Eric M. Anderman

School effects on psychological outcomes during adolescence.

Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health were used to examine school-level differences in the relations between school belonging and various outcomes. In Study 1, predictors of belonging were examined. Results indicated that belonging was lower in urban schools than in suburban schools, and lower in schools that used busing practices than those that did not. In Study 2, the relations between belonging and psychological outcomes were examined. The relations varied depending on the unit of analysis (individual vs. aggregated measures of belonging). Whereas individual students’ perceptions of belonging were inversely related to depression, social rejection, and school problems, aggregated belonging was related to greater reports of social rejection and school problems and to higher grade point average. Research on school-level differences during adolescence often has focused on nonpsychological outcomes, such as academic achievement and behavioral issues, instead of on psychological outcomes (Roeser, 1998). Indeed, research on school-level differences in nonacademic variables is quite rare. The purpose of the present research was to examine school-level differences in a variety of psychological outcomes, using a large nationally representative sample of adolescents.

The Classroom Environment and Students' Reports of Avoidance Strategies in Mathematics: A Multimethod Study.

The relation between the learning environment (e.g., students’ perceptions of the classroom goal structure and teachers’ instructional discourse) and students’ reported use of avoidance strategies (selfhandicapping, avoidance of help seeking) and preference to avoid novelty in mathematics was examined. Quantitative analyses indicated that students’ reports of avoidance behaviors varied significantly among classrooms. A perceived emphasis on mastery goals in the classroom was positively related to lower reports of avoidance. Qualitative analyses revealed that teachers in high-mastery/low-avoidance and low-mastery/high-avoidance classrooms used distinctively different patterns of instructional and motivational discourse. High incidence of motivational support was uniquely characteristic of high-mastery/ low-avoidance classrooms, suggesting that mastery goals may include an affective component. Implications of the results for both theory and practice are discussed.

Motivational Perspectives on Student Cheating: Toward an Integrated Model of Academic Dishonesty

This article uses theoretical concepts from self-efficacy theory, goal theory, expectancy value, and intrinsic motivation theory as a way to organize the vast and largely atheoretical literature on academic cheating. Specifically, it draws on 3 particular questions that students encounter when deciding whether to cheat: (a) What is my purpose?, (b) Can I do this task?, and (c) What are the costs associated with cheating? This article reviews both experimental and nonexperimental evidence related to each of these questions and offers suggestions for future research and instructional practices that will lessen the likelihood of cheating.

Sexual Self-Concept and Sexual Self-Efficacy in Adolescents: A Possible Clue to Promoting Sexual Health?

This study examined the associations between sexual self-concept (sexual esteem and sexual anxiety) and sexual self-efficacy (situational and resistive) in a sample of 388 high school students (59% Caucasian, 28% African American). Males reported lower sexual esteem and lower sexual self-efficacy than females. Males and African Americans reported higher levels of sexual anxiety and lower levels of resistive self-efficacy than females and Caucasians. In regression models, higher sexual self-esteem uniquely predicted higher sexual self-efficacy scores, even after controlling for demographic variables, knowledge of sexual risk, and previous coital experience. In post hoc analyses, sexual self-esteem mediated the relation between knowledge of sexual risk and both types of sexual self-efficacy. Results suggest the need for interventions to promote male sexual self-efficacy and sexual esteem and the need for longitudinal research that explicates models of sexual health in adolescence.

Understanding and preventing violence directed against teachers: Recommendations for a national research, practice, and policy agenda

Violence directed against K-12 teachers is a serious problem that demands the immediate attention of researchers, providers of teacher pre-service and in-service training, school administrators, community leaders, and policymakers. Surprisingly, little research has been conducted on this growing problem despite the broad impact teacher victimization can have on schooling, recruitment, and retention of highly effective teachers and on student academic and behavioral outcomes. Psychologists should play a leadership role in mitigating school violence, including violence directed toward teachers. There is a need for psychologists to conduct research accurately assessing the types and scope of violence that teachers experience; to comprehensively evaluate the individual, classroom, school, community, institutional, and cultural contextual factors that might predict and/or explain types of teacher violence; and to examine the effectiveness and sustainability of classroom, school, and district-wide prevention and intervention strategies that target teacher violence in school systems. Collectively, the work of psychologists in this area could have a substantial impact on schooling, teacher experience and retention, and overall student performance.

Achievement Goal Theory, Conceptualization of Ability/Intelligence, and Classroom Climate

In this chapter, we examine relations between achievement goal theory and student engagement. Achievement goal theorists generally examine two types of goals (mastery and performance goals), each of which has been conceptualized as having both approach and avoid components. After reviewing the history and development of achievement goal theory and describing the current four-factor model, we examine correlates of achievement goal orientations; these include students’ beliefs about intelligence, academic achievement, and engagement (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral). We then review research on classroom goal structures; we specifically examine how classroom contexts, as conceptualized through goal orientation theory, are related to student engagement. We also review instructional practices that are related to both mastery and performance goal structures and how those practices are related to academic achievement.

Value-Added Models of Assessment: Implications for Motivation and Accountability

In this article, we examine the relations of value-added models of measuring academic achievement to student motivation. Using an achievement goal orientation theory perspective, we argue that value-added models, which focus on the progress of individual students over time, are more closely aligned with research on student motivation than are more traditional approaches to measuring achievement in a high-stakes testing environment. Although differing approaches to value-added assessment have been proposed, the core elements of the models are similar. We propose that the assessment data provided by value-added models has the potential to positively affect academic motivation, particularly when viewed through the lens of goal orientation theory.

Impulsivity and Academic Cheating

The authors examined the relations between academic cheating and impulsivity in a large sample of adolescents enrolled in high school health education classes. Results indicated that impulsivity predicts academic cheating for students who report extensive involvement in cheating. However, students who engage in extensive cheating are less likely to report cheating when they perceive a mastery goal structure. In addition, both moderate and extensive cheaters report less cheating when they perceive the teacher as being credible.

Violence Against Teachers: Case Studies from the APA Task Force

Violence directed toward teachers has been understudied despite significant media and empirical investigation on school violence, such as student-to-student victimization and bullying. To date, there are relatively few published studies scattered across many countries. To address this void, the American Psychological Association, in collaboration with the National Education Association, created the first Violence Directed Against Teachers Task Force. Task Force recommendations and results from the Task Force U.S. national survey on teacher victimization are presented, together with teacher-reported case studies. The case studies are used to illustrate the range of educators, reported incidents, resulting actions by educators and schools, and stress faced by teachers. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Approaches to Academic Growth Assessment.

BACKGROUND There is much interest in assessing growth in student learning. Assessments of growth have important implications and affect many policy decisions at many levels. AIMS In the present article, we review some of the different approaches to measuring growth and examine the implications of their usage. SAMPLE Samples used in research on growth models typically include students enrolled in public schools that primarily serve kindergarten through the 12th grade. METHOD Definitions of growth and gain are reviewed, and five types of growth models are examined: (1) Student Gain Score Model, (2) The Covariate Adjustment Model, (3) The Student Percentile Gain Model - referred to as single-wave value-added models, (4) Univariate Value-Added Response Models, and (5) Multivariate Value-Added Response Models. RESULTS Modelling approaches are vastly different, whereas Student Gain Models are mathematically and conceptually simple, Multivariate Models are highly complex. CONCLUSION Educators assessing growth must make critical decisions about measurement. The type of instrument that is selected and the type of analytic techniques selected are of great importance. Growth must be considered from technical, pedagogical, and policy perspectives.