Refine
Has Fulltext
- no (2)
Document Type
- Article (2)
Language
- English (2)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (2)
Keywords
- Academic self-concept (2) (remove)
Institute
Several studies have revealed that older students in a year group reach higher achievement scores than younger students in that group. But less is known about how students' relative age in class relates to their self-perception of academic achievement, their social acceptance in class and to how teachers judge their abilities. Therefore, we examined relative age effects within class on students' academic self-concept, peer relations, grades, and teachers' secondary school recommendation. Analyses were based on a sample of N = 18,956 German fourth graders, who had never been retained or accelerated. We applied multilevel regression to control for covariates at the individual and classroom level. There were no substantial relative age effects within class across any of the outcomes, except for a small advantage for the youngest in their reading self-concept. Our findings therefore contradict the common assumption that younger students in class are disadvantaged compared to their older classmates.
Students' achievement emotions are critical in their academic development. Therefore, teachers need to create an emotionally positive learning environment. In the light of this, the present study investigated the connection between students' enjoyment, anxiety, boredom and, in the first case, students' academic self-concept and, in the second, teachers' diagnostic skills. The third part of our study examined whether this link would be moderated by students' academic self-concept. Our sample comprised N = 1803 eighth-grade students who reported their achievement emotions and evaluated the diagnostic skills of both their German and mathematics teachers. Hierarchical models indicated that students experience more enjoyment and less anxiety and boredom if teachers exhibit better diagnostic skills. The role of teachers' diagnostic skills in relation to students' emotions was in part moderated by the students' self-concept. These results are discussed in terms of their implications for effective teaching.