TY - JOUR A1 - Westphal, Andrea A1 - Becker, Michael A1 - Vock, Miriam A1 - Maaz, Kai A1 - Neumann, Marko A1 - McElvany, Nele T1 - The link between teacher-assigned grades and classroom socioeconomic composition: The role of classroom behavior, motivation, and teacher characteristics JF - Contemporary educational psychology N2 - Teacher judgments in terms of grades, proficiency assessments, and recommending placement in ability groups can have important consequences for a child’s future educational path. Whether or not students’ sociodemographic background characteristics are systematically related to teacher judgments has been a controversial topic of discussion. Using data from the TIMSS-Transition Study (N = 3285 fourth graders) administered across 13 German federal states in the 2006–2007 school year and survey data from parents and teachers, we investigated whether or not the average classroom socioeconomic status is reflected in teacher judgments and also examined possible underlying processes. We also probed the role of teachers’ own socioeconomic backgrounds (at the age of 16) in their later susceptibility to differentially judge students from different socioeconomic backgrounds and in differentially composed classrooms. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that, after controlling for differences in achievement (as indicated by standardized tests), teachers’ judgments were associated with the classrooms’ socioeconomic composition, and this finding could not be attributed to the average levels of motivation or behavior in the classroom. Teachers were similarly likely to exhibit such differential judgments regardless of their own socioeconomic background. These findings are discussed in the context of their implications for educational policy. KW - Teacher judgments KW - Grading KW - Classroom composition KW - Teacher background KW - Multilevel modeling Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.06.004 SN - 0361-476X SN - 1090-2384 VL - 46 SP - 218 EP - 227 PB - Elsevier CY - San Diego ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Michael A1 - Lüdtke, Oliver A1 - Trautwein, Ulrich A1 - Köller, Olaf A1 - Baumert, Jürgen T1 - The differential effects of school racking on psychometric intelligence Do academic-track schools make students smarter? JF - The journal of educational psychology N2 - Prior research has shown that quantity of schooling affects the development of intelligence in childhood and adolescence. However, it is still debated whether other aspects of schooling-such as ability tracking or, more generally, school quality-can also influence intelligence. In this study, the authors analyzed intelligence gains in academic- and vocational-track schools in Germany, testing for differential effects of school quality (academic vs. vocational track) on psychometric intelligence. Longitudinal data were obtained from a sample of N = 1,038 Grade 7 and 10 students in 49 schools. A nonverbal reasoning test was used as an indicator of general psychometric intelligence, and relevant psychological and social background variables were included in the analyses. Propensity score matching was used to control for selection bias. Results showed a positive effect of attending the academic track. KW - school quality KW - intelligence KW - cognitive development KW - longitudinal studies KW - propensity score matching Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027608 SN - 0022-0663 VL - 104 IS - 3 SP - 682 EP - 699 PB - American Psychological Association CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Retelsdorf, Jan A1 - Becker, Michael A1 - Köller, Olaf A1 - Möller, Jens T1 - Reading development in a tracked school system: A longitudinal study over 3 years using propensity score matching JF - British journal of educational psychology N2 - Background. Assigning students to different school tracks on the basis of their achievement levels is a widely used strategy that aims at giving students the best possible learning opportunity. There is, however, a growing body of literature that questions such positive effects of tracking. Aims. This study compared the developmental trajectories of reading comprehension and decoding speed between students at academic track schools that typically prepare students for university entrance and students at non-academic track schools that usually prepare students for vocational education. Sample. In a longitudinal design with three occasions of data collection, the authors drew on a sample of N= 1,508 5th graders (age at T1 about 11 years, age at T3 about 14 years) from 60 schools in Germany. The academic track sample comprised n= 568 students; the non-academic track sample comprised n= 940 students. Method. Achievement measures were obtained by standardized tests of reading comprehension and decoding speed. Students at the different tracks were closely matched using propensity scores. To compare students growth trajectories between the different school tracks, we applied multi-group latent growth curve models. Results. Comparable results were recorded for the complete (unmatched) sample and for the matched pairs. In all cases, students at the different tracks displayed a similar growth in reading comprehension, whereas larger growth rates for students at academic track schools were recorded for decoding speed. Conclusions. Our findings contribute to an increasing body of literature suggesting that tracking might have undesired side effects. Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8279.2011.02051.x SN - 0007-0998 VL - 82 IS - 4 SP - 647 EP - 671 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Jonkmann, Kathrin A1 - Becker, Michael A1 - Marsh, Herbert W. A1 - Lüdtke, Oliver A1 - Trautwein, Ulrich T1 - Personality traits moderate the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect of academic self-concept JF - Learning and individual differences N2 - 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. KW - Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect KW - Academic self-concept KW - Moderation KW - Personality Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.07.020 SN - 1041-6080 VL - 22 IS - 6 SP - 736 EP - 746 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brandt, Naemi D. A1 - Becker, Michael A1 - Tetzner, Julia A1 - Brunner, Martin A1 - Kuhl, Poldi A1 - Maaz, Kai T1 - Personality across the lifespan exploring measurement invariance of a short Big Five Inventory from ages 11 to 84 JF - European journal of psychological assessment N2 - Personality is a relevant predictor for important life outcomes across the entire lifespan. Although previous studies have suggested the comparability of the measurement of the Big Five personality traits across adulthood, the generalizability to childhood is largely unknown. The present study investigated the structure of the Big Five personality traits assessed with the Big Five Inventory-SOEP Version (BFI-S; SOEP = Socio-Economic Panel) across a broad age range spanning 11-84 years. We used two samples of N = 1,090 children (52% female, M-age = 11.87) and N = 18,789 adults (53% female, M-age = 51.09), estimating a multigroup CFA analysis across four age groups (late childhood: 11-14 years; early adulthood: 17-30 years; middle adulthood: 31-60 years; late adulthood: 61-84 years). Our results indicated the comparability of the personality trait metric in terms of general factor structure, loading patterns, and the majority of intercepts across all age groups. Therefore, the findings suggest both a reliable assessment of the Big Five personality traits with the BFI-S even in late childhood and a vastly comparable metric across age groups. KW - personality traits KW - measurement invariance KW - ESEM KW - lifespan KW - late KW - childhood Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1027/1015-5759/a000490 SN - 1015-5759 SN - 2151-2426 VL - 36 IS - 1 SP - 162 EP - 173 PB - Hogrefe CY - Göttingen ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tetzner, Julia A1 - Becker, Michael T1 - How Being an Optimist Makes a Difference: The Protective Role of Optimism in Adolescents' Adjustment to Parental Separation JF - Social psychological and personality science N2 - This longitudinal study of N = 1,566 adolescents investigated the protective role of optimism in adjustment to parental separation, focusing on two salient challenges faced by adolescents, namely academic achievement and self-esteem. Based on latent change models, the results indicated associations between parental separation and short-term declines in academic achievement as well as short-term and longer term declines in self-esteem. Although optimism in general showed positive associations with academic achievement and self-esteem, its role as a protective factor proved to be particularly important for academic achievement in adjustment following parental separation. KW - parental separation KW - optimism KW - academic achievement KW - self-esteem KW - longitudinal study Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550614559605 SN - 1948-5506 SN - 1948-5514 VL - 6 IS - 3 SP - 325 EP - 333 PB - Sage Publ. CY - Thousand Oaks ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Becker, Michael A1 - Neumann, Marko A1 - Tetzner, Julia A1 - Böse, Susanne A1 - Knoppick, Henrike A1 - Maaz, Kai A1 - Baumert, Jürgen A1 - Lehmann, Rainer T1 - Development? Effects of the transition into academically selective schools JF - The journal of educational psychology N2 - The present study investigates school context effects on psychosocial characteristics (academic self-concept, peer relations, school satisfaction, and school anxiety) of high-achieving and gifted students. Students who did or did not make an early transition from elementary to secondary schools for high-achieving and gifted students in 5th grade in Berlin, Germany, are compared in their psychosocial development. The sample comprises 155 early-entry students who moved to an academically selective secondary school (Gymnasium) and 3,169 regular students who remained in elementary school until the end of 6th grade. Overall, a complex pattern of psychosocial development emerged for all students, with both positive and negative outcomes being observed. Specifically, the transition into academically selective learning environments seemed to come at some cost for psychosocial development. Propensity score matching analysis isolating the effects of selective school intake and the school context effect itself revealed negative contextual effects of early transition to Gymnasium on academic self-concept and school anxiety; additionally, the positive trend in peer relations observed among regular students was not discernible among early-entry students. KW - psychosocial development KW - transition KW - ability grouping KW - longitudinal design KW - propensity score matching Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035425 SN - 0022-0663 SN - 1939-2176 VL - 106 IS - 2 SP - 555 EP - 568 PB - American Psychological Association CY - Washington ER -