School-average Achievement Research Articles

A META-ANALYTIC EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECT OF INDIVIDUAL AND SCHOOL-AVERAGE ACHIEVEMENT ON STUDENTS' SELF-CONCEPT IN SCIENCE

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of individual and school average achievement on students’ self-concept in science. The data of the last four Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) cycles were used, and a two-stage individual data meta-analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between achievement and self-concept in science. In the first stage, multilevel structural equation modeling was performed for each dataset. Furthermore, the effect sizes were synthesized via meta-analysis with a three-level random-effect model. In addition, moderation analysis was conducted for the year, grade, and degree of stratification in countries. The results suggested a positive and significant effect of individual science achievement on the self-concept of students in science. On the other hand, the relation of the average school achievement was negative. The results were discussed by considering the big-fish-little-pond effect. Keywords: big fish little pond effect, TIMSS, self-concept, science education

Disentangling the Long-Term Compositional Effects of School-Average Achievement and SES: a Substantive-Methodological Synergy

We juxtapose (positive and negative) compositional effects of school-average achievement and school-average socioeconomic status (SES) on students’ academic self-concept (ASC), final high-school grade-point-average (GPA), and long-term outcomes at age 26 (educational attainment and educational and occupational expectations). We used doubly-latent multilevel compositional models with a large, nationally representative longitudinal sample (16,197 Year-10 students from 751 US high schools), controlling background variables (gender, age, ethnicity, academic track, and a composite risk factor). At the individual-student level, the effects of achievement, SES, ASC, and GPA on long-term outcomes were consistently positive. However, mostly consistent with a priori theoretical predictions, (1) the compositional effects of school-average achievement on ASC, GPA, and educational and occupational expectations were significantly negative (although non-significant for final attainment); (2) the compositional effects of school-average SES on ASC, educational attainment, and educational and occupational expectations were significantly positive (but nonsignificant for GPA); and (3) the compositional effects on long-term outcomes were partly mediated by ASC and particularly by GPA. These findings demonstrate that the positive effects of school-average SES are distinguishable from the adverse effects of school-average achievement. We discuss how these findings extend Göllner et al.'s (Psychological Science 29:1785–1796, 2018) highly controversial conclusion regarding the benefits of schools with high school-average SES but low school-average achievement. We also relate our research to Luthar et al.’s (American Psychologist 75:983–995, 2020) findings of adverse mental health problems associated with attending high-achieving schools. Our results have important implications not only for theory and methodology but also for parents’ selection of schools for their children and policy regarding the structure of schools (a substantive-methodological synergy).

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect for Reading Self-Beliefs: A Cross-National Exploration with PISA 2018

ABSTRACT Purpose Past research shows the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE; negative effect of school-average achievement on student-level academic self-concept) to generalize across countries. However, such evidence is largely limited to math and science. Given that reading self-concept is highly differentiated from math and science self-concepts and plays an important role in predicting educational outcomes, it is essential to examine the universality of the BFLPE and its underlying social-comparison process within this domain. Method We assess the cross-national generalizability of the BFLPE for 15-year-olds’ reading self-concept using Programme for International Students Assessment 2018 (533,165 students, 72 countries). To demonstrate that the BFLPE operates with a relative—rather than absolute—frame of reference for comparison, we juxtapose difficulty experienced with reading in general (self-concept perceived difficulty; relative frame of reference), with difficulty experienced with reading specifically during the PISA test (PISA test difficulty; absolute frame of reference). Results Our findings show that the BFLPE for both the reading self-concept perceived competence and difficulty subscales was robust across countries. Further, the BFLPE was strong for self-concept subscales, but very weak for the PISA test difficulty scale. Conclusions Our findings extend support for the generalizability of the BFLPE to reading self-concept and highlight the role of social comparison processes underlying this effect.

A Multilevel Person-Centered Examination of Teachers' Workplace Experiences: Replication and Extension With Links to Instructional Support and Achievement.

In a replication and extension of an earlier study, we relied on person-centered analyses to identify teacher (Level 1) and school (Level 2) profiles based on teachers' experiences of job demands (barriers to professional development, disruptive student behavior), job resources (teacher collaboration, input in decision-making), and personal resources (self-efficacy). We examined data from 5,439 teachers working in 364 schools in Australia and 2,216 teachers working in 149 schools in England. Latent profile analysis revealed six teacher profiles: Low-Demand-Flourisher (11%), Mixed-Demand-Flourisher (17%), Job-Resourced-Average (11%), Balanced-Average (14%), Mixed-Resourced-Struggler (11%), and Low-Resourced-Struggler (36%). Two school profiles were identified: an Unsupportive school profile (43%) and a Supportive school profile (57%). Several significant relations between these profiles and teacher/school characteristics and work-related outcomes were also identified at both levels. Although our results generally replicated prior findings, some differences were also observed, possibly as a results of recent changes in policies regarding in teacher support and accountability. Next, we extended prior work using a subsample of the Australian teachers for whom we had matching student data. This second set of results revealed that schools with a greater proportion of low-SES students were more likely to present an Unsupportive school profile. Moreover, the Supportive school profile was associated with higher levels of student-reported instructional support and school-average achievement in reading, mathematics, and science.

Ability Stratification Predicts the Size of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect

Understanding how children’s broader context influences their development is critical if we are to develop policies that help them flourish. Combining sociological, economic, and psychological literature, we argue that ability stratification—the degree to which children of similar levels of ability are schooled together—influences a child’s academic self-concept. This is because countries with more ability stratification should have larger Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effects (the negative effect of school average achievement on academic self-concept). We used four cycles of the Trends in International Math and Science Study to test the hypothesis that more country-level ability stratification is associated with larger country-level Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effects for math self-concept. Findings strongly support this hypothesis. Our findings have implications for school system design and policy.

Does school average achievement explain the effect of socioeconomic status on math and reading interest? A test of the Information Distortion Model

Based on the Information Distortion Model (IDM), we hypothesized higher academic interest among low socioeconomic (SES) Australian children compared to equally able high SES Australian children. We extend the IDM in two ways. First, the IDM is a model of school selection and thus empirical evidence of its effect needs to come from a model that controls for achievement prior to school selection. Second, the mechanism of the IDM is presumed to be the big-fish-little-pond-effect (BFLPE), which has not been tested. We used a longitudinal representative sample of first-year high-school students (age ~12, N = 2507). We linked student high-school survey data to the whole of school and individual student administrative records of achievement from high-stakes national standardized tests in elementary and high-school. Our results were consistent with IDM for math interest but more mixed for reading interest, suggesting that additional processes may be in operation.

Phantom and big-fish-little-pond-effects on academic self-concept and academic achievement: Evidence from English early primary schools

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE) suggests that school-average achievement has a negative effect on academic self-concept (ASC); some research has also verified a negative effect on students' academic achievement. Our study evaluates the compositional effects of school-average achievement on both outcomes, using a longitudinal sample of English early primary school students in Year 1 and Year 4. We provide evidence for BFLPEs in children as young as six to nine years of age. Further, we show that the BFLPE is a potential mechanism in the negative compositional effect of school average achievement in Year 1 on students' achievement in Year 4. Once adjustments for measurement error are made, the negative effect of school-average achievement on students' self-concept, and on their subsequent achievement, becomes even more negative. Our findings question previous research suggesting that attending a school with higher average achievement necessarily advances students’ outcomes.

An agent-based model of school choice with information asymmetries

ABSTRACT Going from a neighbourhood-based to a choice-based system of school selection can have positive effects on enrolment in higher achievement schools, increasing average student achievement. We develop an Agent-Based model (ABM) that simulates students’ decisions on a heterogeneous agents’ framework with information asymmetries between income levels, allowing to simulate school choice policies and determine their impact on school enrolment and average student achievement. We use data from Santiago schools to initialise the model and study the impact of a discrete information signal of school achievement, as a policy implemented in 2010 in Chile called traffic lights.

Effects of school-average achievement on individual self-concept and achievement: Unmasking phantom effects masquerading as true compositional effects.

School-average achievement is often reported to have positive effects on individual achievement (peer spillover effect). However, it is well established that school-average achievement has negative effects on academic self-concept (big-fish-little-pond effect [BFLPE]) and that academic self-concept and achievement are positively correlated and mutually reinforcing (reciprocal effects model). We resolve this theoretical paradox based on a large, longitudinal sample (N = 14,985 U.S. children) and improved methodology. More appropriate multilevel modeling that controls for phantom effects (due to measurement error and preexisting differences) makes the BFLPE even more negative, but turns the peer spillover effect from positive to slightly below zero. Thus, attending a high-achieving school has negative effects on academic self-concept and a nonpositive effect on achievement. The results question previous studies and meta-analyses showing a positive peer spillover effect that do not control for phantom effects, along with previous policy and school selection decisions based on this research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

Supplemental Material for Effects of School-Average Achievement on Individual Self-Concept and Achievement: Unmasking Phantom Effects Masquerading as True Compositional Effects

Supplemental Material for Effects of School-Average Achievement on Individual Self-Concept and Achievement: Unmasking Phantom Effects Masquerading as True Compositional Effects

Achievement-related within-school socioeconomic gaps in science subjects in China: evidence on existence, consistency, and compensation

ABSTRACTUsing data from the 2011 (Chinese) Student Academic Achievement Evaluation, we examined whether within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement exist across science subjects, how consistent they are, and whether there are relationships between school average science achievement and within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement. Results of multivariate multilevel analyses indicate that for both fathers and mothers within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement existed among schools but did not vary much across schools. School mean socioeconomic status and teacher experience were related to these gaps. Schools were strongly consistent in within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement across science subjects, and this consistency was independent of (robust to) student and school characteristics. The relationships between school average science achievement and within-school socioeconomic gaps in science achievement were rather weak among schools across science subjects, and the addition of school characteristics to student characteristics effectively demolished the relationships.

Cross-cultural generalizability of year in school effects: Negative effects of acceleration and positive effects of retention on academic self-concept.

Given that the Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect, the negative effect of school-average achievement on academic self-concept, is one of the most robust findings in educational psychology (Marsh, Seaton et al., 2007), this research extends the theoretical model, based on social comparison theory, to study relative year in school effects (e.g., being 1 school year ahead or behind same-age students) for math constructs in PISA2003 (276,165 15-year-old students from 10,274 schools across 41 countries). The effects on academic self-concept were negative for de facto acceleration (e.g., starting early or skipping grades) and positive for de facto retention (e.g., starting late or repeating grades). These negative effects of relative year in school were: (a) cross-culturally robust across all 41 PISA2003 countries (significantly negative in most, not significantly positive in any); (b) neither substantially explained nor moderated by a diverse range of control variables (e.g., gender, school starting age, repeating grades, home language, immigrant status, SES, achievement); (c) independent of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond-Effect. The negative effects of acceleration and the positive effects of retention are consistent with a priori predictions based on frame-of-reference research, one area of social comparison research, but apparently inconsistent with some popular beliefs in relation to policy/practice based on these variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)

School Quality and the Development of Cognitive Skills between Age Four and Six.

This paper studies the extent to which young children develop their cognitive ability in high and low quality schools. We use a representative panel data set containing cognitive test scores of 4-6 year olds in Dutch schools. School quality is measured by the school’s average achievement test score at age 12. Our results indicate that children in high-quality schools develop their skills substantially faster than those in low-quality schools. The results remain robust to the inclusion of initial ability, parental background, and neighborhood controls. Moreover, using proximity to higher-achieving schools as an instrument for school choice corroborates the results. The robustness of the results points toward a causal interpretation, although it is not possible to erase all doubt about unobserved confounding factors.

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect on Mathematics Self Concept of Junior School Students in Academically Selective and Non-Selective Schools

The “Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect” (BFLPE), an application of social comparison theory of educational settings, posits that a student will have a lower academic self-concept in an academically selective school than in a non-selective school. Several studies have been conducted and results supporting and disagreeing with the theory have been documented. However, most of these studies were conducted in Europe, United States of America (USA), Asia and Australia. Relatively none has been conducted in an African setting and indeed in West Africa. The present study was therefore designed to provide empirical information on the tenability of the hypothesis in African setting. Three hundred and twenty eight Junior Secondary School Two (JSS II) students randomly selected from two schools (one academically selective school N= 194 and one non-selective school N = 124) in Ibadan, Nigeria, participated in the study. The responses of the students to mathematics self-concept questionnaire and their annual scores in Mathematics in JSS I were analysed using Pearson Correlation Coefficient, One-way Analysis of Variance andtwo-level multi-level models in which students (level 1) were nested within schools (level 2). Results show that there was a positive relationship between individual student’s annual score in mathematics and mathematics self-concept. High ability students had higher mathematics self-concept than low ability students. This was observed among the students in both schools. However, the mean score, in mathematics self-concept, of students in academically selective schools was higher than the mean score of students in non-selective schools. The two-level multilevel analyses models showed that individual student achievement in mathematics had positive and statistically significant effect on mathematics self-concept. This result laid credence on the findings of Marsh and his colleagues. However, school-average achievement in mathematics had non-significant negative effect on mathematics self-concept. These results show that mathematics self-concept may not be a function of whether the school is academically selective or non-selective. Therefore attending academically selective schoolmay not be detrimental for high ability student if he or she can maintain his or her high ability level.The result of the present study is a challenge to assertions of BFLPE, at least from an African setting.

Phantom effects in school composition research: consequences of failure to control biases due to measurement error in traditional multilevel models

The main objective of this study was to quantify the impact of failing to account for measurement error on school compositional effects. Multilevel structural equation models were incorporated to control for measurement error and/or sampling error. Study 1, a large sample of English primary students in Years 1 and 4, revealed a significantly negative compositional effect associated with school-average achievement that became more negative after controlling for measurement error. Study 2, a large study of Cypriot primary students in Year 4, showed a small, positive but statistically significant compositional effect that became non-significant after controlling for measurement error. Our findings have important methodological, substantive, and theoretical implications for on-going debates on the school compositional effects on students’ outcomes, because nearly all previous research has been based on traditional approaches to multilevel models, which are positively biased, due to the failure to control for measurement error.

The role of ADHD in academic adversity: disentangling ADHD effects from other personal and contextual factors.

Students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) experience significant academic difficulties that can lead to numerous negative academic consequences. With a focus on adverse academic outcomes, this study seeks to disentangle variance attributable to ADHD from variance attributable to salient personal and contextual covariates. Responses from 136 students with ADHD and 3,779 non-ADHD peers from 9 high schools were analyzed using logistic regression. Dependent measures included academic failure, grade repetition, school refusal, changing classes and school, school exclusion, and schoolwork noncompletion. Covariates comprised personal (e.g., sociodemographics, personality, prior achievement, specific learning disabilities, motivation) and contextual (e.g., school size, school socioeconomic status, school average achievement) factors. Findings indicated that, after accounting for personal and contextual covariates, ADHD explained significant variance in numerous adversities (schoolwork noncompletion, school suspension, school expulsion, changing schools, grade repetition). Thus, beyond the effects of numerous personal and contextual covariates, ADHD has a distinct presence in students' academic adversity. Also interesting, after accounting for other personal and contextual factors, was academic adversity with which ADHD was not associated. Findings provide direction for educational intervention targeting ADHD and associated factors found to be significant in the study.

Examining the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect on Students' Self-Concept of Learning Science in Taiwan Based on the TIMSS Databases

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between student self-concept and achievement in science in Taiwan based on the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) model using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003 and 2007 databases. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to examine the effects of the student-level and school-level science achievement on student self-concept of learning science. The results indicated that student science achievement was positively associated with individual self-concept of learning science in both TIMSS 2003 and 2007. On the contrary, while school-average science achievement was negatively related to student self-concept in TIMSS 2003, it had no statistically significant relationship with student self-concept in TIMSS 2007. The findings of this study shed light on possible explanations for the existence of BFLPE and also lead to an international discussion on the generalization of BFLPE.

Examining Factors Affecting Science Achievement of Hong Kong in PISA 2006 Using Hierarchical Linear Modeling

This study uses hierarchical linear modeling to examine the influence of a range of factors on the science performances of Hong Kong students in PISA 2006. Hong Kong has been consistently ranked highly in international science assessments, such as Programme for International Student Assessment and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study; therefore, an exploration of the factors that affect science performances of Hong Kong students can give a lens to examine how science education can be improved in Hong Kong and other countries. The analyses reveal that student backgrounds as male, at higher grade levels, and born in mainland (when in the same grade) are associated with better science performance. Among the attitudinal factors, enjoyment of science and self-efficacy in science play important roles in scientific achievements. Most of the parental factors, on the other hand, are not having significant impacts on achievement after student attitudes are taken into account, with only parents’ value of science having a small effect. School student intake is found to be a strong predictor of school average achievement, as well as a major mediator of the effects of school enrollment size and school socio-economic status. The findings differ from recently reported results, which suggested that school enrollment size was associated with achievement. This study also points out the problems of the use of science instruction time as a school-level variable to explain science achievement in Hong Kong.

The female fish is more responsive: gender moderates the BFLPE in the domain of science

Academic self-concept is positively related to individual achievement but negatively related to class- or school-average achievement: the big-fish–little-pond effect (BFLPE). This contrast effect results from social comparison processes. The BFLPE is known to be long-lasting, universal and robust. However, there is little evidence regarding its generalisability across genders. Females, as opposed to males, feel more attached to their peers and compare themselves more often. Thus, it was hypothesised that the BFLPE is larger for females. This was investigated with a focus on science self-concept in a German sample from an extension of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2006 study (N = 35,015) using recent advances in multilevel modelling. Replicating previous findings, females reported lower self-concepts while controlling for achievement. Additionally, the BFLPE was replicated. However, its effect size was substantially larger for females (−.41) compared to males (−.30). The implications of the results are discussed in light of women’s persisting underrepresentation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

The Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect and a National Policy of Within-School Ability Streaming

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) was evaluated with 4,461 seventh to ninth graders in Singapore where a national policy of ability streaming is implemented. Consistent with the BFLPE, when prior achievement was controlled, students in the high-ability stream had lower English and mathematics self-concepts (ESCs and MSCs) and those in the lower-ability stream had higher ESCs and MSCs. Consistent with the local-dominance effect, the effect of stream-average achievement on ESCs and MSCs was more negative than—and completely subsumed—the negative effect of school-average achievement. However, stream-average achievement was stronger than, or as strong as, the more local class-average achievement. Taken together, findings highlight the potential interplay of a local dominance effect with variability and/or salience of target comparisons in academic self-concept formations.