Greetje van der Werf

Social Comparison in the Classroom: A Review

This article reviews research conducted on social comparison processes in the classroom since Festinger proposed his theory of social comparison. It covers the theoretical framework of social comparison theory, and it is organized around the following themes: motives for social comparison, dimensions of social comparison, direction of social comparison, and consequences of social comparison. The overall picture is an emerging one in which pupils prefer to compare their performances upward—specifically, with pupils who perform better than themselves but who resemble themselves on related and unrelated attributes. Although the magnitude of the effects of social comparison in the classroom is not examined, the review suggests that such upward comparisons not only lead pupils to perform better but evoke negative affect and lower academic self-concept. Topics discussed include inconsistencies (especially with regard to the direction of comparison and the motives underlying social comparison in the classroom), practical implications, and directions for future research.

State of the art – teacher effectiveness and professional learning

One of the key findings from decades of educational effectiveness research is the importance of the classroom level as a predictor of pupil outcomes. In this review, we therefore look at synthesising our best evidence from research on effective teaching, and its corollary, teacher development. In the 1st section, we will look at key findings from 35 years of research on effective teaching using a process-product research that has led to the identification of a range of behaviours which are positively related to student achievement. A key limitation of this research, however, is its focus on basic skills in English and maths. Therefore, in the 2nd section we review research on “new learning” and teaching for metacognitive and thinking skills. While in these 2 sections we have discussed key findings from research on teaching, including emerging knowledge on metacognition, it is important to continue to take into account ongoing developments in theories of learning. In the 3rd section of this paper, we develop the argument that a major contributing factor to this situation is that “state-of-the-art” understandings about processes and conditions that promote student learning are typically not used to construct appropriate learning environments for their teachers.

Improving Parental Involvement in Primary Education in Indonesia: Implementation, Effects and Costs

In a large-scale school improvement project in Indonesia the implementation, effects and costs of initiatives to increase parental involvement were compared with those of other interventions (teacher development, educational management and books and learning materials). It turned out that although parental involvement was not implemented very successfully in schools, this intervention is quite effective in improving student achievement. In comparison with the other interventions it is in fact the most efficient because costs are relatively low. Recommendations are given to implement parental involvement further, and to raise its effects without raising the costs.

Who succeeds in advanced mathematics and science courses

Few students (particularly few girls) currently choose to take their Final School Examination (FSE) in advanced mathematics, chemistry and physics, a combination of subjects that is the best preparation for a science-oriented study in higher education. Are these subjects attainable by more students than is currently the case? This study examined 6033 students in upper secondary education, including 720 students who took their FSE in advanced mathematics, chemistry and physics. The results show that the latter group (and in particular the girls in that group) had higher scores on math ability than students who chose other examination subjects. Regression analyses demonstrated the relative importance of math ability and achievement motivation for attainment in these science subjects. However, an expected positive effect of homework time as well as possible mediating and moderating effects of the predictors could not be confirmed.

Differences in School and Instruction Characteristics between High‐, Average‐, and Low‐Effective Schools∗

ABSTRACT Secondary multilevel analyses on the data set of the national evaluation of the Dutch Educational Priority Program (EPP) were applied to select schools that are high, average and low effective across grades and school years. Analyses were carried out on arithmetic achievement data of some 50,000 pupils in 560 primary schools. These children were tested both in 1988 and 1990. Differences in school and instruction characteristics between the three types of schools were explored to explain differences in effectiveness. Results show that only one school characteristic, educational leadership, was related (negatively) to effectiveness. With regard to instruction characteristics the picture only partly is consistent with earlier research: teachers in high effective schools give more whole‐class instruction, more often have the same minimum goals for all pupils and spend more time on learning activities and evaluation of learning tasks. They also offer more learning content during the school year. On th...

The Amsterdam Executive Function Inventory (AEFI): psychometric properties and demographically-corrected normative data for adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years

The Amsterdam Executive Function Inventory (AEFI) is a newly developed brief self-report questionnaire to assess three important components of the executive aspects of daily-life behavior—that is, Attention, Self-Control and Self-Monitoring, and Planning and Initiative. In a population-based study, the AEFI was administered to N = 6,730 Dutch adolescents aged between 15 and 18 years. Psychometric analyses showed that the construct validity and the reliability of the AEFI were adequate. Educational level and gender affected the different AEFI scale scores. Regression-based normative data that took these demographic influences into account were established, so that the AEFI can be used by clinicians and researchers who need to assess executive aspects of daily-life behavior.

Accurate, inaccurate, or biased teacher expectations: Do Dutch teachers differ in their expectations at the end of primary education?

BACKGROUND In several tracked educational systems, realizing optimal placements in classes in the first year of secondary education depends on the accuracy of teacher expectations. AIMS The aim of this study was to investigate between-teacher differences in their expectations regarding the academic aptitude of their students. SAMPLE The sample consisted of 500 teachers (classes) who provided their expectations of 7,550 students in the final grade of Dutch primary education. METHODS We analysed the extent to which teachers differed in their expectations and in what contexts their expectations were biased, using multilevel random slope models. RESULTS Multilevel analysis showed teacher expectation bias to be related to gender and socio-ethnic background of students. The differences among teachers in expectations for Turkish, Moroccan, and other foreign students with low-educated parents were larger than the average teacher expectation bias for these groups in the sample. When student characteristics were controlled for, we found that the teachers in our sample had higher expectations for students in high-performing classes or classes with only a small proportion of students from low-SES families. Teacher expectation bias for demographic groups, however, was found to be independent of the class population. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate the importance of the teacher and the necessity of using multilevel models when investigating the complex nature of between-teacher differences in expectations of student performance.

Do Highly Gifted Students Really Have Problems

This study addresses the question whether highly gifted students have particular school-related problems. To answer this question, 4 categories of gifted students are compared, consisting of above-average intelligent students (IQ between 110 – 119), mildly gifted students (IQ between 120 – 129), moderately gifted students (IQ between 130 – 144), and highly gifted students (IQ above 144) with respect to underachievement and underattainment, as well as with respect to their scores on social-emotional and school-related behavior measures. All together, 3,442 students participated. It turns out that moderately and highly gifted students do not have particular problems at all. The category of mildly gifted students, however, could be labeled as a problematic category. Within this category, we found the highest percentage of underachievers and also the highest percentage of students whose school career was unsuccessful.

Students' Preconceptions and Perceptions of Science-Oriented Studies.

Do non-science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students’ views about STEM studies correspond with how STEM students actually perceive these studies? This paper deals with this issue by comparing higher education students’ attitudes towards STEM studies between those who actually did a STEM study and those who did not. The attitudes of the first category of students have been referred to as perceptions and the attitudes of the second category as preconceptions. The study included 1,935 students in higher education. The results confirm both small and large differences between the preconceptions and perceptions, and show significant differences between suitably qualified students (i.e. eligible for STEM studies) and other students. At the end of this paper, we will discuss the implications of this study for future research and offer some suggestions for practice.

Implementation and Effects of the Dutch Educational Priority Policy: Results of Four Years of Evaluation Studies.

ABSTRACT This article deals with the evaluation studies of the Dutch Educational Priority Policy (OVB) conducted in the period up to 1993. The aim of the policy is to improve achievements among pupils who are disadvantaged because of social, economical or cultural circumstances. The emphasis is on improving achievements in arithmetic and language in primary schools. The core of the evaluation are longitudinal studies of successive cohorts of primary school children. Every two years cognitive capabilities and achievements are measured in years 4, 6, and 8. A total of 600 schools participated in these measurements, involving 10,000 pupils in each year of measurement. This article focusses on the questions to what extent the OVB is implemented and to what extent the policy does produce the desired effects. Data were analyzed with the help of cross‐sectional and longitudinal analyses. The results indicate that inside the Educational Priority Areas the OVB is being implemented considerably better than outside ...