using a multiple informant design and an older adolescent population. With 178 college students and their families as participants, the present study found many of the predicted relations between parents' child-rearing style (Authoritative, Democratic, Nondirective, Nonauthoritarian-Directive, Authoritarian-Directive, and Unengaged) and their adolescent children's behavior in the 4 domains assessed: personality, adjustment, academic achievement, and substance use. The differences between parenting types on the criterion measures were not as large as reported in Baumrind's study, and significant effects were predominantly due to the poor scores from children with Unengaged and Authoritarian-Directive parents. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the Authoritative parenting type, the utility of using a typology, and areas for future research.