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Background: Within the same school class, it is usual to find children who differ in age by almost a full calendar year. Although associations between being relatively young and poor academic outcomes are well documented, and relatively consistent, the associations between being relatively young and psychosocial outcomes are less clearly documented. Aims: To review research which presents data relating to associations between a child's relative age and their psychosocial development. Methods: A systematic review was conducted and reported in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. Results: Fifty-nine papers met the inclusion criteria. The outcomes of the narrative synthesis and three meta-analyses found consistent, but very small, associations with relative age indicating that those who are relatively young are more likely to have more negative behaviour, mental well-being, and social experiences. Conclusions: Although being relatively young is associated with more negative psychosocial outcomes, the magnitude of these associations is consistently small. Furthermore, many of the outcome measures used are likely to be the result of multiple influences, not limited to the effects of relative age. Therefore, the findings are reassuring as they suggest that relative age itself is unlikely to substantially increase an individual's risk of poor psychosocial development.

Background: Building on the Realistic Accuracy Model, this paper explores whether it is easier for teachers to assess the achievement of some students than others. Accordingly, we suggest that certain individual characteristics of students, such as extraversion, academic self-efficacy, and conscientiousness, may guide teachers' evaluations of student achievement, resulting in more appropriate judgements and a stronger alignment of assigned grades with students' actual achievement level (as measured using standardized tests). Aims: We examine whether extraversion, academic self-efficacy, and conscientiousness moderate the relations between teacher-assigned grades and students' standardized test scores in mathematics. Sample: This study uses a representative sample of N = 5,919 seventh-grade students in Germany (48.8% girls; mean age: M = 12.5, SD = 0.62) who participated in a national, large-scale assessment focusing on students' academic development. Methods: We specified structural equation models to examine the inter-relations of teacher-assigned grades with students' standardized test scores in mathematics, Big Five personality traits, and academic self-efficacy, while controlling for students' socioeconomic status, gender, and age. Results: The correlation between teacher-assigned grades and standardized test scores in mathematics was r = 0.40. Teacher-assigned grades more closely related to standardized test scores when students reported higher levels of conscientiousness ([beta] = 0.05, p = 0.002). Students' extraversion and academic self-efficacy did not moderate the relationship between teacher-assigned grades and standardized test scores. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that students' conscientiousness is a personality trait that seems to be important when it comes to how closely mathematics teachers align their grades to standardized test scores.

Background: In academic contexts, teachers' judgements are central to instruction and have many consequences for students' self-perceptions. Understanding the cognitive biases that may exist in teachers' judgements is thus of central importance. Aims: This paper presents two studies in which we aimed to investigate the presence of a halo effect in teachers' judgements (Study 1 and Study 2) and to clarify the conditions for the emergence of this halo effect by analysing the influence of judgement certainty (Study 2). A major contribution of these studies was to provide a new measure of the halo effect in order to achieve these goals. Sample(s): In the first study, 25 teachers and their 199 students were asked to complete the measures, while the second study sample was composed of 20 teachers and their 180 students. Method: To analyse the presence of the halo effect in teachers' judgements in the two studies, scholastic achievement was measured using various standardized French language tests. Teachers were asked to indicate, for each of their students, whether they thought the student would answer correctly or incorrectly for each item on the standardized tests. In Study 2, to analyse the influence of judgement certainty, the teachers were asked to indicate after each item how certain they were about their response. Results and discussion: The results of both studies revealed the presence of a halo effect in teachers' judgements for each measure used (i.e., comparison of correlations, factorial analyses, and the new measure comparing variance scores), as the teachers' judgements were more homogeneous than the students' actual achievement levels. Furthermore, using the new measure, the second study revealed that high judgement certainty resulted in a stronger halo effect.

Background: Notwithstanding the emphasis on the idea that students should be actively and accountably engaged in their educational pathways, little research has investigated learners' agentic behaviours that take the form of student resistance to adult authority. Aims: This paper presents an experimental study aimed to assess whether, and to what extent, student Self and Other resistant agency depends on perceptions of teacher justice and student achievement. Methods: Participants were asked to read one of four scenarios concerning a generic student asking for the possibility to retake a test she/he had previously failed, with an experimental design including two levels of teacher justice × 2 levels of academic achievement. Then, they answered two items regarding the likelihood of protest on the part of the student depicted in the scenario and enforced by themselves in having to deal with a similar situation. Results: The multilevel analysis indicated a principal effect of justice and target, with resistant agency rated as more likely in the unjust condition and for the Other. The justice effect was further qualified by an interaction with the achievement level, with resistant agency higher in the unjust and low achievement condition. Finally, a three-way interaction appeared, with Self resistant agency higher in the just and high achievement condition. Conclusions: These results are discussed in terms of their implications for teacher practices, as they emphasize the importance just learning environments have in allowing students to express their opinions as well as dissent.

Background: Brain tumours are the most common and fatal of all solid tumours for children and adolescents. The effects of the tumour and treatment (chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery) results in significant disruptions to childhood development and large amounts of missed schooling. Among other challenges for families, this produces obstacles for children and adolescents to achieve and maintain academic performance and experience positive schooling encounters. Aims: We thus aimed to systematically identify and synthesize qualitative evidence on how families experience paediatric brain tumour from diagnosis and beyond with regards to their schooling and education to identify gaps in service delivery, research, and policy. Methods: A protocol for this review was registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD42020177165). Searches were conducted in Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Embase, and Web of Science, and yielded 22 eligible papers (representing 17 studies). Data were extracted into NVivo12 and analysed by qualitative description. Results: We formed the following domain summaries: academic (perceived failure to keep up with peers and finding success where one could, the importance of encouragement for diagnosed children), social (the importance of friendships and the harm of bullying), and support (the defining factor in overall return-to-school experience, often not enough received from educational professionals and clinicians). Our review highlights the need for more comprehensive, individualized, and integrated support for diagnosed children to return to educational institutions, and for the need to address their social experiences, particularly with regards to bullying, potentially through a school-wide social and emotional learning approach. Conclusion: Funding support, evidence-based guidelines, staff skill development, and clear communication structures across families, health care facilities, schools, and educational departments are essential to achieving this.

Background: Goal-setting theory continues to be among the most popular and influential theories of motivation and performance, although there have been limited academic applications relative to applications in other domains, such as organizational psychology. Aims: This paper summarizes existing quantitative research and then employs a qualitative approach to exploring academic growth via an in-depth reflective growth goal-setting methodology. Sample The study focuses on 92 UK final-year students enrolled in an elective advanced interpersonal skills and personal development module, with self-reflection and growth goal setting at its core. Method: Qualitative data in the form of regular reflective written diary entries and qualitative questionnaires were collected from students during, on completion of, and 6 months following the personal growth goal-setting programme. Results: About 20% of students' self-set growth goals directly related to academic growth and performance; students reported that these had a strong impact on their achievement both during and following the reflective programme. Growth goals that were indirectly related to achievement (e.g., stress management) appeared to positively impact academic growth and other outcomes (e.g., well-being). A follow-up survey revealed that growth goal setting continued to impact academic growth factors (e.g., self-efficacy, academic performance) beyond the reflective programme itself. Conclusions: Academic growth can result from both academically direct and indirect growth goals, and growth goal setting appears to be aided by the process of simultaneous growth reflection. The implications for promoting academic growth via this unique learning and development approach are discussed.

Background: Brain tumours are the most common and fatal of all solid tumours for children and adolescents. The effects of the tumour and treatment (chemotherapy, radiation, and/or surgery) results in significant disruptions to childhood development and large amounts of missed schooling. Among other challenges for families, this produces obstacles for children and adolescents to achieve and maintain academic performance and experience positive schooling encounters. Aims: We thus aimed to systematically identify and synthesize qualitative evidence on how families experience paediatric brain tumour from diagnosis and beyond with regards to their schooling and education to identify gaps in service delivery, research, and policy. Methods: A protocol for this review was registered with PROSPERO (ID: CRD42020177165). Searches were conducted in Medline, CINAHL, PsycInfo, Embase, and Web of Science, and yielded 22 eligible papers (representing 17 studies). Data were extracted into NVivo12 and analysed by qualitative description. Results: We formed the following domain summaries: academic (perceived failure to keep up with peers and finding success where one could, the importance of encouragement for diagnosed children), social (the importance of friendships and the harm of bullying), and support (the defining factor in overall return‐to‐school experience, often not enough received from educational professionals and clinicians). Our review highlights the need for more comprehensive, individualized, and integrated support for diagnosed children to return to educational institutions, and for the need to address their social experiences, particularly with regards to bullying, potentially through a school‐wide social and emotional learning approach. Conclusion: Funding support, evidence‐based guidelines, staff skill development, and clear communication structures across families, health care facilities, schools, and educational departments are essential to achieving this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Students' perceptions of classroom goals influence their adoption of personal goals. To assess different forms of classroom goals, recent studies have favoured an overall measure of performance classroom goals, compared to a two-dimensional assessment of performance-approach and performance-avoidance classroom goals (PAVCG). Aims: This paper considered the relationship between students' perceptions of classroom goals and their endorsement of personal achievement goals. We proposed that three (instead of only two) classroom goals need to be distinguished. We aimed to provide evidence for this hypothesis by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and also by divergent associations between the respective classroom goal and students' personal goal endorsement. Sample: A total of 871 (474 female) 10th grade students from several German high schools participated in this study. Method: Students responded to items assessing their perception of mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals in the classroom. Additionally, the students reported how much they personally pursue mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. All items referred to German as a specific school subject. Results: A CFA yielded empirical support for the proposed distinction of three (instead of only two) different kinds of classroom goals. Moreover, in hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) analyses all three classroom goals showed unique associations with students' personal goal adoption. Conclusions: The findings emphasized the need to distinguish performance-approach and PAVCG. Furthermore, our results suggest that multiple classroom goals have interactive effects on students' personal achievement strivings.

Background: In the context of the British Government's policy directed on improving standards in schools, this paper presents research on the effects of a programme intended to promote the cognitive development of children in the first 2 years of primary school (Y1 & 2, aged 5-7 years). The programme is based on earlier work dealing with classroom-based interventions with older children at both primary and secondary levels of schooling. Aim: The hypothesis tested is that it is possible to increase the cognitive ability of children by assisting teachers towards that aim in the context of mathematics. A corollary hypothesis is that such an increase would result in an increase in long-term school achievement. Sample: The participants were 8 teachers in one local education authority (LEA) and 10 teachers in another. Data were analysed on 275 children present at Year 1 pre-test in 2002 and at long-term Key Stage 2 post-test in 2008. Method: Two intervention methods were employed: a Y1 set of interactive activities designed around Piagetian concrete operational schemata, and mathematics lessons in both Y1 and Y2 designed from a theory-base derived from both Piaget and Vygotsky. Results: At post-test in 2004, the mean effect sizes for cognitive development of the children--assessed by the Piagetian test "Spatial Relations"--were 0.71 "SD" in one LEA and 0.60 "SD" in the other. Five classes achieved a median increase of 1.3 "SD". The mean gains over pre-test in 2002 for all children in Key Stage 1 English in 2004 were 0.51 "SD", and at Key Stage 2 English in 2008--the long-term effect - were 0.36 SD, an improvement of 14 percentile points. Conclusions: The main hypothesis was supported by the data on cognitive development. The corollary hypothesis is supported by the gains in English. The implications of this study are that relative intelligence can be increased and is not fixed, and that children can be led into collaborating with each other to the benefit of their own thinking, and that there does exist a theory-based methodology for the improvement of teaching.

Background: Undertaking term-time employment is increasingly commonplace for university students. Much research suggests that combining "earning and learning" may be detrimental to university life, generating role conflicts, increasing stress and reducing academic success, participation and overall adjustment to university. Potential positive effects of term-time employment on well-being are often neglected. Aims: This study adopted a balanced perspective, investigating the relationship between role congruence in academic, social and career domains and adjustment, with state and trait psychological factors as mediators/moderators. Methods: A questionnaire measuring perceived role congruence, adjustment to university life and psychological state and trait characteristics was mailed to all undergraduates at a Scottish university during term-time. Sample: Results for a subsample of 625 university students currently in term-time employment were included in this paper. Results: Findings suggested that students generally perceived employment and university roles to be in balance, and there was no difference in adjustment for students whether currently in term-time employment or not. However, psychological factors, particularly positive affectivity and stress were important mediators of the relationship between role congruence and adjustment. Conclusions: Since promoting role congruence may enhance students' adjustment and well-being, the study has implications for universities, student welfare organizations and employers offering term-time employment.

Background: Research indicates that achievement goals influence cognitive engagement, which, in turn, influences academic achievement. We believe that there are other individual difference variables in the realm of personal epistemology that may also directly or indirectly influence cognitive engagement; specifically, epistemological beliefs and epistemological motives (e.g. need for closure). Aims: This study proposed and tested a conceptual model of relationships among epistemological variables (epistemological beliefs and need for closure), achievement goals (mastery, performance-approach, performance-avoidance) and cognitive engagement. Sample: Two hundred and fifty-nine students attending university in the US volunteered to participate in the study. Students represented a variety of academic disciplines and ranged from 18 to 58 years. Methods: The participants completed three paper-and-pencil surveys: the Epistemological Beliefs Inventory; the Attitudes, Beliefs, and Experiences Inventory (a measure of need for closure); and the Approaches to Learning Survey (a measure of achievement goals and cognitive engagement). Results: Structural equation modelling supported the model in general, although not all proposed paths were significant. Correlational analyses further indicated that epistemological beliefs and need for closure are both potentially important variables for understanding learners' treatment of knowledge in instructional settings. Conclusions: There are individual differences in epistemological beliefs and motives that may influence the goals students pursue in learning settings and the nature of their cognitive engagement.

Background: Number line accuracy (NL accuracy) shows improvement over the course of a school education. However, there are practically no cross‐country longitudinal studies of NL accuracy over the whole course of elementary school. Aims: This study investigated the developmental trajectories of NL accuracy and its types across the elementary school years in two countries—Russia and Kyrgyzstan. Sample(s): The analyses were carried out on the data collected from the sample of 508 schoolchildren at Grades 1, 2, 3 and 4 (aged 6.4–11.9 years) from Russia and Kyrgyzstan, who were surveyed as part of the 'Cross‐cultural Longitudinal Analysis of Student Success' project. Methods: The participants were administered the 'Number Line' computerized test task and a paper‐and‐pencil 'Standard Progressive Matrices' test at the end of each academic year. Results: During the course of the elementary school education, NL accuracy increases nonlinearly in both samples from Grade 1 to Grade 4, with a pronounced increase in the rate of improvement from the first to the second year. Cross‐country differences in NL accuracy were observed during each year of schooling as well as in the growth of NL accuracy. The development of NL accuracy is described by a model with two developmental types: (1) 'high start and growth' (93% of the pooled sample) and (2) 'low start and no growth' (7%). Conclusions: Both NL accuracy and the rate of its growth during elementary school depend on educational conditions. Cross‐country differences in the distribution of schoolchildren by these two developmental types were statistically insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Self‐efficacy, or the beliefs learners hold about what they can do, develops largely from how learners perceive and interpret four main sources of information: mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasions and physiological and affective states. Although the relationship between these sources and self‐efficacy is well‐established, less is known about the factors that may influence how early adolescent learners perceive and interpret information from these sources. Aims: The purpose of this study was to investigate how the predisposition of perfectionism might predict how learners perceive efficacy‐relevant information in the domain of math. Methods: Using a correlational design, this study considered whether perfectionism was associated with how middle school students (N = 1683) perceive information from the four hypothesized sources of self‐efficacy. Participants completed a paper‐based survey at two time points. Perfectionism was measured at Time 1. Self‐efficacy and its sources were measured at Time 2. Structural equation modelling techniques were used to examine the relationship between factors. Results and Conclusions: Students who held themselves to high standards (i.e., greater self‐oriented perfectionism) reported higher levels of mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social messages and self‐efficacy. Conversely, students who felt external pressure to be perfect (i.e., socially prescribed perfectionism) reported lower levels of mastery experiences, vicarious experiences and self‐efficacy, as well as higher levels of negative physiological and affective states. The relationship between perfectionism and self‐efficacy was partially mediated by students' perceptions of mastery. This study extends the current literature on the sources of math self‐efficacy in early adolescence by showing how a predisposition like perfectionism is associated with how adolescent learners perceive and interpret efficacy‐relevant information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the various pupil characteristics that might determine academic performance in secondary school. The analyses seek to determine what measures or sets of measures have independent effects on achievement or progress in reading or mathematics. (Author/KC)

As part of a longitudinal study, a randomly selected group of 82 British adolescents were tested on both WISC-R and academic attainments. This paper reports the relationships between WISC-R and attainment and results on the CSE and ECE examinations. (Author/SJL)

A study of 90 nine year olds in five ethnically mixed New Zealand classrooms indicated that teachers perceived Polynesian pupils less favorably than White students on dimensions reflecting parent/home factors and academic work skills. Observations of teacher pupil interaction, however, showed no ethnic differences. (Author/GC)

Background: Building on the Realistic Accuracy Model, this paper explores whether it is easier for teachers to assess the achievement of some students than others. Accordingly, we suggest that certain individual characteristics of students, such as extraversion, academic self‐efficacy, and conscientiousness, may guide teachers' evaluations of student achievement, resulting in more appropriate judgements and a stronger alignment of assigned grades with students' actual achievement level (as measured using standardized tests). Aims: We examine whether extraversion, academic self‐efficacy, and conscientiousness moderate the relations between teacher‐assigned grades and students' standardized test scores in mathematics. Sample: This study uses a representative sample of N = 5,919 seventh‐grade students in Germany (48.8% girls; mean age: M = 12.5, SD = 0.62) who participated in a national, large‐scale assessment focusing on students' academic development. Methods: We specified structural equation models to examine the inter‐relations of teacher‐assigned grades with students' standardized test scores in mathematics, Big Five personality traits, and academic self‐efficacy, while controlling for students' socioeconomic status, gender, and age. Results: The correlation between teacher‐assigned grades and standardized test scores in mathematics was r =.40. Teacher‐assigned grades more closely related to standardized test scores when students reported higher levels of conscientiousness (β =.05, p =.002). Students' extraversion and academic self‐efficacy did not moderate the relationship between teacher‐assigned grades and standardized test scores. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that students' conscientiousness is a personality trait that seems to be important when it comes to how closely mathematics teachers align their grades to standardized test scores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In academic contexts, teachers' judgements are central to instruction and have many consequences for students' self‐perceptions. Understanding the cognitive biases that may exist in teachers' judgements is thus of central importance. Aims: This paper presents two studies in which we aimed to investigate the presence of a halo effect in teachers' judgements (Study 1 and Study 2) and to clarify the conditions for the emergence of this halo effect by analysing the influence of judgement certainty (Study 2). A major contribution of these studies was to provide a new measure of the halo effect in order to achieve these goals. Sample(s): In the first study, 25 teachers and their 199 students were asked to complete the measures, while the second study sample was composed of 20 teachers and their 180 students. Method: To analyse the presence of the halo effect in teachers' judgements in the two studies, scholastic achievement was measured using various standardized French language tests. Teachers were asked to indicate, for each of their students, whether they thought the student would answer correctly or incorrectly for each item on the standardized tests. In Study 2, to analyse the influence of judgement certainty, the teachers were asked to indicate after each item how certain they were about their response. Results and discussion: The results of both studies revealed the presence of a halo effect in teachers' judgements for each measure used (i.e., comparison of correlations, factorial analyses, and the new measure comparing variance scores), as the teachers' judgements were more homogeneous than the students' actual achievement levels. Furthermore, using the new measure, the second study revealed that high judgement certainty resulted in a stronger halo effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Britain is rich in longitudinal population cohort studies that posit valuable data resources for social science. However, education researchers currently underutilize these resources. Aims: The current paper (1) outlines the power and benefits of secondary data analyses for educational science and (2) provides a practical guide for education researchers on the characteristics, data, and accessibility of British population cohort studies. Methods: We identified eight British population cohort studies from the past 40 years that collected scholastic performance data during primary and secondary schooling, including (1) Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents And Children (ALSPAC), (2) Twins Early Development Study (TEDS), (3) Effective Pre‐School, Primary and Secondary Education Project (EPPSE), (4) Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), (5) Born in Bradford (BiB), (6) Next Steps (LYSPE1), (7) Understanding Society (US), and (8) Our Future (LYSPE2). Participants across these studies were born between 1989 and 2010, and followed up at least once and up to 68 times, over periods of 7 to 29 years. For each study, we summarize here the context and aims, review the assessed variables, and describe the process for accessing the data. Conclusions: We hope this article will encourage and support education researchers to widely utilize existing population cohort studies to further advance education science in Britain and elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Notwithstanding the emphasis on the idea that students should be actively and accountably engaged in their educational pathways, little research has investigated learners' agentic behaviours that take the form of student resistance to adult authority. Aims: This paper presents an experimental study aimed to assess whether, and to what extent, student Self and Other resistant agency depends on perceptions of teacher justice and student achievement. Methods: Participants were asked to read one of four scenarios concerning a generic student asking for the possibility to retake a test she/he had previously failed, with an experimental design including two levels of teacher justice × 2 levels of academic achievement. Then, they answered two items regarding the likelihood of protest on the part of the student depicted in the scenario and enforced by themselves in having to deal with a similar situation. Results: The multilevel analysis indicated a principal effect of justice and target, with resistant agency rated as more likely in the unjust condition and for the Other. The justice effect was further qualified by an interaction with the achievement level, with resistant agency higher in the unjust and low achievement condition. Finally, a three‐way interaction appeared, with Self resistant agency higher in the just and high achievement condition. Conclusions: These results are discussed in terms of their implications for teacher practices, as they emphasize the importance just learning environments have in allowing students to express their opinions as well as dissent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: National ranking from the triennial Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) often serves as a barometer of national performance and human capital. Though excessive student‐ and school‐level covariates (n > 700) may prove intractable for traditional least‐squares estimate procedures, shrinkage methods may be more suitable for subset selection. Aims: With a focus on the United States, this paper proposes sparse regression for PISA 2012 to discover salient student‐ and school‐level predictor variables for mathematical literacy achievement. Sample: The sparse regression analysis was conducted on 10 top‐tiered OECD countries/economies, Canada, and the United States in mathematical literacy on the 2012 PISA. Two‐ and three‐level hierarchical regression analyses were performed on Canadian and US students (N = 26,522) along with five of the ten top‐tiered countries/economies (N = 58,385). Methods: Using the 'least absolute shrinkage and selection operator' (LASSO) technique, the study (1) identified salient predictor variables of mathematical literacy performance for the top‐tiered countries/economies, Canada, and the United States and (2) used these salient variables to perform two‐ and three‐level hierarchical regression on data from Canada and the United States along with five top‐tiered countries/economies. Weights and replicates were used to account for complex sample design. A weighted, two‐level confirmatory factor analysis was performed to identify latent constructs. Missing data were handled through multiple imputation. Results: Separate two‐level hierarchical models accounted for 32–35% student‐level and 58–70% school‐level variance in Canada and the United States, respectively; three‐level models accounted for 33% of level‐one variance, 62–65% level‐two variance, and 13–44% of level‐three variance for the US/Canada and US/Canada/top‐tiered students, respectively. Following top‐tiered countries/economies, Canadian students had high levels of self‐efficacy, were more likely to encounter advanced concepts in class, were less activity/small group‐centred, and were more likely to consider truancy a learning hindrance. Factor analyses revealed a positive relation with rigour and class organization (teacher‐centred) for top‐tiered countries and Canada, though not for the United States. For all countries, there was a strong relation between rigour and self‐beliefs. Conclusion: Compared to top performers, a less rigorous curriculum, coupled with class and school factors, may explain lag in US performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents front cover of the periodical and mentions the list of editorial board members including Gina Biancarosa; James Boyle; and the Cleonice Bosa, along with notes the table of content of the periodical.

Background: The cognitive incongruity model of epistemic beliefs and emotions states that if students’ beliefs about the nature of knowledge (e.g., knowledge as simple and absolute) are incompatible with the epistemic nature of learning materials (e.g., complex and contradictory), cognitive incongruity arises. This, in turn, entails negative emotional consequences. Aims: The epistemic nature of contradictory learning materials might be perceived differently depending on whether individuals resolve the contradictions or not. Therefore, extending the cognitive incongruity model, the present paper argues that cognitive (in)congruity also depends on how individuals act on the learning materials. We expect that only if students resolve contradictory scientific claims (e.g., by identifying moderators), more advanced epistemic beliefs (e.g., evaluativism) have positive emotional effects and vice versa. Sample: A field‐experimental study with N = 86 undergraduate psychology students was conducted. Method: Using a multiple‐texts approach, participants were first presented controversial evidence on gender stereotyping from 18 different (fictional) studies. In contrast to similar multiple‐texts approaches, all contradictions could be resolved by identifying the contextual factors that a certain type of stereotype discrimination occurs in (‘resolvable controversies’). After reading, the experimental group was asked to resolve the contradictions, whereas two control groups read the same texts, but were not required to resolve the controversies. Results: Results revealed that absolute beliefs positively and evaluativistic beliefs negatively predict negative emotions, but only if students were instructed to resolve the contradictions. Conclusions: Our results suggest that extending the cognitive incongruity model by how students deal with controversial learning materials might be worthwhile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. There is much concern with group differences in educational attainment in school. Better understanding of pupils' academic ability perceptions promises to help understanding of differences in attainment. Aims. The aim of this paper is to examine ethnic and sex differences in academic self assessments at 7, 11 and 16 years, and ethnic and sex differences in the degree of under and overestimation of self assessment. Samples. Results come from a longitudinal study of white and black UK pupils in inner London schools. Samples sizes at 7, 11 and 16 years were 133, 175, 108 respectively. Methods. Self assessments, other self report data and attainments were collected at each age. Results. White pupils by the end of junior and secondary school were less positive about their own attainments, and about themselves at school. While black girls showed confidence in their attainments, and had the highest attainments in reading/English, white girls tended to underestimate and have little confidence in their school attainments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Goal-setting theory continues to be among the most popular and influential theories of motivation and performance, although there have been limited academic applications relative to applications in other domains, such as organizational psychology. Aims This paper summarizes existing quantitative research and then employs a qualitative approach to exploring academic growth via an in-depth reflective growth goal-setting methodology. Sample The study focuses on 92 UK final-year students enrolled in an elective advanced interpersonal skills and personal development module, with self-reflection and growth goal setting at its core. Method Qualitative data in the form of regular reflective written diary entries and qualitative questionnaires were collected from students during, on completion of, and 6 months following the personal growth goal-setting programme. Results About 20% of students' self-set growth goals directly related to academic growth and performance; students reported that these had a strong impact on their achievement both during and following the reflective programme. Growth goals that were indirectly related to achievement (e.g., stress management) appeared to positively impact academic growth and other outcomes (e.g., well-being). A follow-up survey revealed that growth goal setting continued to impact academic growth factors (e.g., self-efficacy, academic performance) beyond the reflective programme itself. Conclusions Academic growth can result from both academically direct and indirect growth goals, and growth goal setting appears to be aided by the process of simultaneous growth reflection. The implications for promoting academic growth via this unique learning and development approach are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background After graduation from secondary school, academic tasks (i.e., learning contents) are no longer structured in terms of school subjects (i.e., English, mathematics). Therefore, learners lack past performance and mastery experience to inform their expectancy of success (i.e., ability beliefs) regarding novel tasks. Aims In this paper, we investigate how individuals establish expectancy of success regarding novel academic tasks. We hypothesize that individuals draw on ability beliefs regarding known tasks that are deemed similar to novel tasks to estimate expectancy of success (generalization hypothesis). Sample(s) Participants were first-year students ( n = 354) in the field of business administration (Study 1), and (Study 2) psychology students predominantly ( n = 174). Methods In Study 1, we analysed relations between ability beliefs (i.e., academic self-concepts of ability) regarding four school subjects and four fields of study varying in similarity. In Study 2, we assessed mastery experience regarding two school subjects and expectancy of success (i.e., self-efficacy) regarding a fictitious course manipulating participants' similarity judgement. We analysed the data using mainly structural equation modelling. Results Results support the generalization hypothesis regarding both indicators of expectancy of success (i.e., self-concept and self-efficacy). Subject-specific self-concepts of ability predict study-related self-concepts of ability according to individuals' similarity judgements. Subject-specific mastery experience predicts expectancy of success only if the respective school subject is emphasized in the course description. Conclusion Individuals apparently draw on established ability beliefs regarding known tasks to inform their expectancy of success regarding novel tasks. Findings further our understanding of the development of motivation to learn in adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the authors' commentary on the issue's featured section of papers researching the impact of parental involvement on school children's motivation and performance. Topics addressed include identifying the theoretical assumptions made throughout these studies, proposals of alternative explanations regarding children's influence and agency within the parent-child relationship, and compliments on the positive aspects of the papers.

Background. Students' perceptions of classroom goals influence their adoption of personal goals. To assess different forms of classroom goals, recent studies have favoured an overall measure of performance classroom goals, compared to a two-dimensional assessment of performance-approach and performance-avoidance classroom goals (PAVCG). Aims. This paper considered the relationship between students' perceptions of classroom goals and their endorsement of personal achievement goals. We proposed that three (instead of only two) classroom goals need to be distinguished. We aimed to provide evidence for this hypothesis by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and also by divergent associations between the respective classroom goal and students' personal goal endorsement. Sample. A total of 871 (474 female) 10th grade students from several German high schools participated in this study. Method. Students responded to items assessing their perception of mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals in the classroom. Additionally, the students reported how much they personally pursue mastery, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goals. All items referred to German as a specific school subject. Results. A CFA yielded empirical support for the proposed distinction of three (instead of only two) different kinds of classroom goals. Moreover, in hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) analyses all three classroom goals showed unique associations with students' personal goal adoption. Conclusions. The findings emphasized the need to distinguish performance-approach and PAVCG. Furthermore, our results suggest that multiple classroom goals have interactive effects on students' personal achievement strivings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prior longitudinal and correlational research with adults and adolescents indicates that spatial ability is a predictor of science learning and achievement. However, there is little research to date with primary‐school aged children that addresses this relationship. Understanding this association has the potential to inform curriculum design and support the development of early interventions. Aims: This study examined the relationship between primary‐school children's spatial skills and their science achievement. Method: Children aged 7–11 years (N = 123) completed a battery of five spatial tasks, based on a model of spatial ability in which skills fall along two dimensions: intrinsic–extrinsic; static–dynamic. Participants also completed a curriculum‐based science assessment. Results: Controlling for verbal ability and age, mental folding (intrinsic–dynamic spatial ability), and spatial scaling (extrinsic–static spatial ability) each emerged as unique predictors of overall science scores, with mental folding a stronger predictor than spatial scaling. These spatial skills combined accounted for 8% of the variance in science scores. When considered by scientific discipline, mental folding uniquely predicted both physics and biology scores, and spatial scaling accounted for additional variance in biology and variance in chemistry scores. The children's embedded figures task (intrinsic–static spatial ability) only accounted for variance in chemistry scores. The patterns of association were consistent across the age range. Conclusion: Spatial skills, particularly mental folding, spatial scaling, and disembedding, are predictive of 7‐ to 11‐year‐olds' science achievement. These skills make a similar contribution to performance for each age group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. A significant number of children now enter formal education in England with reduced levels of proficiency in oral language. Children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and who are English language learners (ELL) are at risk of limited oral language skills in English which impacts on later educational achievement. Aims. This paper reports the development of a theoretically motivated oral language intervention, Talking Time, designed to meet the needs of preschool children with poor language skills in typical preschool provision. Sample. One hundred and forty-two 4-year-old children attending three inner city preschools in a disadvantaged area of London, England. Method. This is a quasi-experimental intervention study comparing children exposed to Talking Time with children exposed to a contrast intervention and children receiving the statutory early years curriculum. Measures were taken of both targeted and non-targeted language and cognitive skills. Results. Data were analysed for the ELL. The intervention had a significant effect on vocabulary, oral comprehension, and sentence repetition but not narrative skills. As predicted, there were no effects on the skills which were not targeted. Conclusions. Regular evidence-based oral language interactions can make significant improvements in children's oral language. There is a need to examine the efficacy of more intensive interventions to raise language skills to allow learners to access the curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Recent research on achievement motivation has begun to examine the effects of environmental factors affecting students' motivational beliefs and goal tendencies. However, when interpreting and applying the results, individual factors underlying students' different perceptions of their learning environment are often ignored. An implicit assumption seems to be that regardless of their dispositional differences (e.g. motivational basis), students will experience and benefit from instructional practices in the same way. Aims. This paper highlights the importance of students' dispositional motivational factors when examining differences in their perceptions of and preferences for the learning environment. The study builds on a conception of student motivation that emphasizes the interaction of individual and contextual factors. Sample and method. Questionnaires served as self-report tools and assessed students' achievement goal orientations, self-esteem, causality beliefs, academic withdrawal and perceptions of and preferences for the learning environment. The sample consisted of 208 sixth grade elementary school students. Results. Based on latent class cluster analysis and one-way analyses of variance, it was found that students' perceptions of and preferences for the learning environment vary depending on differences in students' motivational tendencies. Conclusions. Students' dispositional motivational characteristics should be taken into account both in theoretical considerations and in instructional interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Dweck has emphasized the role of pupils' implicit theories about intellectual ability in explaining variations in their engagement, persistence and achievement. She has also highlighted the role of confidence in one's intelligence as a factor influencing educational attainment. Aim. The aim of this paper is to develop a model of achievement aspiration in adolescence and to compare young people who are educated at a selective grammar school with those who attend a non-selective ‘secondary modern’ school. Sample. The sample consisted of 856 English secondary school pupils in years 7 and 10 from two selective and two non-selective secondary schools. Method. Questionnaires were completed in schools. Results. The findings are consistent with the model, showing that achievement aspiration is predicted directly by gender, school type and type of intelligence theory. Importantly, school type also affects aspirations indirectly, with effects being mediated by confidence in one's own intelligence and perceived academic performance. Intelligence theory also affects aspirations indirectly with effects being mediated by perceived academic performance, confidence and self-esteem. Additionally, intelligence theory has a stronger effect on aspirations in the selective schools than in the non-selective schools. Conclusions. The findings provide substantial support for Dweck's self-theory, showing that implicit theories are related to aspirations. However, the way in which theory of intelligence relates to age and gender suggests there may be important crosscultural or contextual differences not addressed by Dweck's theory. Further research should also investigate the causal paths between aspirations, implicit theories of intelligence and the impact of school selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Research indicates that achievement goals influence cognitive engagement, which, in turn, influences academic achievement. We believe that there are other individual difference variables in the realm of personal epistemology that may also directly or indirectly influence cognitive engagement; specifically, epistemological beliefs and epistemological motives (e.g. need for closure). Aims. This study proposed and tested a conceptual model of relationships among epistemological variables (epistemological beliefs and need for closure), achievement goals (mastery, performance-approach, performance-avoidance) and cognitive engagement. Sample. Two hundred and fifty-nine students attending university in the US volunteered to participate in the study. Students represented a variety of academic disciplines and ranged from 18 to 58 years. Methods. The participants completed three paper-and-pencil surveys: the Epistemological Beliefs Inventory; the Attitudes, Beliefs, and Experiences Inventory (a measure of need for closure); and the Approaches to Learning Survey (a measure of achievement goals and cognitive engagement). Results. Structural equation modelling supported the model in general, although not all proposed paths were significant. Correlational analyses further indicated that epistemological beliefs and need for closure are both potentially important variables for understanding learners' treatment of knowledge in instructional settings. Conclusions. There are individual differences in epistemological beliefs and motives that may influence the goals students pursue in learning settings and the nature of their cognitive engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims. There is uncertainty about the extent or even existence of sex differences in the mean and variability of reasoning test scores ( Jensen, 1998; Lynn, 1994, 1998; Mackintosh, 1996). This paper analyses the Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) scores of a large and representative sample of UK pupils to determine the extent of any sex differences. Sample. A nationally representative UK sample of over 320,000 school pupils aged 11-12 years was assessed on the CAT (third edition) between September 2001 and August 2003. The CAT includes separate nationally standardized tests for verbal, quantitative, and non-verbal reasoning. The size and recency of the sample is unprecedented in research on this issue. Methods. The sheer size of the sample ensures that any sex difference will achieve statistical significance. Therefore, effect sizes (d) and variance ratios (VR) are employed to evaluate the magnitude of sex differences in mean scores and in score variability, respectively. Results. The mean verbal reasoning score for girls was 2.2 standard score points higher than the mean for boys, but only 0.3 standard points in favour of girls for nonverbal reasoning (NVR), and 0.7 points in favour of boys for quantitative reasoning (QR). However, for all three tests there were substantial sex differences in the standard deviation of scores, with greater variance among boys. Boys were over represented relative to girls at both the top and the bottom extremes for all tests, with the exception of the top 10% in verbal reasoning. Conclusions. Given the small differences in means, explanations for sex differences in wider domains such examination attainment at age 16 need to look beyond conceptions of ‘ability’. Boys tend to be both the lowest and the highest performers in terms of their reasoning abilities, which warns against the danger of stereotyping boys as low achievers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. This paper presents results from the first wave of a longitudinal study examining the effects of various psychosocial variables on scholastic achievement and behaviour at school. Aims. The main aim is to investigate the nature and strength of the effects of major individual difference dimensions on important outcome variables at school level, including academic performance, truancy, and antisocial behaviour Samples. Data were collected from a sample of 901 pupils on verbal ability (as a proxy for cognitive ability), personality traits, and a number of behavioural indices, including academic performance at 14 and 16 years, number of authorized and unauthorized absences, and exclusions from school due to antisocial conduct Methods. During the first stage of the study, seven schools participated in all three phases. Teachers administered a questionnaire battery in class according to a detailed protocol. Additional data were collected from school archives. Results. Analysis of the data through multi-group (male and female puplis) structural equation modelling indicated a very strong effect of verbal ability on academic performance. Extraversion and psychoticism were negatively related to academic performance, although their effects were weak and moderated by gender Verbal ability, extraversion, and psychoticism predicted absenteeism, truancy, and exclusions from school due to disruptive conduct. The latter three were negatively associated with academic performance. Conclusions. The findings indicate that major individual difference dimensions like verbal ability and personality traits, have a strong influence on important outcome variables at school level, including academic performance, truancy, and antisocial behaviour Without fully acknowledging the crucial role of individual differences in shaping behaviour and achievement at school, the timely identification of pupils at risk, and the development of effective intervention schemes will be difficult [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Children with speech difficulties may have associated educational problems. This paper reports a study examining the educational attainment of children at Key Stage I of the National Curriculum who had previously been identified with a speech difficulty Aims. (I) To examine the educational attainment at Key Stage I of children diagnosed with speech difficulties two/three years prior to the present study. (2) To compare the Key Stage I assessment results of children whose speech problems had resolved at the time of assessment with those whose problems persisted Sample(s). Data were available from 39 children who had an earlier diagnosis of speech difficulties at age ⅘ (from an original cohort of 47) at the age of 7. A control group of 35 children identified and matched at preschool on age. nonverbal ability and gender provided comparative data. Methods. Results of Statutory Assessment Tests (SATs) in reading. reading comprehension. spelling, writing and maths, administered to children at the end of Year 2 of school were analysed. Performance across the two groups was compared. Performance was also compared to published statistics on national levels of attainment. Results. Children with a history of speech difficulties performed less well than controls on reading. spelling and maths. However, children whose speech problems had resolved by the time of assessment performed no differently to controls. Children with persisting speech problems performed less well than controls on tests of literacy and maths. Spelling performance was a particular area of difficulty for children with persisting speech problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Studies show that student mental health has continued to deteriorate over the years. Developing strengths‐based approaches could aid educators in the development of Psychological Capital (PsyCap) and positive protective factors in students to support their mental well‐being and aid in their success; however, little is known of the subject experience of educators who attempt this. Aims: This study aims to understand the experience of award‐winning educators; both in their attempts to cultivate positive protective factors in students and in challenges to the pursuit of that goal during the shifting academic landscape at the emergence of COVID‐19. Sample: Six award‐winning educators from a British university. Methods: Participants were interviewed over video calls in this research design using semi‐structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results & Discussion: The results showed two major themes; pressures for academics and strength‐based approached to cultivating PsyCap. These themes reflected that educators saw an urgent need for students to develop resilience as they struggle to handle subjective failure and that students struggle with imposter syndrome. The educators identified the challenges as feeling taken for granted, having unmanageable workloads along high expectations placed on them. Conclusion: COVID‐19 has added significantly to the workloads of educators and demonstrated students' need for resilience. This research identifies the experiences of educators trying to improve strengths‐based practice while identifying the challenges of pursuing that goal in the changing pedagogy post–COVID‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: An interplay of emotional and cognitive aspects underlies academic performance. We focused on the contribution of such interplay to text comprehension. Aims: We investigated the effect of worry on comprehension and the role of two potential moderators of this effect: physiological self‐regulation as resting heart rate variability (HRV) and working memory updating. Sample: Eighty‐two seventh graders were involved in a quasi‐experimental design. Methods: Students read an informational text in one of two reading conditions: to read for themselves to know more (n = 46; low‐worry condition) or to gain the highest score in a ranking (n = 36; high‐worry condition). Students' resting HRV was recorded while watching a video of a natural scenario. The executive function of working memory updating was also assessed. After reading, students completed a comprehension task. Results: Findings revealed the moderating role of HRV in the relationship between induced worry and text comprehension. In the high‐worry condition, students with higher resting HRV performed better than students who read under the same instructions but had lower HRV. In contrast, in the low‐worry condition, students with higher resting HRV showed a lower performance as compared to students with lower HRV. Finally, working memory updating was positively related to text comprehension. Conclusions: Our findings indicate that the cognitive component of anxiety, that is, worry, plays a role in performing a fundamental learning activity like text comprehension. The importance of physiological self‐regulation emerges clearly. In a condition of high worry, higher ability to regulate emotions and thoughts acts as a protective factor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children's participation in physical education (PE) is seen as important for developing an active lifestyle and has been positively linked to academic achievement. Physical activity (PA) levels during PE are thought to be linked to PE‐motivation, although this relation is poorly understood. Aims: This study examined (1) whether children's PA‐levels during PE were predictive of their PE‐motivation and (2) whether the relation between PA‐levels and motivation was moderated by children's academic achievement. Where previous studies focused on moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity (MVPA), disregarding the potential beneficial role of lower intensities of PA, we included MVPA, light‐intensity physical activity (LPA) and sedentary behaviour (SED). Sample: In total, 891 primary school students participated (mean age = 9.2 years). Methods: During one regular PE‐lesson, PA‐levels (using accelerometers) and PE‐motivation (Intrinsic Motivation Inventory) were measured. Academic achievement in reading, mathematics and spelling was measured with standardized tests. Results: A structural equation model revealed that LPA, MVPA and academic achievement positively predicted PE‐motivation. The interaction between academic achievement and PA‐levels was not related to PE‐motivation. SED was excluded from the models due to multicollinearity. Conclusion: Children who are more engaged in LPA and MVPA and who perform better academically generally seem to be more motivated for PE, suggesting that PA‐intensity levels and PE‐motivation are bidirectionally linked. Results underline the importance of also examining LPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The relation between parental involvement and student achievement has been of research interest for many decades. Although the idea of reciprocal processes between parent and child was proposed 40 years ago, very few efforts have been made to investigate reciprocal relations between parental involvement and student achievement. Aims: Using self‐determination theory, this study investigated the longitudinal associations of the manner of parental involvement (i.e., autonomy‐supportive or controlling) in children's academic problems with children's academic achievement. This study further addressed the recently intensely debated methodological issue of examining reciprocal relations by comparing a random‐intercept cross‐lagged panel model (RI‐CLPM) with the traditional cross‐lagged panel model (CLPM). Sample and Methods: A RI‐CLPM and a traditional CLPM were applied to 5‐year longitudinal data including 1465 secondary school students (Mage at T1 = 10.82 years, SD = 0.62). In both models, we controlled for students' gender, school type, socioeconomic status and cognitive ability. Results: The results show that the RI‐CLPM fitted the data better than the CLPM. Trait‐like stability was found for both forms of parental involvement and academic achievement. At the between‐person level, controlling involvement related to lower achievement, whereas no correlation between autonomy‐supportive involvement and achievement was found. At the within‐person level, there were positive reciprocal relations between autonomy‐supportive involvement and achievement, whereas controlling involvement was not associated with achievement. Conclusions: This study contributes substantially to the understanding of the relations between parental involvement in children's academic problems and children's academic achievement by simultaneously taking between‐person differences and within‐person processes into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescents spend a large percentage of their time at school, where learning and achievement are important activities that are vital to their future educational success and subsequent career opportunities. However, studies reveal a significant drop in satisfaction and performance during the teenage years. Aim: Based on the ecological model, this study aims to explore the relationship dynamics between contextual (school climate) and psychological (emotional intelligence and resilience) variables, life satisfaction and perceived academic performance, analysing, to this end, four theoretical models grounded in previous research. Sample: The sample comprised a total of 1397 adolescents aged between 12 and 16 years from the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country (northern Spain). Analysis The Equations 6.2 program was used to estimate the measurement model and the structural models, using the robust maximum likelihood procedure. Results: School climate and life satisfaction were found to directly influence perceived academic performance, whereas emotional intelligence and resilience did so indirectly, with the full mediation of life satisfaction. Conclusions: These results have important educational implications, since they reveal existing relationship dynamics, which should serve as a basis for the effective implementation of school programs. They also indicate how important it is for adolescents to be psychologically well‐adjusted and satisfied with their lives, in order for them to perform optimally at school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Students' academic performance and learning experiences are crucial in school education, yet their relationships with instructional characteristics remain an open question. Aims: The present study examined how cognitive activation and teacher support were associated with students' academic emotions and achievement in math classrooms via domain‐ and task‐specific self‐efficacy. Sample: In total, 5388 eighth graders from central China participated in this study. Methods: Cognitive activation, teacher support, math‐related enjoyment and anxiety, and domain‐ and task‐specific self‐efficacy were measured with self‐reported student questionnaires. The math achievement was measured with a standardized test. Results: Our findings showed that the two instructional characteristics were positively related to math achievement and enjoyment but negatively related to math anxiety, with the mediation effects of task‐ and domain‐specific self‐efficacy. In detail, cognitive activation had a stronger relationship with math anxiety through task‐specific self‐efficacy than domain‐specific self‐efficacy. Whereas, cognitive activation had a greater linkage with math enjoyment through domain‐specific self‐efficacy than task‐specific self‐efficacy. In addition, teacher support had a greater association with learning outcomes through domain‐specific self‐efficacy than task‐specific self‐efficacy. Conclusions: The relational mechanism of cognitive activation and teacher support on math achievement and academic emotions were differentially mediated by task‐ and domain‐specific self‐efficacy in Chinese math classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children's academic achievement is considerably influenced by genetic factors, which rarely operate independently of environmental influences such as teachers' behaviour. Praise and punitive discipline are commonly used management strategies by teachers. However, their effects on the genetic expression of children's academic achievement are still unclear. Aims: This study examined potential gene–environment interactions in the associations between children's estimated genetic disposition for academic achievement and teachers' use of praise and punitive discipline in predicting academic achievement. Sample: The participants were 165 twin pairs in sixth grade (M = 12.1 years). Methods: Teachers reported on children's academic achievement, as well as on their own behaviour. Results: Multilevel regression analyses showed significant interactions between children's estimated genetic disposition for academic achievement and teachers' use of praise and punitive discipline, respectively, in predicting academic achievement. These interactions indicated an enhancement process, suggesting that genetically advantaged children are those most likely to benefit from regular praise and infrequent punishments from their teacher. Moreover, genetically advantaged children were not more (nor less) likely to receive praise or punishments than other students. However, students from underprivileged backgrounds were less likely to receive praise from their teachers. Conclusions: The results emphasize the importance of teachers' regular use of praise and infrequent punitive discipline to help genetically advantaged children reach their full potential. Future studies should investigate other protective factors of the school environment that might reduce the role of genetic influences that undermine disadvantaged youth's academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many studies (especially cross‐sectional ones) have shown signicant links between two of these three constructs‐achievement, self‐concept and anxiety. Objectives: Unlike past longitudinal studies that examined only two of these three constructs, this study examines all three, grounded in self‐determination theory, control‐value theory and transactional theory of anxiety. Methods: Chinese secondary school students (N = 823) completed questionnaires across three time points covering one school year, and we collected data on their mathematics and second language (L2) English test scores. Results: Cross‐lagged panel models showed equal effect sizes in both pairs of time periods (T1–T2 and T2–T3). In both mathematics and L2 English, (a) achievement, self‐concept and anxiety all showed moderate autoregression effects and hence, relative stability, (b) achievement and self‐concept showed reciprocal positive effects and (c) self‐concept negatively predicted subsequent anxiety. In mathematics but not L2 English, anxiety negatively predicted self‐concept, and achievement negatively predicted anxiety, showing domain differences. Self‐concept mediated achievement's negative effect on anxiety only in L2 English. Conclusions: Distinguishing within domain and cross domain effects of achievement, self‐concept, and anxiety in mathematics and L2 English deepen our understanding of the relationships among these three constructs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Help‐seeking research has traditionally inferred behavioural responses to the need for help from post‐hoc reflections and experiments outside of the classroom context. Aim: We aimed to gain an ecologically valid understanding of the help‐seeking process by examining the association between pupils' task‐specific perceptions and their help‐seeking interactions with teachers and peers during lessons. Sample: Participants were 290 pupils in Years 4–6 (aged 8.22–11.48) and 12 teachers in 12 classrooms in three schools across two local authorities in South East England, UK. Method: The microlongitudinal data consisted of 6,592 task‐specific reports. Pupils reported on their task understanding and need for help and their help‐seeking (teacher and peer) and help‐giving behaviours at the end of each lesson. On average, pupils completed 25.44 reports across 14.64 lessons, 13 school subjects and 4.80 days. Teachers reported on pupils' academic performance. Data were analysed using two‐level logistic and multinomial logistic regressions. Results and conclusions: Task‐specific understanding and need for help were associated with help‐seeking and help‐giving behaviour during lessons. Understanding was associated also with the type of help sought and given among classmates and appeared to influence whether pupils were help‐seekers or help‐givers during peer interactions. There was an apparent reciprocity in peer help‐seeking interactions, occurring namely among girls and higher performers. Overall, girls were more likely than boys to seek and give help across tasks. Pupils for whom English was an additional language were less likely than classmates to seek help when they needed it. The study (1) sheds new light on the dynamics of everyday help‐seeking interactions in the classroom, (2) provides a conceptual framework for researchers interested in reciprocal processes of social interaction in self‐regulated learning, and (3) highlights groups who might benefit from intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Worries about school transition were related to poor academic adjustment during middle school. However, limited studies simultaneously investigated individual and contextual factors that may shape the children's reaction related to transition. Aims: The first aim of this present study was to assess how children's anxiety and academic self‐efficacy, including the parents' worries about school transition, are related to children's worries regarding the transition from primary to middle school. Our second aim was to explore the moderating role of children's academic self‐efficacy in the relation to children's anxiety symptoms and children's worries. Materials & Methods: A sample of 292 fourth‐grade children (Mage = 10.43; 53.4% girls) completed scales assessing their anxiety, academic self‐efficacy and worries about the transition to middle school. Parents also filled out a scale assessing the worries regarding their children's transition from primary to middle school. Results: The results show that children's anxiety is positively related to their worries about the transition to middle school, whereas children's academic self‐efficacy is negatively related to their worries. Parents' worries regarding their children's school transition are positively related to their children's worries regarding the transition. Furthermore, academic self‐efficacy moderates the relation between children's anxiety and their worries about school transition. Conclusion: Children with lower levels of anxiety reported lower worries for the transition when their academic self‐efficacy was higher, whereas children with higher anxiety reported higher worries for school transition at every level of self‐efficacy. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings for successful school transition are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bullying has a profound and enduring impact on academic achievement. However, there is a lack of clarity surrounding the specific mechanisms of this relationship. Aims: This study examined the link between bullying at age 9 and Numeracy/Literacy achievement at age 15 to determine if this relationship is partially or fully explained by psychological difficulties at age 13. Sample: Secondary data analysis was completed on waves 1, 2 and 3 of child cohort (Cohort'98) of the Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) study, respectively, at 9 years (N = 8568), 13 years (N = 7527) and 15 years of age (N = 6216). Results: Longitudinal path mediation model was conducted with bullying at age 9 as the predictor, total (emotional and behavioural) difficulties at age 13 as the mediator and Numeracy/Literacy scores at age 15 as outcomes revealing significant indirect effects of bullying on achievement, via psychological difficulties. Conclusions: We discuss the impact of bullying on the student's psychological well‐being, the relationship between bullying and academic attainment and how this may be tackled to avoid consequences throughout education and later in life. Educational Impact and Implications: This study emphasizes the need for schools to address the emotional and behavioural difficulties occurring as a result of bullying in order to improve the overall educational experience of a child. Existing interventions can be built upon by focusing on the continuous remediation of such psychological difficulties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Socially withdrawn children tend to perform poorer academically than their peers. What remains unknown, is the temporal ordering of the two phenomena. Also, substantial gender differences exist in both social withdrawal and academic achievement; thus, it is conceivable that the strength of the relation between them is gendered as well. Aims: To investigate cross‐sectional correlates and test directional effects of social withdrawal and academic achievement from primary to upper secondary school, and to examine potential gendered effects. Methods: Prospective associations were analysed from age 6 to age 14 using biannual teacher ratings of children's social withdrawal and academic achievement in a representative community sample (n = 845), by means of random intercept cross‐lagged panel modelling. Results: In boys, increased academic achievement at ages 8 and 12 forecasted decreased social withdrawal 2 years later, whereas increased social withdrawal at age 10 predicted reduced academic achievement at age 12. No such effects were seen in girls. Conclusions: Social withdrawal and academic achievement are bidirectionally related among boys, but not girls. Results are discussed in light of need‐to‐belong theory, and practical implications for schools and teachers are illuminated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: School students who are eligible for reduced or free school meals (FSM) – an indicator of economic disadvantage – have lower academic attainment than their peers. Aims: We investigated whether identity compatibility – the perceived compatibility between one's social identities and the stereotype of a high‐achieving student – contributes to this socioeconomic attainment gap, and whether the association between socioeconomic status and identity compatibility is moderated by school context. Sample: Our sample was 4,629 students aged 15–16 years old across 29 schools in England. Method: We assessed students' perceptions of identity compatibility via self‐report questionnaires 8 months prior to them taking national, standardized exams. Results: Multilevel regression analyses revealed a negative indirect effect from eligibility for FSM to exam results via identity compatibility. These effects existed even while accounting for students' gender and language status, other psychological variables known to predict academic attainment, and their previous exam results. Furthermore, school context moderated the relationship between FSM eligibility and identity compatibility. In line with the identities in context model of educational inequalities, there was a significant negative association between FSM and identity compatibility only for students attending schools in which there was previously a relatively large socioeconomic attainment gap. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate the importance of social psychological variables in explaining educational inequalities, and of the local educational context in determining the educational experience of students from lower socioeconomic status backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]