Educational Planning and Academic Achievement of Middle School Students: A Racial and Cultural Comparison

Are They Still Aiming High? The Development of Educational Aspirations of Lower Secondary School Students With Immigrant Backgrounds in Germany

Although research indicates that students with immigrant backgrounds often have higher educational aspirations than students without immigrant backgrounds at the same performance level, little is known about the longitudinal development of this difference in aspirations. This article analyzes how idealistic and realistic educational aspirations from Grade 5 until Grade 9 in Germany develop for students from various migrant groups, compared with those without immigrant backgrounds at the same school track and at the same level of school performance. Drawing on different theoretical assumptions, we examine to what extent students (increasingly) adapt their aspirations to their school performance toward the end of compulsory schooling. Our empirical analysis uses data from the first five waves (Grades 5–9; 2010/11–2014/15) of the National Educational Panel Study in Germany ( N = 5,542). Random-effects model results show a positive association between students’ school performance and their idealistic and realistic aspirations, and this association tends to increase over time. However, there is no uniform pattern in students’ aspiration trajectories. Some migrant groups (Poland, Southern Europe, former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) have similar aspiration trajectories as students without immigrant backgrounds at the same performance level, while other groups (Turkey, Northern and Western Europe, and others) maintain higher idealistic aspirations. Controlling for school performance, only students of Turkish origin also maintain higher realistic aspirations until Grade 9. These findings allow us to better understand the conditions behind the educational disadvantages of some migrant groups and offer insights into how best to further mitigate inequalities in educational outcomes.

Two-year-olds use past memories to accomplish novel goals

Memory-guided planning involves retrieving relevant memories and applying that information in service of a goal. Previous studies have shown substantial development in this ability from 3 to 4 years of age. We investigated the emergence of memory-guided planning by asking whether 2-year-olds could draw on episodic memories of past experiences to generate and execute plans. In Experiments 1 and 2 (N = 32, ds > .7), 2-year-olds successfully did so, and this ability developed significantly across the third year of life. Furthermore, in Experiment 3 (N = 19, d = 0.63), 2-year-olds successfully applied episodic memories to guide plans in a novel problem context, suggesting flexibility in this ability. Together, these results suggest that some form of memory-guided planning emerges during the third year of life and may form the cognitive basis for episodic prospection later in development.

Intentions to Cheat: Ajzen's Planned Behavior and Goal-Related Personality Facets

This study sought to test antecedents to college students' intentions to cheat by utilizing Ajzen's ( 1991 ) theory of planned behavior (TPB), and four goal-related personality facets. Those facets were behavioral approach, behavioral inhibition, need for achievement-hope of success, and need for achievement-fear of failure. As hypothesized, perceived friends' and parents' attitudes toward academic dishonesty (two subjective norms) and perceived ease of cheating (perceived behavioral control) all positively predicted overall intentions to cheat. Perceived friends' attitudes seemed to play a more influential role than perceived parents' attitudes. Interestingly, male students reported greater parental acceptance of academic misconduct than female students reported. Among the personality facets, behavioral approach and need for achievement-hope of success were positive and negative predictors of cheating intentions, respectively. A more fine-grained examination of take-home assignments revealed that students considered them easier to cheat on and reported greater intentions to cheat on them in comparison to other forms of academic work (e.g., exams and papers). Also, need for achievement-fear of failure positively predicted intentions to cheat on take-home assignments, but not other cheating intentions. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

African American Men’s Personal Sense of Mastery: The Consequences of the Adolescent Environment, Self-Concept, and Adult Achievement

Using longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the objective of this article is to examine which factors over the life course contribute to African American males’personal sense of mastery. Although adolescent poverty does not appear to hamper the adult mastery of African American men, results show that consequential adolescent variables are parental educational attainment, region of origin, self-esteem, and educational aspirations. The analysis also suggests that current adult achievement (e.g., educational attainment and earnings) is also a significant determinant of adult mastery in African American males. This finding indicates that, despite the absence of economic and interpersonal resources in adolescence, African American males may be able to compensate for such deprivation through individual achievement—which directly affects personal mastery.

Lost Talent

Logistic regression analyses were used to determine the extent to which demographic variables, students’personal resources, and family resources were predictive of stable or lowered educational expectations across the time period from eighth grade to 2 years post-high school. The sample was limited to U.S. students who (a) indicated in the eighth grade that they later expected at least a bachelor’s degree, and (b) achieved above the median score on eighth-grade reading and math tests. Therefore, students had high early expectations and showed early signs of academic talent. Lowered educational expectations across time have been described in the research literature as lost talent. For male and female adolescents, low socioeconomic status was most strongly related to lost talent. Racial group membership was also predictive of lost talent. For females, external locus of control was predictive of lost talent; whereas for males, family resources were protective factors.

Optimal Development in Adolescence

Psychologists have traditionally focused on the problems experienced by what constitutes a minority of adolescents. In this article, attention has been directed to the optimal development of adolescents' potential across six domains: biological, cognitive, emotional, social, moral, and vocational. Criteria are proposed and consideration is given to the role that counseling psychologists can play in enhancing the development of individuals in the 12- to 18-year-old age group.

Parent academic involvement as related to school behavior, achievement, and aspirations: demographic variations across adolescence

A longitudinal model of parent academic involvement, behavioral problems, achievement, and aspirations was examined for 463 adolescents, followed from 7th (approximately 12 years old) through 11th (approximately 16 years old) grades. Parent academic involvement in 7th grade was negatively related to 8th-grade behavioral problems and positively related to 11th-grade aspirations. There were variations across parental education levels and ethnicity: Among the higher parental education group, parent academic involvement was related to fewer behavioral problems, which were related to achievement and then aspirations. For the lower parental education group, parent academic involvement was related to aspirations but not to behavior or achievement. Parent academic involvement was positively related to achievement for African Americans but not for European Americans. Parent academic involvement may be interpreted differently and serve different purposes across sociodemographic backgrounds.

Health-related, help-seeking behaviors in female Mexican-American adolescents

PURPOSE

To explore and describe the health-related, help-seeking behaviors of young female Mexican-American adolescents.

DESIGN

Qualitative exploratory-descriptive design using focus groups.

SETTING

Community recreation centers.

PARTICIPANTS

18 female Mexican-Americans ages 10-16 years residing in a South Central state.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

A demographic information form and semi-structured interview designed for the study.

RESULTS

Subjects described two themes of help-seeking behaviors: seeking help for physical health problems and preventive healthcare from formal sources (i.e., community health clinics, family physicians, and public schools), and seeking help for concerns about pubertal development and pregnancy from informal sources (i.e., their mothers, aunts, sisters, and friends).

CONCLUSION

While young, female Hispanic adolescents may seek help from formal sources for preventive healthcare services and physical health problems not related to sexuality, they tend to seek help from informal sources for psychosocial and sexuality issues. Community-based interventions should be developed that focus on the importance of this pattern of help-seeking behaviors for young female Hispanics.