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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.
Die Sekundarstufe ist gekennzeichnet durch eine Sequenz von Übergängen, an denen Ungleichheiten durch Leistungsdisparitäten (primäre Effekte) und Bildungsentscheidungen (sekundäre Effekte) nach sozialer Herkunft relevant werden. Diese Herkunftseffekte werden mit dem vorliegenden Beitrag erstmals anhand von Daten einer vollständigen Schülerkohorte (Hamburger KESS-Studie) über den gesamten Verlauf der Sekundarstufe vom Übergang ins Gymnasium bis zur Studienintention analysiert. Eine Dekomposition und Quantifizierung primärer und sekundärer Effekte mit der KHB-Methode erfolgt dabei erstmals auch für den Eintritt in die Oberstufe. Abnehmende absolute Herkunftseffekte über den Bildungsverlauf, auf die bisherige Befunde verschiedener Stichproben verweisen, können mit dieser Studie zum Teil bestätigt werden. Zum vermuteten relativen Bedeutungszuwachs sekundärer Effekte zeigen die Ergebnisse kein eindeutiges Muster: Beim Wechsel ins Gymnasium überwiegen primäre Effekte leicht, wenn Noten als Leistungsindikator verwendet werden. Beim Eintritt in die Oberstufe bleibt die Relation nahezu unverändert. Erst bei der Studienintention fällt die relative Bedeutung sekundärer Effekte größer aus.
The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between having a special educational needs background (SEN) and the likelihood of having friends in inclusive classes. We assumed that a combination of individual, dyadic and contextual variables can sufficiently explain the relation between a SEN diagnosis and the likelihood of friendship. Data analysis was based on a cross-sectional sample of students (N = 1241) in second and third grade primary-school classes. To address the different levels adequately, the present study improves upon previous research in two ways: First, the sociometric data were analyzed with the p2 model, a specialized multilevel network model. Second, the study focused solely on friendships and emphasized the concept’s unique features with respect to inclusive education. Data analysis indicated that students with SEN had a decreased probability of becoming friends with their classmates compared to students without SEN. Even when individual, dyadic, and contextual variables were included into the model, the association between a SEN diagnosis and the likelihood of friendship persisted. The implications of the results are discussed with respect to their implications for inclusive teaching practice.
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.
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.
The present article analyzes the socio-economic background of maths teachers in Germany and its relation to career-related decisions and job-related convictions. These analyzes is based on data collected through questionnaires answered by 1126 maths teachers working at a sample of secondary schools representative of Germany. Following Bourdieu's theory, the authors examine whether the economic and cultural conditions prevailing in the teachers' families of origin are related to their decision to pursue this specific professional career or to their job-related convictions. Furthermore, it is analyzed in how far teachers, in their everyday work in the classroom, meet students from groups of origin foreign to the teachers themselves. The results show that the teachers, socio-economic background has no systematic relation to either their career-related decisions or their job-related convictions.
High class students in the universities, the rest in the other institutions of higher education
(2011)
In Germany, different types of university-level institutions are available for tertiary education: traditional universities (Universitaten) and-since the 1970s-universities of applied science (Fachhochschulen) as well as universities of cooperative education (Berufsakademien). The present study investigates differences in key areas related to students' academic choices and success: do students at different types of university differ significantly in terms of cognitive performance, personality or social background? We compared N = 1.230 students at traditional universities, universities of applied science, and universities of cooperative education (Baden-Wurttemberg Cooperative State University) on the basis of a large scale longitudinal study in the German federal state of Baden-Wurttemberg. Students of the different university types differed significantly in all three key areas (cognitive performance, personality, and social background) within the fields of technical sciences and economics. We determine the relative importance of these key areas for differences between university types and we discuss the implications of our findings.
Efforts to break the link between the school type attended and the qualification awarded are seen an important step in the modernization of Germany's tracked secondary school system. However, it remains disputed whether these efforts have reduced social disparities or in fact increased them. This study examined the transition from lower secondary education in academic- and intermediate-track schools to upper secondary education in general and vocational gymnasium schools in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg. When indicators of parental social background and school-leaving qualifications were controlled, the opening of upper secondary education was found to be associated with a decrease in the social selectivity of upper secondary education for intermediate-track students. At the same time, for those intermediate-track students who were entitled to enter upper secondary education, social background had predictive effects on the transition decision; however, the overall size of these effects was low.
This paper investigates the role of ability profiles and profiles of vocational interests at the transition from "Realschule" (lower secondary level) into the academic and vocational oriented "Gymnasium" (upper secondary track) school. Based on Guttman's (1954) radex model of cognitive and academic abilities as well as Holland's (1997) circumplex model of vocational interests, we developed statistical models for assessing individual differences in intraindividual profiles. The empirical results underscore the validity of our profile approach. Particularly (1) profiles derived on basis of test scores, grades, and interests were associated with all educational choices under consideration, and (2) decisions for different gymnasia types were systematically and meaningfully associated with individual profile parameters. In addition (3) criterion correlations of interest and ability measures could be explained by individual profile parameters.
The effect of student body composition on academic achievement International and National Evidence
(2013)
This paper reviews empirical evidence on the effect of the composition of a student body on academic achievement of students. After defining the term composition effect, methodological aspects regarding the study of composition effects are considered. International and national evidence for the composition of a student body with respect to students' abilities, social, and ethnic background is then presented. Whereas international studies find evidence for social, ethnic, and achievement composition variables, national studies reveal that mean achievement level of a school or class is the most important composition variable in Germany. However, this effect is confounded with school track and social composition, which itself exerts a small incremental effect. Ethnic composition, however, does not seem to play an important role. The paper closes with a presentation of the underlying processes of composition effects and a discussion on how the composition of a student body is considered in school governance practices.