School Track Research Articles

Is it the school of fish or the size of the pond that matters? An experimental examination of reference group effects in secondary school

Do teachers consider not only an individual student's performance and abilities but also the number of motivated peers in a class as a frame of reference when deciding whether or not to recommend them for academic high school? Given the limited number of places available in such schools in the short run, we argue that a student's chances of being recommended depend on the number of competitors and especially whether they already secured a recommendation for themselves. Using choice experiments presenting groups of three to five students to pre-service secondary school teachers in Switzerland, we show how the individual probability for a recommendation for the most advantageous school track depends on the size of the reference group. Furthermore, individual chances are especially affected by the number of other students in the group that the teacher deems fit for academic high school: The higher the share of competitors in the reference group with a recommendation, the smaller the individual chances. These effects are robust across samples, methods, and with respect to alternative mechanisms.

The temporal dimension of parental employment: Temporary contracts, non-standard work schedules, and children’s education in Germany

AbstractThe increasing prevalence of non-standard work and its adverse consequences are well documented. However, we still know little about how common non-standard work is amongst parents, and whether its negative consequences are further transmitted to their children. Using data from the German Microcensus, we document the prevalence and concentration of temporary employment and non-standard work schedules in households with children in Germany. Second, we examine the extent to which variation in this temporal dimension of parental employment is associated with children’s school track. Results show that in about half of all German households with children in lower-secondary school at least one parent has a temporary contract or regularly works evenings or Saturdays. We find that children whose mother always works evenings or Saturdays are substantially less likely to transition to the academic school track. By contrast, we find no significant association between fathers’ non-standard work schedules and children’s school track. We also find no evidence of an association between parents’ temporary employment and children’s school track placement. These divergent findings highlight the importance of disaggregating non-standard work into its specific components and differentiating between mothers' and fathers' non-standard work when investigating the consequences of parental non-standard work for children’s educational and life chances.

Teachers’ prosociality and well-being at work: The mediating role of teacher engagement in family–school partnerships

Past research provided strong evidence that positive family–school partnerships were not only beneficial for students’ school success, but they also helped to promote parental involvement in schooling. However, relatively little is known about teachers’ reasons for becoming engaged in family–school partnerships and the benefits of their engagement. In fact, the role of teachers in family–school partnerships requires prosocial actions (e.g., helping, sharing, feeling empathy). As guided by self-determination theory, previous studies suggest that prosocial-oriented persons tend to take prosocial actions and these actions tend to promote a social connection, thereby promoting well-being. To the best of our knowledge, this assumption has not been applied to research on family–school partnerships yet. The aim of this study was to examine whether teachers’ prosociality would be associated with their well-being at work (i.e., job satisfaction, work-related self-esteem) and whether this connection would be mediated by teacher engagement in family–school partnerships. Using the framework of the Vodafone Foundation Germany, we focused on two important aspects of teacher engagement: effective communication and educational cooperation. A total of 190 teachers (72% females; mean age: 44.78 years) participated in an online-survey. In line with SDT, teachers’ prosociality was associated with greater well-being at work even after controlling for teachers’ background (age, gender, experience, school track). As expected, this connection was partially mediated by teacher engagement in family–school partnerships. The results and implications of the present study are discussed.

Inclusion of English for specific purposes in high school tracks: A Saudi context

English for specific purposes was created to meet the needs of a language for the purpose of carrying out all growing businesses and occupational functions, as well as accessing all kinds of scientific knowledge. The current study looks at the possibility of including an English for Specific Purposes (henceforth ESP) course in high school tracks. It also looks into factors such as the outcomes of ESP-trained general English instructors, appropriate materials and skills for teaching ESP, the pedagogical environment and teaching approaches of ESP, as well as the future of general English as ESP becomes more common. Through an eleven-item Likert scale survey and structured interviews conducted with four English language teachers, 135 English foreign language teachers were surveyed, and quantitative and qualitative data were collected. According to most participants, the inclusion of ESP in high school tracks will provide students with the vocabulary and structure they need to succeed in college. While ESP is considered an extension of general English (henceforth GE), its pedagogical environment and teaching approach differ, which means teachers should be trained in science, medical terms, and pedagogical aspects of ESP instruction to motivate their students and make them more enthusiastic about the subjects they will study in professional colleges after they have completed high school.

High hopes but aiming low? Explaining why some families with high educational aspirations do not choose the academic track in German secondary education

Selecting a school track after primary schooling is an early and highly influential decision families have to make in the German educational system. Usually, families with high educational aspirations choose the academic track since it is the direct pathway to higher education eligibility, yet there are families selecting another track. Explaining this decision is highly relevant since it is known that other tracks can divert aspirations away from the initial high goals, resulting in overall lower educational achievements. The present study analyzes the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) dataset to investigate predictors of academic track selection (N > 1500). As dominance analyses show, the overall share of variance that all factors can explain is relatively low (ca. 13%), and only the teacher recommendation and the federal state of residence contribute meaningfully to this total share. Overall, it remains unclear what drives the decision, and other explanatory approaches should be investigated.

Exploring the Academic Preparation and Performance to the Comprehensive Examination of First-Year Engineering Students

A comprehensive examination is an academic exercise that aims to determine students’performance relevant to their achievements in the previous years of their studies. In the oldcurriculum of the College of Engineering at Camarines Sur Polytechnic Colleges, Philippines,a comprehensive examination is given to second-year students of all engineering programs.With the change in curriculum due to the K-12 implementation, this comprehensive examinationis being planned to be given to first-year engineering students. This study aims to explorethe influence of students’ academic preparation and academic performance on the comprehensiveexamination of first-year engineering students. The researcher analyzed the datafrom 468 first-year engineering students for the academic year 2018–2019 to determine thedegree of correlation between their academic preparation, academic performance, and comprehensiveexamination. Findings showed that senior high school (SHS) tracks have no relationshipwith the academic performance of civil, electronics, and mechanical engineeringstudents. However, for electrical engineering students, there is a relationship between theSHS tracks and their academic performance. Also, the college entrance test (CET) and academicperformance showed a relationship with the comprehensive examination. Findingsrevealed that higher ratings in the CET and academic performance tend to go with higherratings in the comprehensive examination and vice versa. Thus, a comprehensive examinationis an effective way to determine the extent of achievement of students in engineeringmathematics and sciences. This study did not consider any other factors that may affect theresult of the comprehensive examination.

Early-life droughts and cognitive performance among children in rural India

Abstract Introduction Organisms adapt to prenatal conditions in a way that prepares for similar postnatal circumstances. Fetal programming research has identified associations between various prenatal shocks and numerous health outcomes, yet the role of the postnatal environment for effect manifestation remains understudied. This is the first study to investigate the interplay of pre- and postnatal environmental conditions for cognitive health among school-aged children. We focus on nutrition, a cognitive health risk factor in both pre- and postnatal life. Methods Data from the 2007-2018 Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) on 5-16-year-olds from rural India (N = 4,589,590) were linked to University of Delaware rainfall data. As rural India heavily depends on rainfed agriculture, we exploit droughts - i.e. rainfall below the 20th percentile of the district-specific mean - as a quasi-experiment for nutritional shocks. Drought exposure is assigned based on birth year. We first test if prenatal drought exposure is associated with test scores, and then interact prenatal exposure with exposure in the first years of life, while controlling for household, district, birth year, and interview year. Results Our results show that prenatal drought exposure is associated with lower scores in math and reading, and a lower probability of being on track in school, particularly among 11-16 year-olds. Droughts in the first few years after birth, too, are associated with poorer scores. However, this effect is alleviated among adolescents who had previously experienced a drought prenatally. Conclusions Prenatal exposure to suboptimal conditions might mitigate the effects of similar shocks in early postnatal life for cognitive health. Future research on interactions between such pre- and postnatal factors is needed, e.g. to gain insights for resilience-building in face of the climate crisis. Key messages • The occurrence of droughts during the prenatal phase, as well as during the first few years after birth, lead Indian adolescents to perform worse in school. • Prenatal circumstances prepare for postnatal ones. This explains our finding that the effects of droughts after birth are alleviated among those who had already been prenatally drought-exposed.

Türk Eğitim Sisteminde Matta Etkisi

Over the past 20 years, Türkiye has transitioned its education system to the massification phase, and schooling rates have reached over 99% at all levels of education, from primary to secondary levels. In addition to increasing the accessibility of education to those from disadvantaged socioeconomic status and facilitating the access of girls to education, this important transformation has also increased the effectiveness of the education system. Furthermore, the period was also characterized by free distribution of textbooks and teaching materials to all students in an effort to increase the equality of education opportunities. The provision of free meals, transportation to school, scholarships, accommodation assistance for students in need, as well as conditional financial support based upon the continuation of education was provided to students. The implementation of many social policies has continued over the past two decades in a consistent manner. With such a large system with approximately 19 million students, it is evident that this approach focuses on increasing equality of opportunity in education as opposed to simply increasing educational access. The achievement gap between schools persists despite all these supportive mechanisms, some of which are rooted in the past, some of which have arisen from massification of education. This study discusses the areas or instruments that prevent all students accessing education from receiving the same quality of education, regardless of their socioeconomic status, and areas of higher "Matthew effect" severity. The Matthew effect is particularly strong in four areas, in particular, in the Turkish educational system: access to early childhood education, socioeconomic status, school tracking, and access to senior teachers. The study also provides suggestions for reducing the severity of the Matthew effect in these four areas.

Double jeopardy? Examining the influence of mathematics tracking on in‐school suspensions through an intersectionality framework

AbstractResearch has proven that when students are tracked and experience some form of exclusionary discipline, their risk of dropping out of school increases significantly. These effects are compounded for students from low socioeconomic households and students of color. However, there exists a gap in the literature concerning how tracking in specific subjects (mathematics) can influence disciplinary outcomes for students. This study uses the theoretical framework of intersectionality to examine the influence of mathematics tracking while taking into consideration students' identity (socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and gender), on their likelihood of receiving an in‐school suspension (ISS). To examine the effects, we asked the research question: Does tracking in mathematics influence the likelihood of students receiving an ISS in the eleventh grade based on their race/ethnicity, gender, and SES identity? Using both logistic regressions with a reference group and single group, we found that enrollment in a non‐advanced course in the eleventh grade for Asian boys and girls, Latinx girls, multiracial boys and girls, and White boys and girls increased ISS odds more than their racial and SES identity. This study concludes with recommendations for educators seeking to eliminate tracking in secondary schools.

School-to-Work Transitions under Unequal Conditions: A Regionalised Perspective on the ‘Discouraged Worker’ Hypothesis

Against the background of considerable regional disparities, we test the “discouraged worker” hypothesis, which postulates that poor regional socioeconomic conditions foster students’ aspirations for more education, ultimately leading to an extension of their educational careers. Our two dependent variables are (i) whether students aspire to prolong their general school careers or enter vocational training and (ii) whether they in fact prolong their school careers. To that end, we link regional-level data to individual-level data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). To describe regional conditions adequately, we illustrate geographical patterns in socioeconomic conditions relevant for school-to-work transitions (e.g., labour market conditions and availability of vocational training opportunities). We compare two operationalisations of regional areas: (i) administrative districts and (ii) public transport areas. Our results show that students are more likely to aspire to prolong their general school careers in socioeconomically deprived regions. Moreover, the effects are stronger when school-based vocational training opportunities are scarce. The effects on actual transitions vary according to the school track attended and the availability of educational alternatives in the general school system. Finally, the operationalisation of regions varies regarding effect sizes and corresponding levels of statistical significance.

In‐game performance: The role of students' socio‐economic status, self‐efficacy and situational interest in an augmented reality game

Digital games are widely used in education to motivate students for science. Additionally, augmented reality (AR) is increasingly used in education. However, recent research indicates that these technologies might not be equally beneficial for students with different background characteristics. Moreover, students with different backgrounds may differ in their self‐efficacy and interest when playing games and this could lead to differences in performance. Given the increased use of games and immersive technologies in education, it is important to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of games for different student groups. This study focused on the role of students' socio‐economic status (SES) and examined whether SES was associated with in‐game performance and whether interest and self‐efficacy mediated potential associations between SES and in‐game performance. Since log data are increasingly used to predict learning outcomes and can provide valuable insights into individual behaviour, in‐game performance was assessed with the use of log data. In total, 276 early secondary school students participated in this study. The results indicate that SES has no direct or indirect effect through self‐efficacy and interest on in‐game performance. However, a lower self‐efficacy increased the likelihood to drop out of the game. These findings suggest that students from different socio‐economic backgrounds are equally interested and self‐efficacious while playing the game and that their performance is not affected by their background. The affordances of AR as an immersive learning environment might be motivating enough to help mitigate possible SES differences in students. Practitioner notesWhat is already known about this topic Digital games are an effective tool to increase motivation and learning outcomes of students. Students' self‐efficacy and situational interest influence learning outcomes and in‐game performance. It is unclear whether digital games are equally effective for students with different socio‐economic status. What this paper adds Socio‐economic status (SES) of students does not affect in‐game performance. Students with different SES are equally interested and self‐efficacious. Lower self‐efficacy and lower school track influence the likelihood of dropout. Implications for practice and/or policy Socio‐economic status does not fortify the possible performance differences between students and games can be utilized as a learning tool that motivates all students equally. There are students who do not optimally benefit when games are implemented in education and who may need additional support.

A near-mint view toward integration: Are adolescents more inclusive than adults?

The increasing ethnic and cultural diversity of contemporary societies has raised the importance of integration policies for people with a migrant background. Tools like the Migrant Integration Policy Index have been developed to evaluate different countries' integration approaches. If, on the one hand, focusing on what governments are doing to promote integration is necessary, on the other hand, it is of utmost importance to consider individuals' attitudes toward these policies. Study 1: A pilot study with 356 adolescents (41.1% female, 58.9% male; Mage = 15.38) and 200 adults (69% female, 31% male; Mage = 47.43) was conducted to test the psychometric proprieties of the Attitudes Toward Migrant Integration Policies scale. Study 2: A total of 1,156 adolescents (51.6% female, 48.4% male; Mage = 15.69), 1,288 parents (56.9% mothers, 43.1% fathers; Mage = 49.39), and 284 teachers (68.3% female, 31.7% male; Mage = 45.55) were involved in a study to evaluate how attitudes toward integration policies differ within generations (e.g., ethnic majority and minority groups), within families (e.g., adolescents vs. their fathers), and across generational groups (i.e., adolescents, parents, and teachers). Latent mean comparisons indicated that attitudes toward integration policies varied significantly across sex (for adolescents and parents), ethnic background (parents only), and school track (adolescents) groups. Regarding differences within family dyads, adolescents reported more positive attitudes toward integration policies than their fathers and mothers. Finally, teachers showed more positive attitudes compared to adolescents and their parents. Overall, this study highlights nuanced intergenerational differences, with adolescents standing in between the different positions of their parents and teachers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Are adolescents more socially integrated in all-day schools than in half-day schools?

Abstract: In Germany, the number of all-day schools has been steadily increasing since 2001. This study examines the social relationships of students in all-day and half-day schools. We hypothesized that spending more time with different classmates in extracurricular activities and a greater emphasis on social skills in all-day schools contribute to higher levels of social integration. We also expected that classrooms with higher participation rates in extracurricular activities would exhibit higher levels of social integration. We analyzed data from the IQB Trends in Student Achievement 2018 study, including information from 10,010 ninth-grade students (15.49 years old; 49.0% girls) in 481 classrooms from 368 German secondary schools (202 half-day and 166 all-day schools). Linear regression analyses of different social integration measures at the classroom level, including self-reported and sociometric items, enabled us to explore differences in social relations based on extracurricular participation, controlling for school track and composition. Results showed that all-day schools exhibited higher levels of social integration than half-day schools. Additionally, classrooms with higher extracurricular participation rates displayed higher levels of social integration than classrooms with lower extracurricular participation rates. However, the effects of these findings were small.

그들은 왜 교차지원을 했는가?

Objectives This study qualitatively explored the experiences of students who went to college by cross-application with a major which is different from the high school track.
 Methods In this study, six 3rd grade high school students participated who passed the university admission through cross-application. Through in-depth interviews with participants, data on experiences ranging from selecting high school tracks to changing tracks and cross-application processes were collected, and topics commonly revealed through a constant comparative analysis were identified.
 Results As a result of the study, participants decided on their tracks by considering only the fragmentary aspects of a specific track and then experienced difficulty and confusion in changing the track in the middle. Also, their cross-application tended to be hastily decided with the purpose of employment and entrance exams, lacking deep consideration. In addition, they expressed concerns and anxiety about their studies and adaptation after entering university.
 Conclusions Based on these results, this study suggested that sufficient information and deliberation are needed in the process of selecting high school tracks and counseling for college entrance, and academic and career guidance support at universities is required for cross-applicants.

Rethinking interculturalism, deconstructing discrimination in Italian schools

AbstractDespite the public favour gained in Europe, interculturalism is often reduced to its theoretical abstractions or local implementations. There is scarce evidence to suggest that interculturalism mitigates the systemic discrimination of immigrant‐origin people. Looking at the Italian case, the paper analyses the coexistence of interculturalism and discrimination into multicultural schools, examining school track choices for immigrant‐origin students under the lens of interculturalism. We combine three theoretical perspectives—discrimination at micro level, critical interculturalism and school choice as a process—with an empirical analysis of qualitative data, focussing on the ambivalent relational mechanisms underneath the most discriminatory turning point in the Italian education system, the transition to upper secondary school. Different forms of student–teacher interaction, approaches to school track choice and discriminatory effects are highlighted in the research findings. Three different scenarios of interculturalism are identified and implemented through the negotiation of the school actors. Rethinking interculturalism by deconstructing discrimination appears as a collective task, to be undertaken together with teachers and students with immigrant background: intercultural policy guidelines must be combined with bottom‐up actions.

Feeling fast? Beliefs and performance among high school sprinters

Abstract Mindset can shape sports performance, but these effects can be difficult to detect empirically. We use data from high school sprinters to explore mindset effects on 100 m finishing times and find that headwinds hamper performance more than can be attributed to the physics of wind resistance alone. These (implied) psychological effects of wind on sprint times are stronger for girls than for boys. Having established the presence of mindset-based slack in physical performance, we then test whether sprint times changed in the wake of Matthew Boling’s record-breaking sprint in 2019 that, after going viral on social media, potentially boosted self-efficacy among high school sprinters. Using 2018 and 2019 high school track meets in California, we observe notable changes in average sprinter performance for certain types of athletes in specific wind conditions after Boling’s race that did not occur in the previous season. These results control for many observable variables, correct for multiple hypothesis testing, and use entropy balancing weights to ensure statistical comparability between the two years. We detect differences in this ‘Boling effect’ based on the predicted racial composition of teams and the predicted race of athletes, which is relevant given the racial angle of coverage of the record-setting run. We posit vicarious self-efficacy as a plausible explanation for these difference-in-differences patterns. Pronounced heterogeneity in these results demonstrates some of the complexities and nuances of mindset effects even in settings where performance is easily quantified. Subtle contextual and salience cues appear to mediate the impact of vicarious self-efficacy beliefs on performance.

Growth mindset and school burnout symptoms in young adolescents: the role of vagal activity as potential mediator.

Experiencing school burnout symptoms can have negative consequences for learning. A growth mindset, the belief that human qualities such as intelligence are malleable, has previously been correlated with fewer school burnout symptoms in late adolescents. This might be because adolescents with a stronger growth mindset show more adaptive self-regulation strategies and thereby increasing resilience against academic setbacks. Here we confirmed in a sample of 426 Dutch young adolescents (11-14 years old; 48% female) that this relationship between growth mindset and school burnout symptoms holds after controlling for other potential predictors of school burnout symptoms such as academic achievement, school track, gender, and socio-economic status. Our second aim was to increase our understanding of the mechanism underlying the relation between mindset and school burnout, by measuring physiological resilience (vagal activity, a measure of parasympathetic activity, also known as heart rate variability or HRV) in a subsample (n = 50). We did not find any relation between vagal activity and growth mindset or school burnout symptoms, nor could we establish a mediating effect of vagal activity in their relation. In conclusion, we found evidence for a potential protective effect of a growth mindset on school burnout symptoms in young adolescents, but not for physiological resilience (vagal activity) as an underlying mechanism. The protective effect of growth mindset as confirmed in our younger sample can be leveraged in interventions to prevent increasing school burnout symptoms.

College academic performance in science-related programs and senior high school strands: A basis for higher education admission policy

In compliance with RA 10931(the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act), the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) allows State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) in the Philippines to admit students regardless of their senior high school track and strand taken, through CMO 105, Series of 2017. This would cause future problems because the nature of these graduates' high school studies would be disregarded when evaluating applicants for a certain bachelor's degree. This study was conducted to determine if a specific Senior High School strand produces high-achieving students in science-related programs. Using a causal-comparative research design, it engaged sixty-one (61) undergraduate students enrolled in Two Philippine State Universities offer Science-related courses: Bachelor of Science in Biology, Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science. One-way ANOVA was done to find if there is a significant difference among the academic performance of the respondents grouped by their senior high school strands. Dunn’s Test for Multiple Comparisons was used as post-hoc analysis. The ANOVA test showed a significant difference between academic performance in science-related programs and senior high school strands p = 0.015, while no significance was found in sex and annual household income. Conducting post-hoc analysis using Dunn’s Test for Multiple Comparisons showed that STEM graduates have a statistically significant academic performance between ABM, GAS, HUMSS, Home Economics, and ICT graduates. The findings show significant implications in the admission of students in college, especially in science-related programs. Strands in senior high school must be considered and that short-bridging programs may be conducted for non-STEM graduates enrolled in science-related programs.

Competencies, Instructional Skills, and Challenges of Teachers in Implementing the Technical-Vocational and Livelihood Senior High School Track

This study aimed to investigate the competencies, instructional skills, and challenges faced by teachers in implementing the Technical-Vocational and Livelihood (TVL) track in senior high school. Stratified random sampling was used to select participants from the Surigao del Sur Division of the Department of Education in the Caraga Region, Philippines. Descriptive-correlational research was employed, utilizing frequency counts, percentages, means, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis to analyze the collected data. The findings revealed that TVL teachers demonstrated high levels of competence in areas such as Home Economics, Agri-fishery Arts, Industrial Arts, and ICT and Entrepreneurship. However, the study also identified specific challenges faced by these teachers, including difficulties in preparing assessment questions and providing feedback. The research highlighted the significant shortage of classrooms to accommodate learners and the challenges associated with managing limited space in shop rooms. Establishing linkages and developing community and industry partnerships also proved to be major challenges for teachers. Furthermore, the study found that the level of teachers' competencies had a significant relationship with their instructional skills in the TVL track. Additionally, the profiles of the teachers substantially influenced their level of competence in the TVL track.

Trade-Offs of Attending Better Schools: Achievement, Self-Perceptions and Educational Trajectories

Abstract This paper estimates the impacts of attending better middle schools on the test scores, on-time graduation, self-reported socio-emotional skills, aspirations and high school track choices of marginally admitted students. A regression discontinuity design comparing students just above and below the admission threshold to higher-achieving middle schools in Mexico shows some modest gains on externally graded tests, but adverse effects on grade point average and on-time graduation. By the end of middle school, marginally admitted students feel academically inferior to their peers, obtain worse scores on measures of conscientiousness, and are more likely to shift their aspirations and subsequent schooling choices from academic to vocational programmes. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that unfavourable peer comparisons, stemming from direct observation or subjective teacher assessments, can be sufficiently important to affect students’ educational trajectories.