Elementary school students' metacognitive knowledge and its effects on teacher judgments, school track recommendations, and school transitions

Abstract

Teacher judgments of student achievement influence students' school transitions. Teachers not only evaluate student achievements but also other competencies, such as metacognitive knowledge. Therefore, students' metacognitive knowledge could affect teachers' school track recommendations. The aim of this study (N = 5870 elementary school students from the German National Educational Panel Study) was to explore the extent to which students' metacognitive knowledge influences teacher judgments, teacher school track recommendations, and students' transition to gymnasium. We employed a multilevel path model to test the effects of metacognitive knowledge on teacher judgments, school track recommendations, and students' transition to gymnasium. Moreover, we found that metacognitive knowledge has a significant indirect effect on school track recommendations and students' transition to gymnasium via teacher achievement judgments. The implications of these results for teacher education are discussed.