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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]

Background: Cheating at the post‐secondary level is a skewed phenomenon. While personality and environmental factors are associated with cheating, few studies account for the zero inflation when predicting cheating behaviour. Aim: In this study, we explore a person‐situation interaction hypothesis where teacher autonomy support (AS) could modify the relation between students' honesty trait and premeditated cheating. Sample: Participants were 710 college students and 31 teachers. Methods: Teacher and student reports of teacher AS were collected and students also completed self‐reports of honesty and premeditated cheating. Results: Given that cheating had a zero‐inflated negative binomial distribution, we can investigate two separate outcomes: likelihood of cheating and magnitude of cheating. Predictably, student honesty trait predicted lower likelihood and magnitude of cheating. AS, whether student‐ or teacher‐reported, moderated the relation between honesty and likelihood of cheating. In low perceived AS teaching environments, student honesty was associated with cheating likelihood. However, there was no such relation in high perceived AS teaching environments. Conclusions: Students' honesty generally predicts lower cheating. However, the educational environment provided by the teacher influences the strength of this association. The less autonomy‐supportive students perceive the educational environment, the more their personality is important in predicting the likelihood of cheating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The number line task assesses the ability to estimate numerical magnitudes. People vary greatly in this ability, and this variability has been previously associated with mathematical skills. However, the sources of individual differences in number line estimation and its association with mathematics are not fully understood. Aims: This large‐scale genetically sensitive study uses a twin design to estimate the magnitude of the effects of genes and environments on: (1) individual variation in number line estimation and (2) the covariation of number line estimation with mathematics. Samples: We used over 3,000 8‐ to 16‐year‐old twins from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Russia, and a sample of 1,456 8‐ to 18‐year‐old singleton Russian students. Methods: Twins were assessed on: (1) estimation of numerical magnitudes using a number line task and (2) two mathematics components: fluency and problem‐solving. Results: Results suggest that environments largely drive individual differences in number line estimation. Both genes and environments contribute to different extents to the number line estimation and mathematics correlation, depending on the sample and mathematics component. Conclusions: Taken together, the results suggest that in more heterogeneous school settings, environments may be more important in driving variation in number line estimation and its association with mathematics, whereas in more homogeneous school settings, genetic effects drive the covariation between number line estimation and mathematics. These results are discussed in the light of development and educational settings. [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.

Background: Previous research has shown that pre-service teachers have low responsibility for student motivation and feel underprepared to deal with motivational issues. As an extension, researchers have designed interventions to shift teachers' beliefs about motivation or equip them with approaches to instruction, but never both., Aims: Following best practices for motivation interventions, we created a one-session online intervention and tested its efficacy to shift pre-service teachers' self-reported beliefs and approaches to instruction to be more supportive of student motivation. The intervention included priming, materials designed for mindsets and/or for approaches to instruction, a consolidation activity, and take-home materials., Sample: A convenience sample of 384 pre-service teachers from one Canadian university participated., Methods: We embedded an experimental design into multiple sections of a required assessment course. After completing a pre-test, participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: beliefs-only, approaches-only, combined beliefs and approaches, or control. After completing the online module, students received a lecture on assessment practices and motivation., Results: The results from our MANCOVA showed that pre-service teachers who participated in the beliefs-only condition reported increased levels of responsibility for student motivation, more growth mindset beliefs, and less fixed mindset beliefs than participants in the other conditions. The approaches-only condition did not influence self-reported mastery or performance approaches to instruction and the combined condition had no effect on beliefs or approaches., Conclusions: We discuss the implications for educating pre-service teachers about student motivation and suggest that beliefs and approaches to instruction need to be addressed separately., (© 2020 The British Psychological Society.)

Background. Reading component models such as the Simple View of Reading (SVR; Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990) provide a concise framework for describing the processes and skills involved when readers comprehend texts. According to the Independent Review of the Teaching of Early Reading (Rose, 2006) strong evidence for the SVR comes from Factor Analysis of datasets on different measures of reading showing dissociation between decoding skills and comprehension. To the best of our knowledge, only two such published studies exist to date. Of these, only one of is in English and this explores children between the age of 7 and 10 years. Aims. To explore the SVR in English-speaking children aged 4 and 6 using Factor Analysis. Samples. 116 4 -year-olds and 116 6 -year-olds in the US; 103 6 -year-olds in Canada. Methods All children were administered a battery of decoding and comprehension related measures. Results. Factor Analysis of the diverse measures undertaken independently by two research teams in different countries demonstrated that listening comprehension and decoding measures loaded as distinct factors in both samples of young English-speaking children. Conclusions. The present findings provide important support for the generality and validity of the SVR framework as a model of reading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Self-handicapping is linked to students' personal motivations, classroom goal structure, academic outcomes, global self-esteem and certainty of self-esteem. Academic self-handicapping has yet to be studied with respect to students' consistency in self-description and their description of themselves as learners. Aims. This study examined students' self-esteem and self-concept clarity as well as their tendencies to employ deep- or surface-learning approaches and self-regulate while learning in relation to their self-handicapping tendencies and exam performance. Sample. Participants were 161 male and female Canadian, first-year university students. Method. Participants completed a series of questionnaires that measured their self-esteem, self-concept clarity, approaches to learning, self-regulation and reflections on performance prior to and following their exam. Results. Self-handicapping was negatively correlated with self-concept clarity, deep learning, self-regulated learning and exam grades, and positively correlated with surface learning and test anxiety. Regression analyses showed that self-concept clarity, self-regulation, surface-learning and test anxiety scores predicted self-handicapping scores. Self-concept clarity, test anxiety scores, academic self-efficacy and self-regulation were predictors of mid-term exam grades. Conclusions. This study showed that students' self-concept clarity and learning strategies are related to their tendencies to self-handicap and their exam performance. The role of students' ways of learning and their self-concept clarity in self-handicapping and academic performance was explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that examined the relationship between emotions and learning or work avoidance goals among senior high school students in eastern Canada. Influence of competence and control on goal pursuit; Effect of perceived meaning on the pursuit of a learning goal; Cluster analysis of the results.

The author comments on the review of the book "Bullying, Home, School and Community." The major objectives of the book were to encourage new work in the field of bullying, and to expand the debate in the incorporation before school influences and after school experiences. As bullying is also an international problem, a more international perspective is needed. Countries with awareness on the subject of bullying include Norway, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and other European countries. The academic categories of bullying may be peer aggression or peer conflict.