Does students' awareness of school-track-related stereotypes exacerbate inequalities in education?

Early ability tracking increases inequalities in education. It has been proposed that the awareness of negative school-track-related stereotypes contributes to educational inequalities, as stereotype awareness interferes with students' abilities to thrive, particularly those in lower, stigmatized tracks. The present study tested this assumption in a sample of 3880 German secondary school students from three tracks, who were assessed four times on stereotype awareness regarding their own school track and academic outcomes (achievement, engagement, self-concept) between Grades 5 and 8. Students in the lowest track reported higher levels of stereotype awareness than higher track students or students attending a combined track. Stereotype awareness increased across time in all tracks. Contrary to our preregistered hypotheses, however, the results from multigroup models revealed that (changes in) stereotype awareness were not more strongly related to (changes in) most outcomes in the lowest track in comparison with the other two tracks.

Personality, intelligence, and academic achievement: Charting their developmental interplay

OBJECTIVE

Although intelligence and personality traits have long been recognized as key predictors of students' academic achievement, little is known about their longitudinal and reciprocal associations. Here, we charted the developmental interplay of intelligence, personality (Big Five) and academic achievement in 3880 German secondary school students, who were assessed four times between the ages 11 and 14 years (i.e., in grades 5, 6, 7, and 8).

METHOD

We fitted random intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPs) to investigate reciprocal within-person associations between (a) academic achievement and intelligence, (b) academic achievement and personality, as well as (c) intelligence and personality.

RESULTS

The results revealed negative within-person associations between Conscientiousness and Extraversion assessed at the first wave of measurement and intelligence assessed at the second wave. None of the reciprocal personality-achievement associations attained statistical significance. Academic achievement and intelligence showed reciprocal within-person relations, with the strongest coefficients found for achievement longitudinally predicting intelligence.

CONCLUSIONS

Our work contributes to developmental theorizing on interrelations between personality, intelligence, and academic achievement, as well as to within-person conceptualizations in personality research.

Mutual benefits for research and practice: Randomized controlled trials in the Hector Children's Academy Program

This article describes how a series of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were implemented in the Hector Children's Academy Talent Development Program with the goal of generating mutual benefits for research and practice. The Hector Children's Academy Program, founded in 2010 and located in one of the largest states in Germany, Baden-Württemberg, is a statewide enrichment program for talented primary school students, with a focus on STEMM topics. The program is financed by a private foundation, supervised by the Ministry of Education, and offered by 69 local sites that are hosted by local schools. About 15,000 primary school students (Grades 1-4) attend enrichment courses (more than 23,000 course participations) offered by the Hector Children's Academy Program every year. A unique element of the Hector Children's Academy Program is the role of empirical research in course development. The Hector Core Courses-offered by all local sites-undergo a strict quality assurance process in which RCTs are used to test their effectiveness with regard to central outcomes. After describing the Hector Children's Academy Program, we explain how the Hector Core Courses were developed and incorporated into the program, summarize key findings from the RCTs, and discuss mutual benefits for research and practice.

Theoretical and Methodological Disintegration Is the Most Fundamental Limitation in Contemporary Motivation Research

Much diversity exists in motivation science—diversity in core theoretical concepts, the level of granularity to which these concepts apply, and the methods employed to empirically investigate theoretical propositions. This fragmentation has led to conceptual and methodological disintegration. It precludes the field from developing either a unified theoretical approach or unified answers to problems facing educational practitioners. The authors of this essay examine if this disintegration can be overcome by integration with respect to theories, research methods, and the research settings in which motivation processes are studied. They go on to offer promising examples for such theoretical and methodological integration.

Digitization Will Bring Profound Changes in Educational Practice and Research on Motivation

Digitization has the potential to change the way students learn in fundamental ways. However, basic and applied research is required to make digital learning (more) effective. In the meantime, research on digital learning can contribute to progress in theories of learning and instruction. For instance, the integrated use of digital media as classroom instruction and research tools allows researchers to “zoom in” at the moment in which learning takes place in the real world in an unprecedented way. To be more successful, motivation science needs to embrace digitization and expand its traditional scope to focus more strongly on learning sequences, fully embrace the important role of teachers, and pay increased attention to ethical questions.

Reading to learn? The co-development of mathematics and reading during primary school

Understanding how early reading and mathematics co-develop is important from both theoretical and pedagogical standpoints. Previous research has provided mixed results. This paper investigates the development of reading and mathematics in a longitudinal sample of N = 355,883 students from the United Kingdom (2005-2019) aged 5 to 12 (49% girls). Results indicate a positive relation between the development of the two domains. In addition, a substantial statistically significant positive association between prior reading scores and subsequent changes in achievement in mathematics was found, whereas changes in reading were smaller for students with a higher prior performance in mathematics. The findings suggest that acquiring good reading skills is highly relevant for developing mathematics skills. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

The Development of Vocational Interests in Early Adolescence: Stability, Change, and State-Trait Components

Vocational interests predict major life outcomes such as job performance, college major choice, and life goals. It is therefore important to gain a better understanding of their development during the crucial years of late childhood and early adolescence, when trait-like interests are starting to develop. The present study investigated the development of vocational interests in a longitudinal sample, comprising N = 3,876 participants—assessed at four time points from ages 11 to 14. Stability, state-trait variance components, mean-level development, and gender differences in mean-levels of Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional (RIASEC) dimensions were examined. Stabilities were moderate for all dimensions, but Realistic, Investigative, Social, and Conventional interests became more stable over time. For Realistic, Artistic, Social, and Conventional interests, the trait variance increased over time. At age 14, all dimensions had substantial trait variance components. The mean-levels of Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, and Conventional interests decreased over the 3 years (–0.44 <  d < –0.24). Initial gender differences—with girls having higher Artistic and Social interests and boys having higher Realistic and Investigative interests—increased over time. By investigating the development of vocational interests in late childhood and early adolescence, we complement previous findings and provide first insights about state-trait proportions in early adolescence.

Stability and change in vocational interests after graduation from high school: A six-wave longitudinal study

Vocational interests shape major life decisions and predict major life outcomes. Therefore, it is important to understand how vocational interests develop in young adulthood, a time when young people begin to make their own life decisions. In the present study, we investigated stability and change in vocational interests across a time span of 10 years, including the transition from high school to postsecondary education and the transition into the labor market. Using a large data set comprised of 3,023 German young adults, we provide descriptive information about the longitudinal development of vocational interests across 6 equally spaced time points. We investigated 5 different indicators of stability and change: rank-order stabilities, mean-level changes, changes in variance, profile stabilities, and profile differentiation, as well as gender differences in these indicators. We found high stabilities for the interest scales and interest profiles that increased even more across the period of 10 years. Substantial changes in mean levels occurred primarily in the context of the transition from high school to university, to vocational training, or into the labor market. As expected, there were gender differences in the mean levels, but the developmental patterns in the trajectories of vocational interests were very similar for men and women. Overall, our findings indicate that longitudinal studies with multiple time points are needed to extend knowledge about interest development. In addition, our findings demonstrate that considering normative social transitions may be key to better understanding longitudinal interest development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

RIASEC interests and the Big Five personality traits matter for life success-But do they already matter for educational track choices?

OBJECTIVE

Educational track choices have far-reaching consequences because they are associated with long-term life success. Theoretical approaches and previous empirical research have nearly exclusively identified family background and achievement as determinants of these choices. Although students' educational track choices might fit their personality, individual differences in personality have not been explored. We investigated the effects of two personality aspects-RIASEC interests and Big Five traits-on hierarchically ranked track choices (vocational vs. general educational track), alongside family background and achievement.

METHOD

We used two German data sets (TOSCA 10 study: N = 473; TOSCA study: N = 4,218) focusing on choices between the general educational track (leading to higher educational attainment) and the vocational track (leading to work life) at two different stages in educational careers. We ran several multiple (logistic) regressions.

RESULTS

The results showed that certain aspects of students' personality matter for educational track choices. Accordingly, across both studies, students with high Investigative or Enterprising interests more often chose the general educational track, whereas students with high Social or Conventional interests more often chose the vocational track-after the Big Five personality traits, achievement, and family background were controlled for. The Big Five traits showed no or only small significant associations with educational track choices.

CONCLUSION

These findings underscore the importance of considering individual differences when investigating important life outcomes such as track choices.

Modeling Multiple Item Context Effects With Generalized Linear Mixed Models

Item context effects refer to the impact of features of a test on an examinee's item responses. These effects cannot be explained by the abilities measured by the test. Investigations typically focus on only a single type of item context effects, such as item position effects, or mode effects, thereby ignoring the fact that different item context effects might operate simultaneously. In this study, two different types of context effects were modeled simultaneously drawing on data from an item calibration study of a multidimensional computerized test (N = 1,632) assessing student competencies in mathematics, science, and reading. We present a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) parameterization of the multidimensional Rasch model including item position effects (distinguishing between within-block position effects and block position effects), domain order effects, and the interactions between them. Results show that both types of context effects played a role, and that the moderating effect of domain orders was very strong. The findings have direct consequences for planning and applying mixed domain assessment designs.

Model-Based Manifest and Latent Composite Scores in Structural Equation Models

Composite scores are commonly used in the social sciences as dependent and independent variables in statistical models. Typically, composite scores are computed prior to statistical analyses. In this paper, we demonstrate the construction of model-based composite scores that may serve as outcomes or predictors in structural equation models (SEMs). Model-based composite scores of manifest variables are useful in the presence of ignorable missing data, as full-information maximum likelihood estimation can be used for parameter estimation. Model-based composite scores of latent variables account for measurement error in the aggregated variables. We introduce the pseudo-indicator model (PIM) for the construction of three composite scores: (a) the sum score, (b) the weighted sum score, and (c) the average score of manifest and latent variables in SEM. The utility of manifest model-based composite scores in the case of missing values is shown by a simulation study. The use of multiple manifest and latent model-based composite scores in SEM is illustrated with data from motivation research.

Gender Stereotypes in a Children's Television Program: Effects on Girls' and Boys' Stereotype Endorsement, Math Performance, Motivational Dispositions, and Attitudes

Television programs are a central part of children's everyday lives. These programs often transmit stereotypes about gender roles such as "math is for boys and not for girls." So far, however, it is unclear whether stereotypes that are embedded in television programs affect girls' and boys' performance, motivational dispositions, or attitudes. On the basis of research on expectancy-value theory and stereotype threat, we conducted a randomized study with a total of 335 fifth-grade students to address this question. As the experimental material, we used a television program that had originally been produced for a national TV channel. The program was designed to show children that math could be interesting and fun. In the experimental condition, the program included a gender stereotyped segment in which two girls who were frustrated with math copied their math homework from a male classmate. In the control condition, participants watched an equally long, neutral summary of the first part of the video. We investigated effects on boys' and girls' stereotype endorsement, math performance, and different motivational constructs to gain insights into differential effects. On the basis of prior research, we expected negative effects of watching the stereotypes on girls' performance, motivational dispositions, and attitudes. Effects on the same outcomes for boys as well as children's stereotype endorsement were explored as open questions. We pre-registered our research predictions and analyses before conducting the experiment. Our results provide partial support for short-term effects of gender stereotypes embedded in television programs: Watching the stereotypes embedded in the video increased boys' and girls' stereotype endorsement. Boys reported a higher sense of belonging but lower utility value after watching the video with the stereotypes. Boys' other outcome variables were not affected, and there were also no effects on girl's performance, motivational dispositions, or attitudes. Results offer initial insights into how even short segments involving gender stereotypes in television shows can influence girls' and boys' stereotype endorsement and how such stereotypes may constitute one factor that contributes to gender differences in the STEM fields.

School or Work? The Choice May Change Your Personality

According to the social-investment principle, entering new environments is associated with new social roles that influence people’s behaviors. In this study, we examined whether young adults’ personality development is differentially related to their choice of either an academic or a vocational pathway (i.e., entering an academic-track school or beginning vocational training). The personality constructs of interest were Big Five personality traits and vocational-interest orientations. We used a longitudinal study design and propensity-score matching to create comparable groups before they entered one of the pathways and then tested the differences between these groups 6 years later. We expected the vocational pathway to reinforce more mature behavior and curtail investigative interest. Results indicated that choosing the vocational compared with the academic pathway was associated with higher conscientiousness and less interest in investigative, social, and enterprising activities.

Individuelle Entwicklungsverläufe beim Lesen

Zusammenfassung. Es ist ein vielfach replizierter Befund, dass Jungen im Durchschnitt über geringere Lesekompetenzen verfügen als Mädchen. Bezogen auf die Entwicklung von Leseleistungen stellt sich allerdings die Frage, ob und wie Unterschiede zwischen den Geschlechtern im Laufe der Sekundarstufe zunehmen, abnehmen oder eher stabil bleiben. Vor allem aus dem englischsprachigen Raum liegen Hinweise dafür vor, dass eine Zunahme der Leistungsunterschiede zwischen Jungen und Mädchen auf Schülerinnen und Schülern mit niedrigem sozioökonomischen Status zurückgeht. Auch der Migrationsstatus und die besuchte Schulform werden als Moderatoren diskutiert. In der vorliegenden Studie wurde den genannten Fragestellungen mit Daten von 2.505 Schülerinnen und Schülern aus Baden-Württemberg nachgegangen. Auf Basis von Daten von vier Testzeitpunkten (5. – 8. Schuljahresstufe) wurden latente Wachstumskurvenmodelle für die Kompetenzbereiche Lesegeschwindigkeit und -verständnis modelliert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein Schereneffekt zu Ungunsten der Jungen sowohl in der Lesegeschwindigkeit als auch im Leseverständnis auftrat. Für den sozioökonomischen Status und den Migrationsstatus zeigten sich hingegen keine Schereneffekte der Leseleistungen. Des Weiteren ergaben die Analysen, dass der geschlechterbezogene Schereneffekt nicht durch den sozioökonomischen Status oder den Migrationshintergrund moderiert wird. Die besuchte Schulform stellte sich nicht als bedeutsamer Moderator heraus.

It's Not Only Who You Are but Who You Are With: High School Composition and Individuals' Attainment Over the Life Course

We examined life-course effects of attending selective schools using a longitudinal study of U.S. high school students begun in 1960 ( Ns ranging from 1,952 to 377,015). The effects, measured 11 and 50 years after the initial assessment, differed significantly across the two indicators of school selectivity that were used. School average socioeconomic background was positively related to students' educational expectations, educational attainment, income, and occupational prestige at the 11-year follow-up (0.15 ≤ β ≤ 0.39; all ps < .001). Conversely, schools' average achievement at the 11-year follow-up was negatively related to students' expectations, attainment, income, and occupational prestige (-0.42 ≤ β ≤ -0.05; all ps < .05) when schools' socioeconomic background was controlled for. All associations were mediated by students' educational expectations. With the exception of income, these effects were consistent 50 years after high school, pointing to the long reach of beneficial learning resources and negative social comparison processes when attending selective schools.

The effects of getting a new teacher on the consistency of personality

Objective

In the present research, we examined the effect of getting a new teacher on consistency in students’ personality measures, including trait and social cognitive constructs.

Method

To test the effect of this kind of situational transition, we analyzed two large longitudinal samples (N = 5,628; N = 2,458) with quasi‐experimental study designs. We used two consistency measures (i.e., rank‐order clations and changes in variance over time) to compare students who got a new teacher with students who kept the same teacher.

Results

Multiple‐group latent variable analyses showed no differences in the rank‐order correlations for the math‐related social cognitive constructs of interest, effort, self‐concept, self‐regulation, anxiety, and the Big Five personality traits. Significantly lower rank‐order correlations were found for some of the German‐ and English‐related social cognitive constructs (i.e., effort measures) for the group of students who got a new teacher. Regarding the changes in variance (over time), we found no systematic differences between groups in both studies.

Conclusions

We found partial support for the idea that social cognitive variables are more susceptible to environmental changes (i.e., getting a new teacher) than the Big Five personality traits are.

Belonging Mediates Effects of Student-University Fit on Well-Being, Motivation, and Dropout Intention

Abstract. About one third of university students drop out from their undergraduate studies. The fit between students’ self-construal and university norms has been suggested to contribute to academic success. Building on this idea, we tested a student-university fit model in a cross-sectional online study among 367 German university students. Results support a P-E fit effect, showing that students with a high dignity self-construal and who perceived the university norms to be highly independent indicated the greatest sense of belonging to the university. In turn, belonging positively predicted well-being and academic motivation and reduced dropout intention. In sum, this study suggests that a person-environment fit analysis can contribute to the understanding of healthy student life and academic success.

Robin Hood effects on motivation in math: Family interest moderates the effects of relevance interventions

Using a cluster randomized field trial, the present study tested whether 2 relevance interventions affected students' value beliefs, self-concept, and effort in math differently depending on family background (socioeconomic status, family interest (FI), and parental utility value). Eighty-two classrooms were randomly assigned to either 1 of 2 intervention conditions or a control group. Data from 1,916 students (M_age = 14.62, SD_age = 0.47) and their predominantly Caucasian middle-class parents were obtained via separate questionnaires. Multilevel regression analyses with cross-level interactions were used to investigate differential intervention effects on students' motivational beliefs 6 weeks and 5 months after the intervention. Socioeconomic status, FI, and parental utility values were investigated as moderators of the intervention effects. The intervention conditions were especially effective in promoting students' utility, attainment, intrinsic value beliefs, and effort 5 months after the intervention for students whose parents reported lower levels of math interest. Furthermore, students whose parents reported low math utility values especially profited in terms of their utility and attainment math values 5 months after the intervention. No systematic differential intervention effects were found for socioeconomic status. These results highlight the effectiveness of relevance interventions in decreasing motivational gaps between students from families with fewer or more motivational resources. Findings point to the substantial importance of motivational family resources, which have been neglected in previous research. (PsycINFO Database Record

The Role of Family Characteristics for Students' Academic Outcomes: A Person-Centered Approach

Using data from 1,571 ninth-grade students (M_age  = 14.62) from 82 academic track schools in Germany and their predominantly Caucasian middle-class parents, configurations of different family characteristics reported by parents were investigated. Latent profile analyses considering academic involvement, family interest, parents' self-concept, child's need for support, and parents' time and energy identified average, indifferent, motivated and engaged, motivated and disengaged, and involved families. Cross-sectional and longitudinal associations with students' motivational (self-concept, effort, and interest) and achievement outcomes (achievement test and grades) in math were analyzed. Students from families classified as motivated and disengaged showed higher initial levels motivation and achievement. Over 5 months, these students also showed an increase in self-concept and higher achievement than students from other family types.

What to do when scalar invariance fails: The extended alignment method for multi-group factor analysis comparison of latent means across many groups

Scalar invariance is an unachievable ideal that in practice can only be approximated; often using potentially questionable approaches such as partial invariance based on a stepwise selection of parameter estimates with large modification indices. Study 1 demonstrates an extension of the power and flexibility of the alignment approach for comparing latent factor means in large-scale studies (30 OECD countries, 8 factors, 44 items, N = 249,840), for which scalar invariance is typically not supported in the traditional confirmatory factor analysis approach to measurement invariance (CFA-MI). Importantly, we introduce an alignment-within-CFA (AwC) approach, transforming alignment from a largely exploratory tool into a confirmatory tool, and enabling analyses that previously have not been possible with alignment (testing the invariance of uniquenesses and factor variances/covariances; multiple-group MIMIC models; contrasts on latent means) and structural equation models more generally. Specifically, it also allowed a comparison of gender differences in a 30-country MIMIC AwC (i.e., a SEM with gender as a covariate) and a 60-group AwC CFA (i.e., 30 countries × 2 genders) analysis. Study 2, a simulation study following up issues raised in Study 1, showed that latent means were more accurately estimated with alignment than with the scalar CFA-MI, and particularly with partial invariance scalar models based on the heavily criticized stepwise selection strategy. In summary, alignment augmented by AwC provides applied researchers from diverse disciplines considerable flexibility to address substantively important issues when the traditional CFA-MI scalar model does not fit the data. (PsycINFO Database Record

Modeling Omitted and Not-Reached Items in IRT Models

Item nonresponse is a common problem in educational and psychological assessments. The probability of unplanned missing responses due to omitted and not-reached items may stochastically depend on unobserved variables such as missing responses or latent variables. In such cases, missingness cannot be ignored and needs to be considered in the model. Specifically, multidimensional IRT models, latent regression models, and multiple-group IRT models have been suggested for handling nonignorable missing responses in latent trait models. However, the suitability of the particular models with respect to omitted and not-reached items has rarely been addressed. Missingness is formalized by response indicators that are modeled jointly with the researcher's target model. We will demonstrate that response indicators have different statistical properties depending on whether the items were omitted or not reached. The implications of these differences are used to derive a joint model for nonignorable missing responses with ability to appropriately account for both omitted and not-reached items. The performance of the model is demonstrated by means of a small simulation study.

Fostering adolescents' value beliefs for mathematics with a relevance intervention in the classroom

Interventions targeting students' perceived relevance of the learning content have been shown to effectively promote student motivation within science classes (e.g., Hulleman & Harackiewicz, 2009). Yet, further research is warranted to understand better how such interventions should be designed in order to be successfully implemented in the classroom setting. A cluster randomized controlled study was conducted to test whether ninth-grade students' value beliefs for mathematics (i.e., intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, and cost) could be fostered with relevance interventions in the classroom. Eighty-two classrooms were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 experimental conditions or a waiting control condition. Both experimental groups received a 90-min intervention within the classroom on the relevance of mathematics, consisting of a psychoeducational presentation and relevance-inducing tasks (either writing a text or evaluating interview quotations). Intervention effects were evaluated via self-reports of 1,916 participating students 6 weeks and 5 months after the intervention in the classroom. Both intervention conditions fostered more positive value beliefs among students at both time points. Compared with the control condition, classes in the quotations condition reported higher utility value, attainment value, and intrinsic value, and classes in the text condition reported higher utility value. Thus, stronger effects on students' value beliefs were found for the quotations condition than for the text condition. When assessing intervention effects separately for females and males, some evidence for stronger effects for females than for males was found.

Analyzing average and conditional effects with multigroup multilevel structural equation models

Conventionally, multilevel analysis of covariance (ML-ANCOVA) has been the recommended approach for analyzing treatment effects in quasi-experimental multilevel designs with treatment application at the cluster-level. In this paper, we introduce the generalized ML-ANCOVA with linear effect functions that identifies average and conditional treatment effects in the presence of treatment-covariate interactions. We show how the generalized ML-ANCOVA model can be estimated with multigroup multilevel structural equation models that offer considerable advantages compared to traditional ML-ANCOVA. The proposed model takes into account measurement error in the covariates, sampling error in contextual covariates, treatment-covariate interactions, and stochastic predictors. We illustrate the implementation of ML-ANCOVA with an example from educational effectiveness research where we estimate average and conditional effects of early transition to secondary schooling on reading comprehension.

Testing measurement invariance across Spanish and English versions of the physical self-description questionnaire: an application of exploratory structural equation modeling

Test of measurement invariance across translated versions of questionnaires is a critical prerequisite to comparing scores on the different versions. In this study, we used exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) as an alternative approach to evaluate the measurement invariance of the Spanish version of the Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ). The two versions were administered to large samples of Australian and Spanish adolescents. First, we compared the CFA and ESEM approaches and showed that ESEM fitted the data much better and resulted in substantially more differentiated factors. We then tested measurement invariance with a 13-model ESEM taxonomy. Results justified using the Spanish version of the PSDQ to carry out cross-cultural comparisons in sport and exercise psychology research. Overall, the study can stimulate research on physical self-concept across countries and foster better cross-cultural comparisons.

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect in Mathematics

This substantive-methodological synergy demonstrates evolving multilevel latent-variable models for cross-cultural data. Using Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 data for U.S. and Saudi Arabian eighth grade students, we evaluate the psychometric properties (measurement invariance, method effects, and gender differences) of math self-concept, positive affect, coursework aspirations, and achievement. Extending the studies of the “paradoxical cross-cultural self-concept effect” largely based on U.S.-Asian comparisons, country-level differences strongly favored the United States for achievement test scores, but favored Saudi Arabia for self-concept and aspirations. Latent mean gender differences, of particular interest because of Saudi Arabia’s single-sex school system, interacted with country for all constructs. The largest interaction was for achievement test scores; there were no significant gender differences for U.S. students (in coed schools), but in single-sex Saudi schools, Saudi girls performed substantially better than Saudi boys. Consistently with previous (mostly Western) research, but not previously evaluated with TIMSS, in each of the four (2 gender × 2 country) groups all three outcomes (self-concept, affect, and aspiration) were positively influenced by individual student achievement but negatively influenced by class-average achievement (the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect: BFLPE). BFLPEs were similar in size for boys and girls in coeducational (United States) and in single-sex (Saudi) classrooms.

Synergistic Effects of Expectancy and Value on Homework Engagement: The Case for a Within-Person Perspective

Historically, expectancy-value models of motivation assumed a synergistic relation between expectancy and value: motivation is high only when both expectancy and value are high. Motivational processes were studied from a within-person perspective, with expectancies and values being assessed or experimentally manipulated across multiple domains and the focus being placed on intraindividual differences. In contrast, contemporary expectancy-value models in educational psychology concentrate almost exclusively on linear effects of expectancy and value on motivational outcomes, with a focus on between-person differences. Recent advances in latent variable methodology allow both issues to be addressed in observational studies. Using the expectancy-value model of homework motivation as a theoretical framework, this study estimated multilevel structural equation models with latent interactions in a sample of 511 secondary school students and found synergistic effects between domain-specific homework expectancy and homework value in predicting homework engagement in 6 subjects. This approach not only brings the "×" back into expectancy-value theory but also reestablishes the within-person perspective as the appropriate level of analysis for latent expectancy-value models.