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The present study investigates the incremental validity of the traditional books-at-home measure and selected extensions (i.e., number of children's books and number of ebooks) for explaining students' academic achievement as measured by their academic language comprehension. Using multiple linear regressions, we additionally explore the role of the source of information (i.e., whether information is given by parents or children). Based on cross-sectional data of a German sample of 2353 elementary school children from Grades 2 through 4, we found that parents' information on the number of books and children's books contributed to students' academic language comprehension over and above parental occupation and education. Children's information on the number of books did not further increase the amount of explained variance, and the effects were smaller than those for parents' information. Yet, when investigated separately, both parents' and children's information on the number of books and children's books at home predicted students' academic language comprehension and mediated the relationship between more distal structural features of socioeconomic status (i.e., parents' occupational status and education) and the outcome variable. No effect emerged for the number of ebooks. Our findings point to the robustness of the traditional books-at-home measure when used in parent questionnaires.

Educational aspirations are of interest to scholars in several disciplines. They can affect multiple aspects of educational success and have been shown to differ between major social groups. Explanations for educational aspirations typically link to two main models of aspiration formation: the Wisconsin model (WM) and rational choice theory (RCT). Whereas the WM highlights significant others' educational norms, RCT cites cost-benefit calculations to explain how aspirations are formed. As it is still unclear how the two approaches interrelate, we apply a third model, namely the model of frame selection (MFS), which allows the integration of both WM and RCT arguments. In short, it suggests that the importance of others' educational norms moderates the relevance of own cost-benefit calculations. We assume that considering this interrelation is fruitful when explaining aspirations in general, and specifically when explaining immigrant students' aspirations, who often perceive high educational obligations by their parents. Using data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we test prognoses derived from the three theoretical models for their relevance when explaining the aspirations of Turkish and German students. Results indicate that the processes suggested by both WM and RCT shape aspirations. Consistent with the MFS, these processes also interrelate in that parents' educational norms reduce the relevance of students' own cost-benefit calculations. This interrelation does not only apply to Turkish students but holds for all students in the sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]