Upper-elementary School Students Research Articles

Demonstrating competence within one’s group or in relation to other groups: A person-oriented approach to studying achievement goals in small groups

Two studies investigated students’ adopted mastery and performance goals for group work, with an interest in exploring whether performance-approach goals functioned differently in small groups depending on whether the social comparison target resides outside the group (i.e., between-group comparison; performance-approach between group goals) or within the group (i.e., within-group comparison; performance-approach within goals). Using a person-oriented approach, six achievement goal profiles for group work were identified for middle school students in science (NStudy1 = 309) and upper elementary school students in mathematics (NStudy2 = 218). Some profiles included varying patterns of goal endorsement (e.g., high mastery goals, low performance-approach goals) while others reflected similar levels (high, medium, low) of goals. Across both studies, the six goal profiles were associated with varying patterns of group processes, cognitive engagement, and achievement. Most notably, students in profiles with high performance-approach within group goals had more detrimental outcomes, even when mastery goals were also strongly endorsed. In contrast, students in profiles with high mastery alone or in combination with high performance-approach between group goals had adaptive group process, cognitive engagement, and achievement outcomes. Implications for the conceptualization of performance-approach goals in small groups and cautions for fostering normative standards and intergroup competition when structuring group activities are discussed.

초등학교 고학년 아동의 부적응적 자기초점주의가 우울에 미치는 영향과 거부민감성의 매개효과

This study examined the mediating effect of rejection sensitivity in the relationship between dispositional self-focused attention and depression in upper elementary school students. The participants of this study were 501 elementary students (245 boys and 256 girls) aged 10 to 12 years who enrolled in eight elementary schools located in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeong-gi province. To measure the research variables, the Children’s Depression Inventory, the Scale for Dispositional Self-focused Attention Social situation(Lee & Kwon, 2005), and the Children’s Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire were used. Also, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to investigate the mediating model. The results of this study were as follows. First, the levels of dispositional self-focused attention and the rejection sensitivity both increased the level of students’ depression. Second, the rejection sensitivity partially mediated the relationship between their dispositional self-focused attention and depression. In conclusion, the higher the level of dispositional self-focused attention, the higher the level of rejection sensitivity, and consequently, the higher the elementary school student’s depression. These results suggested that reducing the level of dispositional self-focused attention and rejection sensitivity would play a significant role in alleviating their depression.

Elementary School Student Development of STEM Attitudes and Perceived Learning in a STEM Integrated Robotics Curriculum

Robotics has been advocated as an emerging approach to engaging K-12 students in learning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study examined the impacts of a project-based STEM integrated robotics curriculum on elementary school students’ attitudes toward STEM and perceived learning in an afterschool setting. Three elementary school teachers and 18 fourth to sixth graders participated in an eight-week-long program. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed, and showed students’ attitudes toward math improved significantly at the end of the robotics curriculum. Three specific areas of perceived learning were identified, including STEM content learning and connection, engagement and perseverance, and development and challenge in teamwork. The findings also identified the opportunities and challenges in designing a STEM integrated robotics afterschool curriculum for upper elementary school students. Implications for future research studies and curriculum design are discussed.

Upper Elementary School Students’ Attitudes Toward Physical Education in Skill-Themes and Multiactivity Approaches

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of the physical education curricular approach used in teaching upper elementary school students on students’ attitude toward physical education. An Approach Guide was developed to assist in categorizing school approaches as skill-themes (ST) or multiactivity (MA). Twenty schools meeting designated participation criteria were selected. An attitude instrument (Phillips & Silverman, 2012) was administered to fourth- or fifth-grade students (N = 313) in physical education classes in schools, 10 schools in each approach category. Multivariate analyses of variance were performed with the class as the unit of analysis for attitude sub-factor variables and attitude main factors, each using approach as the independent variable. A t-test was completed for overall attitude between the two approaches. Means and standard deviations were calculated for the sub-factors, main factors, and total attitude by curriculum, school, grade, gender, and approach. Analyses suggest that fourth- and fifth-grade students enjoy physical education and think it is important. No significant differences were found between grades, genders, or approaches. The range of attitude scores within the schools was wider in the MA approach than in the ST approach and may be a result of teacher influence. Larger standard deviations within schools using the MA approach may also indicate more varied attitudes toward physical education than in schools using the ST approach. Subscribe to TPE

Upper Elementary School Student Perceptions of Physical Education: High Attitude and Moderate/Low Attitudes

This study examined the perceptions of upper elementary school students toward physical education (PE). High and moderate/low attitude students (N = 16) participated. Two themes emerged: (a) it is important to have fun in PE (students are excited to go to PE, PE is their favorite class, the teacher influences perceptions of fun) and (b) class activities are important (moderate/low students enjoyed team problem solving, fitness activities were controversial). The results suggest that class organization and content influence perceptions.Subscribe to TPE

Cultural imaginaries and oral traditions as creative resources for connecting home storytelling to English learning

When teachers and learners of English face challenging circumstances such as limited access to books and teaching supplies, local practices such as oral storytelling traditions can provide creative resources for supporting language and literacy development. We describe how a cultural imaginary of stories told by Rwandan and U.S. students supported dramatic retelling through reader's theater in English camps for Rwandan upper elementary school students. The students embodied and dramatized their favorite stories written in English or Kinyarwanda and redesigned them into reader's theater scripts. Often these stories originated from creative storytelling practices by the students in their homes, thus illustrating how storytelling traditions connected funds of knowledge from home to resources for teaching and learning.

'You could get sick, disgusting': an analysis of alcohol counter-advertisements created by children.

Advertisements are persuasive texts designed to communicate ideas explicitly and implicitly through visual grammar. Counter-advertisements allow students to engage with advertising texts as creators rather than consumers and challenge media messages. Based in critical media literacy theory, this paper explores how elementary students interpret and redesign advertisements to create meaning. This study focused on the messages upper-elementary school students created about alcohol following a 10-lesson alcohol media literacy programme. Text from the counter-advertisements (n = 161) was analysed using discourse analysis. The counter-advertisements were also content analysed for message content, persuasion strategies and production components using a media literacy framework. The content of male-targeted, female-targeted and gender-neutral ads was compared using chi-square analyses. The four main themes identified in the discourse and content analysis were 'vomit', 'sick', 'danger' and 'poison', highlighting an emphasis on short-term consequences of alcohol misuse. Sensory (un)appeal was the most frequently used persuasion strategy, while objects/symbols and colour were the most frequently used production components. The use of these devices differed depending upon the advertisement's target gender. Involving elementary students in the redesign of advertisements is a powerful pedagogy that enables students to demonstrate their understanding of media literacy practices and create health promotion messages.

Executive functioning and bullying participant roles: Differences for boys and girls

ABSTRACTBullying is a process of direct (i.e., youth who bully and are victimized) and indirect (i.e., bystanders) social exchanges. Though researchers often examine social and emotional correlates of bullying role behaviors, it is important to also consider the underlying cognitive processes associated with different bullying roles such as socially oriented cognitive processes associated with executive functions. The goal of the current study was to examine executive functions associated with types of bullying role behavior (aggression, victimization, defending, assisting, and outsider behavior) and differences between boys and girls within a sample of 689 third- to eighth-grade students (51% male, 49% female). Victimization was significantly and negatively associated with each executive function. Defending was positively associated with emotion regulation for upper elementary school students, but not for middle school students. Outsider behavior was significantly and negatively associated with self-monitoring, flexibility, and initiation.

The Intrinsic Learning Goals of Elementary School Students, in Their Own Words

Applying intrinsic life goals and learning goals increases children’s autonomous motivation to learn and enjoyment of learning. A paucity of field-based intervention studies have focused on helping students set intrinsic life goals and learning goals. In particular, there is a need for qualitative studies that examine intrinsic learning goal content over the course of an intervention. This qualitative study examined the homework goals that 15 upper elementary school students wrote over the course of 5 weeks within the context of a 7-week parent autonomy support and student life goals intervention. Three themes were identified: (1) overtly healthy attitudes toward the learning process (e.g., focusing on enjoyment, interest, persistence, creativity, and taking on challenges); (2) expressing motivation for helping others, which is a key intrinsic life goal; and (3) deeper purposes for academic subjects (i.e., spelling, reading, math, and science), which students usually experience as more meaningful and satisfying than extrinsic goals. Whereas most previous studies assess goal orientation by having students fill out forced-choice questionnaires, future intrinsic life goals intervention studies may benefit from considering these themes and the way children describe their own intrinsic goals, because they could help with training students to set goals that support autonomous motivation.

Development and validity of the Rating Scales of Academic Skills for Reading Comprehension.

The development and psychometric qualities of a measure using teacher judgment to rate performance in reading comprehension for narrative text is described-the Rating Scales for Academic Skills-Reading Comprehension Narrative (RSAS-RCN). Sixty-five teachers from the third, fourth, and fifth grades of 8 elementary schools completed the measure on 177 students. Each teacher rated students who had been identified through school-based universal screening to be below the 25th percentile, between the 25th and 74th percentile, and at or above the 75th percentile on national normative standards. Results indicated the RSAS-RCN has strong to moderate evidence of (a) 1-week test-retest reliability, (b) concurrent validity with the Group Reading Assessment and Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE) and end of year state assessment in reading, and (c) significant classification accuracy across student ability levels. Principal component analysis and item response theory (Rasch modeling) indicate the RSAS-RCN is comprised of a single general dimension. Overall, this examination of the RSAS-RCN suggests teacher judgment may be a potentially valuable tool in assessing reading comprehension among upper elementary school students. (PsycINFO Database Record

Meta-Analysis of the Variables on Ego- Resilience of Upper Elementary School Students

Meta-Analysis of the Variables on Ego- Resilience of Upper Elementary School Students

Cypriot Urban Elementary Students’ Attitude Toward Physical Education

Purpose: This study examined the attitudes of Cypriot elementary school students toward physical education. Fourth, fifth and sixth grade students (N = 763) from six urban Cypriot elementary schools completed an attitude instrument. Methods: Adapting the attitude instrument for Greek-speaking students an extensive two-step pilot study showed the instrument scores were valid for a two factor model (affect and cognition) of attitude. Results: The authors found that Cypriot upper elementary school students have an overall moderate to high attitude toward physical education. Comparisons indicated there was a grade level effect with sixth grade students having lower attitudes for the usefulness-curriculum sub-factor, the perceived usefulness factor, and for total attitude. There were no differences for other attitude variables and no gender effects. Discussion/Conclusion: The results suggest that Cypriot students perceive the curriculum less useful as they get older.

Modeling the influences of upper-elementary school students’ digital reading literacy, socioeconomic factors, and self-regulated learning strategies

Background: Reading is an interactive and constructive process of making meaning by engaging a variety of materials and sources and by participating in reading communities at school or in daily life.Aim: The purpose of this study was to explore the factors affecting digital reading literacy among upper-elementary school students.Method: A 3-stage stratified cluster sampling was implemented that resulted in a sample of 592 upper-elementary students from 29 classes in 7 schools. Self-Regulated Learning Strategies Assessment (S-RLSA), Digital Reading Literacy Assessment (DRLA), and student reports of their parents’ education backgrounds were used to collect data on the outcome and predictor variables. Interpretation of these data involved two highly regarded statistical techniques. First, structural equation modeling was used to explore relationships amongst the constructs. Second, multi-group invariance (MI) analyses were used to assess the influence of parental education and self-regulated learning strategies on students’ digital reading literacy.Results: Enriching students’ family learning resources and strengthening their self-regulated learning abilities could have very important influences on promoting upper-elementary school students' digital reading literacy -webpage information retrieval, reading and communication abilities.Conclusions: This study also provides information on how teachers can address student resources to improve digital reading literacy and self-regulated strategies.

A Multicomponent, School-Based Intervention, the Shaping Healthy Choices Program, Improves Nutrition-Related Outcomes

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of the Shaping Healthy Choices Program (SHCP). DesignA clustered, randomized, controlled intervention lasting 1 school year. SettingSchools in northern and central California. ParticipantsFourth-graders (aged 9–10 years) at 2 control schools (n = 179) and 2 intervention schools (n = 230). InterventionGarden-enhanced education, family, and community partnerships; increased regionally procured produce in the lunchroom; and school-site wellness committees. Main Outcome MeasuresChanges in body mass index (BMI) percentiles/Z-scores; nutrition knowledge, science process skills, and vegetable identification and preferences; and reported fruit and vegetable intake. AnalysisStudent t test, chi-square, ANOVA of change, and multilevel regression mixed model to evaluate change in outcomes with school as a random effect to account for cluster design effects. Statistical significance was set at P < .05. ResultsThere was a greater improvement in BMI percentile (−6.08; P < 0.01), BMI Z-score (−0.28; P < .001), and waist-to-height ratio (−0.02; P < .001) in the intervention compared with the control schools. Conclusions and ImplicationsThe SHCP resulted in improvements in nutrition knowledge, vegetable identification, and a significant decrease in BMI percentiles. This supports the concept that the SHCP can be used to improve the health of upper elementary school students.

Effects of an Informational Text Reading Comprehension Intervention for Fifth-Grade Students

Upper elementary school students who have reading problems may have difficulty in one or more areas of reading, each requiring specific types of interventions. This study evaluated a short-term reading intervention for 46 fifth-grade students with poor reading comprehension. Students were randomly assigned to an intervention or no treatment control condition. The 40 session (20 hr) intervention targeted reading comprehension strategy instruction in the context of informational science texts. Analyses showed statistically significant effects favoring the intervention on two proximal measures (i.e., measures closely related to the intervention content). The effects for the outcomes were moderate ( gs = 0.61 and 0.72). There were no statistically significant differences on distal measures (i.e., measures less closely aligned with the intervention). The findings provide support for the efficacy of a reading comprehension intervention that may inform short-term interventions within a Response to Intervention framework.

Can upper-elementary school students achieve success in the sport education model?

"Can upper-elementary school students achieve success in the sport education model?." Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 87(9), p. 61

The Effects of Parental Psychological Control and Boys and Girls’ Rejection Sensitivity on Relational Aggression in Elementary School Students

Objective This study examined the influences of maternal and paternal psychological control and children’s rejection sensitivity on relational aggression in elementary school students, and investigated whether children’s rejection sensitivity mediated the relation of parental psychological control and relational aggression. Methods The participants of this study were 596 fifth to sixth graders from seven elementary schools located in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi province. To measure the research variables, the Peer Conflict Scale (Marsee, Kimonis, & Frick, 2004), the Psychological Control Scale (Barber, 1996) and the Children’s Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire (Downey, Lebolt, Rincón, & Freitas, 1998) were used. The data were analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and t-tests. Also, structure equation model (SEM) were used to examine the mediating role of rejection sensitivity. Results The results of this study were as follows. First, the level of paternal psychological control increased the level of children’s relational aggression whereas the level of maternal psychological control had no significant effect on it. In addition, the level of rejection sensitivity had a significant positive influence on the level of relational aggression. These tendencies were observed on both boys and girls. Second, only for boys, rejection sensitivity in upper elementary school students partially mediated the relation between paternal psychological control and relational aggression. Also, for both boys and girls, rejection sensitivity completely mediated the relation between maternal psychological control and relational aggression. Conclusion In conclusion, the higher the level of paternal psychological control, the higher the level of children’s rejection sensitivity, and subsequently the higher the level of their relational aggression. Keywords: relational aggression, parental psychological control, rejection sensitivity

Associations between perceived teaching behaviours and affect in upper elementary school students

ABSTRACTWe explored the associations between student-perceived teaching behaviours and negative affect (NA) and positive affect (PA) in upper elementary age students, both before and after controlling for perceived parenting behaviours. The Teaching Behaviour Questionnaire, the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule for Children were completed by 777 third to fifth graders in nine elementary schools. Using two-level hierarchical linear model analyses, we found that (a) perceived instructional teaching behaviour was negatively associated with NA and positively associated with PA; (b) perceived organizational behaviour was not associated with either; (c) perceived socio-emotional teaching behaviour was positively associated with both; (d) perceived negative teaching behaviour was positively associated with NA but not associated with PA. When parenting behaviours were controlled for, the associations with NA but not with PA held up. We discuss the implications of the findings for education and mental health personnel.

Effect of Tools for Getting Along on Student Risk for Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Upper Elementary Classrooms: A Replication Study

.Social–emotional learning curricula to prevent student problematic behaviors should play a prominent role in public school instruction. While social–emotional curricula have been shown to be effective, there are few replication studies that substantiate their capacity to improve outcomes for students who exhibit problem behaviors. Thus, we conducted a partial replication of a randomized controlled field trial of the Tools for Getting Along curriculum designed to increase self-regulatory functions of upper elementary school students. We found main effects on social problem-solving and significant pretest-by-condition interaction effects on teacher-reported executive function, behavioral adjustment, and aggression. We also found interaction effects on student-reported anger. The current findings are similar to the results reported for the initial study. We also specified high-risk subsamples of students for each of eight outcome factors and found main effects on emotion regulation and positive social problem-solving and a marginally significant effect on metacognition.

Effect of Interparental Conflict on Overt Aggression in Upper Elementary School Students: The Mediating Role of Parent-Child Conflict

This study examined the effect of interparental conflict and parent-child conflict on overt aggression in upper elementary school students and investigates if children’s father-child conflict or mother-child conflict mediated the effect of interparental conflict on overt aggression. The participants of this study were 532 of fifth to sixth graders from three elementary schools located in Seoul and Gyeong-gi province. Participants were asked to respond to a written questionnaire to measure research variables of the Peer Conflict Scale, the Conflict Tactics Scales, and the Conflict Behavior Questionnaire. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and hierarchical multiple regression. Mediating effects were examined using analysis procedures of Baron and Kenny. The major findings were as follows: first, the level of interparental conflict and parent-child conflict of both mothers and fathers in upper elementary school students increased the level of overt aggression. Second, parent-child conflict of both mothers and fathers in upper elementary school students partially mediated the relation between interparental conflict and overt aggression. Higher levels of interparental conflict resulted in higher levels of parent-child conflict, and the subsequently higher frequency of overt aggression in upper elementary school students.