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This article examines the extent to which normative beliefs on acculturation constitute (a) individual resources and risk factors for adolescents facing developmental tasks and (b) institutional norms that define developmental milieus in secondary schools. To what extent do egalitarianism, multiculturalism, assimilationism, and segregationism help or hinder academic and psychosocial adjustment in mid-adolescence? We examined how both individually endorsed beliefs and socially shared beliefs at the 10th-grade cohort level relate to students' academic performance, educational and occupational aspirations, motivational and emotional attachment to school, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Data came from a random sample of 15- to 17-year-olds in Berlin, Germany, assessed at the end of Grades 9 and 10 (N = 1,992). Multivariate analyses identified egalitarianism and multiculturalism as the most prevalent acculturation beliefs, forming a combined belief pattern that pairs recognition of equality with respect for diversity. At the individual level, this belief pattern was positively related to academic and psychosocial adjustment. Assimilationism beliefs were associated with higher motivational and emotional attachment to school in both minority and majority students. Segregationism beliefs were associated with higher self-esteem in all adolescents regardless of background, but with lower levels of academic performance in immigrant youth. At the grade cohort level, a single bipolar factor (egalitarianism/multiculturalism vs. assimilationism/segregationism) described the institutional diversity culture. An environment characterized by egalitarianism/multiculturalism beliefs was positively associated with motivational and emotional attachment to school but not related to academic adjustment or psychological well-being.

Social comparisons with peers are important sources of self-development during adolescence. Many previous studies showed that students' academic self-concepts (ASC) form by contrasting one's own achievement with the average of one's class or school (the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect [BFLPE]). Based on social comparison theory, however, we would expect some peers to be more likely social comparison targets than other peers, for example, because they are more visible or students perceive them as similar to themselves. In this study, we used sociometric data to analyze which peers play the most important role for social comparison effects on ASC. We examined how the average achievement of friends, study partners, peers perceived as popular by the student, as well as same-gender and same-ethnic peers affect the general ASC and how these effects compare to the effect of the classroom's average achievement. The study was based on a German longitudinal sample of 2,438 students (44% no recent immigrant background, 19% Turkish immigrant background, 10% Eastern European immigrant background, 27% other immigrant background) from 117 school classes that were followed from grade 9 to 10. Results from longitudinal social network analysis do not confirm substantial incremental effects of specific types of peers, while class average achievement showed a stable negative effect (confirming the BFLPE). In addition, we could provide evidence for social selection effects based on ASC. We conclude that classrooms provide a specific setting that imposes social comparisons with the "generalized peer" rather than with specific subgroups of peers.

In recent studies, the existence and relevance of achievement composition effects on students' individual achievement have been called into question because of the methodological challenges arising in multilevel analyses. Our study examined how class-average achievement is related to students' achievement development across one school year. We used data from Germany, which has a secondary school system with large achievement differences between schools and classrooms due to rigid, explicit between-school tracking practices. We accounted for two methodological challenges, controlling for both selection bias and measurement error. Adopting an approach based on integrative data analysis (IDA), we systematically (re)analyzed five German longitudinal large-scale data sets. This IDA approach allowed us to quantify the extent to which results vary across (a) different longitudinal data sets and (b) different analytical strategies (i.e., ways of accounting for confounding variables and measurement reliability). Overall, we found both general achievement composition effects and narrower peer spillover effects (i.e., effects of student composition above and beyond the effects of tracking) in the German setting, even after controlling for measurement error and selection bias. Our results counter recent suggestions that composition effects on achievement development may be mere phantom effects due to methodological misspecifications. However, estimates of composition effects varied substantially based on the analytical approach. We conclude with considerations regarding how to interpret composition effects in multilevel modeling and which effects are of interest for educational research.

The structure of academic self-concept (ASC) is assumed to be multidimensional and hierarchical. This methodological review considers the most central models depicting the structure of ASC: a higher-order factor model, the Marsh/Shavelson model, the nested Marsh/Shavelson model, a bifactor representation based on exploratory structural equation modeling, and a first-order factor model. We elaborate on how these models represent the theoretical assumptions on the structure of ASC and outline their inherent psychometric properties. We analyzed these models using a data set of German 10th-grade students (N = 1,232) including a wide range of domain-specific ASCs as well as general ASC. The correlations among ASCs and between ASCs and academic achievement varied depending on the structural model used. We conclude with discussing recommendations for research purposes and advantages and limitations of each ASC model. Our approach may also guide research on other affective or motivational constructs (e.g., academic anxiety or interest).

Expectancy-value theory (EVT) proposes that students' appraisals of success expectancy and task value are the main drivers of their study and career choices. Dimensional comparison theory proposes that these beliefs are themselves affected by students comparing their ability across different domains. However, only a few studies have aimed to integrate these approaches and clarify the role of dimensional comparisons within EVT. Using longitudinal data, we aimed to fill this gap by studying within- and cross-domain effects of achievement (grades and test scores), academic self-concept (as a surrogate for expectancy beliefs), and values on German adolescents' (N = 519) high school course choices and their intentions to major in a STEM subject at university. We show that: (1) self-concepts predicted course choices, whereas values predicted STEM study intentions; (2) dimensional comparison patterns (positive within-domain and negative across-domain relations) were present; (3) gender differences in course choices were mediated by differences in achievement, self-concept, and value; and (4) there was an incremental gender effect on STEM study intentions above and beyond achievement, self-concept, value, and previous course choices. Furthermore, overall, a model incorporating cross-domain paths representing dimensional comparisons fit the data better than a model without these paths. We conclude that direct and indirect dimensional comparison effects contribute to predicting choices of high school courses and university majors and to understanding gender differences in these choices. We recommend that studies in the EVT framework include cross-domain effects.

Self-concept in mathematics (MSC) and interest in mathematics are important predictors of whether a student will choose to major in a science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) field at university. Research on the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) has shown that both predictors are affected by the achievement composition of students in schools. That is, given the same individual ability, students in higher achieving schools exhibit lower MSC and interest in mathematics than students in lower achieving schools due to social comparison processes. The BFLPE has been replicated in high school settings many times, but less is known about the long-term effects of this context effect. In the present study, we investigated the long-term effects of the BFLPE on the aspiration to major in and the actual decision to major in a STEM field at university. We used data from a German longitudinal study. The results showed no direct BFLPE on the aspiration to enroll in a STEM major at the end of high school or on actual enrollment in a STEM major 2 years after graduating from high school. However, small negative indirect effects of the BFLPE via MSC and interest in mathematics on the aspiration to and enrollment in a STEM major occurred. In sum, the longitudinal BFLPE on STEM major choice was small.

Educational expectations are a key predictor of educational attainment. Throughout adolescence, friends increasingly function as 'significant others' and, thus, can affect the development of these expectations. Although scholars often interpret the clustering of students with similar expectations within friendship networks as the outcome of peer influence, a similarity of friends can also be a result of friendship selection processes and preselection due to ability tracking. We apply multilevel social network models to panel data of adolescents from Germany (1,992 ninth-grade students in 91 classes) to disentangle these mechanisms. Beyond selecting similar friends (homophily), we find that adolescents adapt their expectations towards the average expectations of their friends (social influence) but only in secondary-school tracks that support diverse educational paths. We conclude that peer socialization is important for the development of students' educational expectations in contexts that are sufficiently heterogeneous to allow for the emergence of distinct peer milieus.

Despite the fact that grade retention is now seen as controversial in many quarters, it remains common practice in numerous countries. Previous research on the effects of grade retention on student development has, however, generated ambiguous results, particularly in terms of motivational outcomes. This ambiguity has been attributed in part to a lack of high-quality studies including a longitudinal design, a suitable comparison group, and adequate statistical control of preretention differences. Based on longitudinal data of N = 3,288 German students over 3 years of secondary school, we examined differences in their academic self-concept, scholarly interests, learning motivation, and achievement motivation between those being retained in the 6th grade (n = 61) and those of the same age being promoted annually. To account for confounding variables, we applied full propensity score matching on baseline measures of the dependent variables, as well as various other covariates that have been found to be associated with the risk of retention (e.g., cognitive ability, academic performance, and family background variables). Results reveal a steep decline in students' academic self-concept, interests, and learning motivation during the last months spent in the original class, just before retention. For those measures that were available, negative effects were still partly significant after 1 year, but had diminished 2 years after grade retention. Contrary to predictions suggested by the "big-fish-little-pond effect," we found no positive effects of retention on students' academic self-concept.

In this study, we analyzed how secondary school tracking relates to students' self-beliefs (i.e., their academic self-concepts in different domains and their beliefs regarding their labor market chances) and school disengagement during a time period that has received little attention in educational psychological research on tracking: when students are at the end of schooling and on the verge of entering the labor market. In doing so, we disentangled 2 distinguishing features of tracking: tracks as social contexts (operationalized via track level and the mean achievement of students' schoolmates) and tracks as pathways to different future opportunities (operationalized via educational certificates). Using questionnaire, achievement, and administrative school data from 2,155 students from 29 low-track schools, 23 intermediate-track schools, and 35 comprehensive schools in Berlin, Germany, we found educational certificates to be the most important factor shaping students' self-beliefs and school disengagement. Irrespective of their individual achievement, their schoolmates' achievement, and their track level, students who received the intermediate school-leaving certificate had higher academic self-concepts, believed that their certificate would give them better chances of success in the labor market, and were less disengaged from school than students who received the low school-leaving certificate. In contrast, students' track level did not serve as a predictor for the outcomes considered. The achievement of students' schoolmates (i.e., the big-fish-little-pond effect) was only relevant for students' academic self-concepts and not for students' self-beliefs regarding labor market entry or their school disengagement.

Academic self-concept has been conceptualized as a multidimensional and hierarchical construct. Previous research has mostly focused on its multidimensionality, distinguishing between verbal and mathematical self-concept domains, and only a few studies have examined the factorial structure within specific self-concept domains. The present study aims to extend the scarce evidence of the simultaneous operation of multidimensionality and hierarchy within language self-concepts. Skill-specific (i.e., reading, listening, speaking, and writing) and global self-concept measures for German as students' native language and English and French as students' foreign languages were administered to a sample of 4,257 ninth-grade German students. Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated better levels of fit for multidimensional models with highly correlated but separate factors for each skill-specific self-concept compared to unidimensional models. The skill-specific facets could be aggregated into a higher order factor for each language, demonstrating a hierarchical structure. Differential gender effects on the various skill-specific self-concept facets provided further evidence of the multidimensional nature of language self-concepts, although differential relations to skill-specific achievement measures were not found. The high correlation between the higher order and global self-concept factors as well as similar gender effects and relations to achievement supported the notion of the similarity of both constructs. A comparable pattern of results emerged across the 3 languages, but detailed inspection indicated that multidimensionality seems to be more pronounced in the native language domain (German). The findings of the study are discussed regarding their implications for the assessment of language self-concepts and future research on the structure of language self-concepts.

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As Western societies become more ethnically and culturally diverse, understanding the acculturation of immigrant youth is essential for fostering social cohesion. How the cultural identity formation of ethnic minority adolescents relates to their academic, social, and psychological adjustment is an important and as yet unresolved research question. This study examined to what extent identifying with the heritage and/or host culture is an individual resource or risk factor for the adjustment of immigrant youth in Germany. A random sample of 15–17-year-olds (N = 1992; Mage_w1 = 15.3 years, SD = 0.64; 44.5% girls; 44.7% students with immigrant background) was assessed twice: at the end of 9th and 10th grade. Academic performance and three dimensions of social/psychological adjustment (school attachment, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) were examined. Results showed that biculturalism was the modal identification pattern. Contrary to expectations, cultural identification did not differ systematically with perceived distance from the majority culture. Multivariate structural equation modeling revealed that both heritage and host identification can be developmental resources, but that their effects are dependent on the dimension of adjustment; biculturalism only proved to be a cumulative resource for school attachment. The domain specificity of the findings challenges the generalization claims of predominant acculturation theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, high-achieving students have received increased attention by researchers, policymakers and practitioners. However, the question of what exactly constitutes high academic achievement is not yet agreed upon by the research community. This paper provides a systematic review of how researchers studying high-achieving students since 2000 have operationalized high academic achievement in their research. In particular, we examined which performance indicators were used, whether achievement was conceived of as subject-specific or general, and which cut-off values and comparison standards were applied. The systematic database search yielded N = 309 articles, n = 55 of which were finally included in the analysis. The present study observed a diversity in the operationalization of performance. The most commonly used indicators of performance were grades and test scores, with cross-domain and subject-specific definitions both being common. Some of the studies' cut-off values were difficult to compare, but in instances where a population norm could be derived, the median proportion of high achievers was 10 percent. The study discusses that constraints on generalizability and comparability between different studies on high achievers can arise due to methodological differences. This paper concludes with recommendations for the operationalization of high achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relative importance of different motivational constructs for the prediction of mathematical competence in adolescents and their incremental power beyond intelligence and prior achievement. We employed both a cross-sectional and a one-year longitudinal approach using data from PISA 2003 and 2004, a nation-wide representative dataset. The sample consisted of 6020 fifteen-year-old German students who provided self-reports on their math-specific self-concept, self-efficacy, interest, and goal orientations in addition to the core PISA standardized achievement tests. Data were analyzed with structural equation models. Cross-sectionally, all motivational constructs incrementally contributed to the prediction of mathematical competence beyond intelligence (explained variance: 1%–29%). After controlling longitudinally for intelligence and prior achievement, self-efficacy, self-concept, interest, and learning goals significantly predicted subsequent mathematical competence one year later. Relative weights analyses compared the predictive power of all variables simultaneously and showed that intelligence (cross-sectional) and prior achievement (longitudinal) explained the largest portion of variance in mathematical competence, followed by task-specific self-efficacy as the strongest motivational predictor. These results confirm that motivation plays an important role in predicting academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-concept and self-efficacy are two of the most important motivational predictors of educational outcomes. As most research has studied these constructs separately, little is known about their differential relations to peer ability, opportunities-to-learn in classrooms, and educational outcomes. We investigated these relations by applying (multilevel) structural equation modeling to the German PISA 2006 data set. We found a correlation of ρ = .57 between self-concept and self-efficacy in science, advocating distinguishable constructs. Furthermore, science self-concept was better predicted by the average peer achievement ( Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect ), whereas science self-efficacy was more strongly affected by inquiry-based learning opportunities. There were also differences in the predictive potential for educational outcomes: Self-concept was a better predictor of future-oriented motivation to aspire a career in the sciences, whereas self-efficacy was a better predictor of current ability. The study at hand provides strong evidence for the related but distinct nature of the two constructs and extends existing research on students' competence beliefs toward social comparisons and opportunities-to-learn. Further implications for the relevance of inquiry-based classroom activities and for the assessment of competence beliefs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Students' academic self-concept is a good predictor of academic achievement and a desirable educational outcome per se. In this study, we take a closer look at the nature of the academic self-concept in the natural sciences by examining its dimensional structure, its relation to achievement, and gender differences. We analyzed data from self-concept measures, grades and standardized achievement tests of 6036 German 10th graders across three science subjects – biology, chemistry, and physics – using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that (a) a 3-dimensional, subject-specific measurement model of the self-concept in science is preferable to a 1-dimensional model, (b) the relations between the self-concept and achievement are substantial and subject-specific when grades are used as achievement indicators, and (c) female students possess a lower self-concept in chemistry and physics even after controlling for achievement measures. Therefore, we recommend conceptualizing the self-concept in science as a multidimensional, subject-specific construct both in educational research and in science classes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights • A new ability grouping takes place during the transition to upper secondary school. • Significant BFLPEs occurred in cross-sectional analyses before and after transition. • In upper secondary school, contrast- and assimilation effects occurred simultaneously. • The BFLPE from lower secondary school did not persist into upper secondary school. • Students used a current and local frame of reference to engage in social comparisons. Abstract Research on the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) has shown that the learning environment is important for the development of academic self-concept (ASC) because students use social comparisons to evaluate their ability level. Whereas cross-sectional studies have often replicated the BFLPE, less is known about this effect from a longitudinal perspective during times when changes occur in students' learning environments. Thus, we focused on a timespan during which a student's learning environment changes—the transition from lower to upper secondary school. In upper secondary school in Germany, students leave their former classes and take either advanced or basic courses. Advanced courses are characterized by more demanding curricula and a higher achieving student body. Consequently, the compositions of the student groups change. We examined the BFLPE in the context of math self-concept (MSC) in N = 1330 students during the transition from lower secondary (10th grade) to upper secondary school (12th grade) in Germany using longitudinal, large-scale data. We focused on contrast and assimilation effects as well as on the longitudinal persistence of the BFLPE from lower to upper secondary school. The BFLPE occurred at both measurement points, and there was an assimilation effect of the enrollment in advanced courses in 12th grade. The BFLPE from 10th grade did not persist into 12th grade, indicating that the BFLPE does not persist through contextual changes. Instead, information about the current frame of reference (i.e., average course achievement and course level) seems to overwrite context effects from previous learning environments, even if this change occurs within schools as constant macro-contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dimensional comparison theory (DCT; Moller & Marsh, 2013) assumes that students compare their academic achievement intraindividually across domains to form domain-specific self-concepts. Upward dimensional comparisons are believed to lead to lower self-concepts in the worse-off domain, while downward dimensional comparisons should lead to higher self-concepts in the better-off domain. Furthermore, DCT assumes the net effect of upward and downward dimensional comparisons to be beneficial to the self. To test these assumptions, 3 experiments and 2 field studies were conducted investigating the relative effects of upward and downward dimensional comparisons as well as their net effect. In Studies 1 (N = 149), 2 (TV = 150) and 3 (N = 300), participants were asked to infer self-concepts of fictitious students after receiving experimentally manipulated information about their achievements in 2 domains, whereas participants in Studies 4 (N = 2,268) and 5 (N = 20,662) assessed their own self-concepts in German and mathematics. In all studies, downward dimensional comparisons resulted in higher self-concepts, whereas upward dimensional comparisons led to lower self-concepts. The net effect of dimensional comparisons was always found to be not statistically different from zero. The findings therefore support the central prediction of DCT on the discreteness of the effects of upward and downward dimensional comparisons, yet do not support the assumed positivity of their net effect. Furthermore, results indicate the effect patterns to be rather universal as they were stable across different samples, domains, achievement situations, research designs, and types of assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-sectional study with N = 21,216 fourth graders (M = 10.50, SD = 0.53) from a large-scale-assessment study in Germany aimed to examine the generalized internal/external frame of reference model (GI/E Model) for academic self-concepts and interests as outcomes of achievement in mathematics and verbal domains. The central objective of this study was to compare the achievement-self-concept/interest relations across three groups of students: n 1 = 19,069 students without special educational needs (SEN) from regular schools, n 2 = 933 students with SEN from regular schools, and n 3 = 1214 students with SEN from special education schools. Results of multi-group structural equation modeling revealed positive within-domain achievement-self-concept/interest relations and negative cross-domain achievement-self-concept/interest relations in all three groups of students. The only non-significant relation was found between verbal achievement and verbal interest of students with SEN in regular and special education schools. Furthermore, there were higher within-domain achievement-self-concept relations in the mathematics domain for students without SEN than for students with SEN and a lower cross-domain relation between mathematics achievement and verbal self-concept for students without SEN than for students with SEN in special education schools. These results indicate that students with and without SEN use both social and dimensional comparisons when evaluating their abilities and interests in mathematics and verbal domains, except for the verbal interest of students with SEN. • Academic achievement, self-concepts, and interests are included in the GI/E model. • The relations in the GI/E model are compared across three student groups. • Students with and without special educational needs (SEN) are included. • Almost all within-domain relations are significantly positive. • All cross-domain relations are significantly negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]