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Abstract: Teachers' diagnostic competence is a crucial determinant of their teaching quality. However, prior research has indicated only a moderate association between teachers' and students' assessments of students' competence/self-concept and motivation. Furthermore, it is unclear how well teachers are able to differentiate between students' overall competence and other competence-relevant characteristics. The present article therefore investigated teachers' and students' perceptions of math competence/self-concept and two aspects of self-regulated learning (preactional and actional strategies), using a sample of 73 teachers and their fifth-grade students (N =1289). Exploratory structural equation modeling revealed three-factor solutions, indicating that both teachers and students differentiated between the assumed self-regulated learning factors and math competence/self-concept. Latent correlations between teachers' and students' perceptions were small to moderate; their assessments of students' math competence/self-concept showed the highest agreement. The findings are discussed with respect to their implications for assessing and improving teachers' diagnostic competence of students' learning. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Equally able students have lower academic self-concepts in high-achieving classrooms than in low-achieving classrooms. This highly general and robust frame of reference effect is widely known as the Big-Fish–Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE; Marsh, 1987). This study contributes to research aiming to identify moderators of the BFLPE by investigating the effects of students'' personality (i.e. Big Five traits and narcissism). Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to test the moderator hypotheses, drawing on data from a large sample of N =4973 upper secondary track students (M age=19.57). Consistent with a priori predictions, the negative effect of school-average achievement (the BFLPE) interacted significantly with narcissism. Students high in narcissism experienced smaller BFLPEs than did students with low or average levels of narcissism. The statistically significant effect for neuroticism acted in the opposite direction. The study illustrates how personality moderates frame of reference effects that are central to self-concept formation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study investigates socially dominant adolescents: students who are actively involved in establishing peer norms, influence their classmates’ opinions, and are often the center of attention. Data from 5,468 seventh graders (M age = 13.3; 53% girls) in 266 classrooms were used to examine how social dominance relates to achievement, peer acceptance and rejection, self-perception, and deviance and to investigate contextual moderators of these associations. Multilevel analyses confirmed social dominance to be associated with both positive and negative adjustment. Moreover, the associations with achievement and disruptive behavior were moderated by the normativeness of these behaviors within the classroom. Finally, latent profile analyses revealed 4 distinct types of highly dominant students, 2 well adjusted and 2 poorly adjusted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several recent studies have illustrated a general increase in self-esteem from after adolescence until midlife. However, the specific pattern and possible conditions of self-esteem development from the important transition out of high school into young adulthood are still not well understood. In a longitudinal study (Transformation of the Secondary School System and Academic Careers; TOSCA), German students were interviewed 4 times beginning with their senior high school year (at Time 1 [T1]: N = 4,532; age: M = 19.6 years, SD = 0.9; 55% female). Conditional latent change models were applied and established 3 main findings. First, self-esteem showed a gradual increase across the transition, with both the self-esteem intercept and slope indicating substantial interindividual variability in the transition to young adulthood. Second, structural (having a partnership) as well as personality (Big Five) characteristics were substantially related to self-esteem development in emerging adulthood. Third, there were gender-specific associations between self-esteem and partnership status as well as between self-esteem and neuroticism and agreeableness. Findings point to a general upward development of self-esteem yet show interdependencies with the accomplishment of age-specific challenges in the transition to young adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]