Accounting for previous performance of students by means of growth curves analyses to estimate the size, stability and consistency of school effects

The current study explored the size, stability, and consistency of school effects, using two different effectiveness indicators, being the achievements of students at the end of primary school (gross school effects) and the growth in achievement across three years of schooling (value added effects). The empirical data are from a Dutch data set including the scores of 25,269 students on Reading comprehension, Spelling, and Mathematics tests, taken in grade 4, 5 and 6 among three cohorts of students in 319 primary schools. Multivariate multilevel growth curve modelling was applied in which the measurements (level 1) were nested within students (level 2), which were nested in school-cohorts (level 3), which were nested in schools (level 4). The results showed that 1) for students’ growth of achievement the relative proportion of variance at the school level seemed larger compared to achievement at the end of primary school; 2) the total variance in growth was substantially smaller compared to variance in achievement at the end of primary school; 3) school effects for growth are less stable across different cohorts of students than school effects established at a particular point in time; and 4) school effects for growth over time are less consistent across multiple subject domains than school effects as indicated by students’ achievement at a particular moment. Differences with findings from previous research are discussed

Perceived Social Support and Early Adolescents’ Achievement: The Mediational Roles of Motivational Beliefs and Emotions

Although a bulk of literature shows that perceived social support (PSS) influences academic achievement, the mechanisms through which this effect operates received little empirical attention. The present study examined the multiple mediational effects of motivational beliefs (competence beliefs and subjective value) and emotions (anxiety and enjoyment) that may account for the empirical link between PSS (from parents, peers and teachers) and mathematics achievement. The participants of the study were 238 grade 7 students (average age = 13.2 years, girls = 54%, predominantly native Dutch middle class socioeconomic status). A bootstrap analysis (a relatively new technique for testing multiple mediation) revealed that the motivational beliefs and the emotions, jointly, partially mediated the effect of PSS on achievement. The proportion of the effects mediated, however, varied across the support sources from 55% to 75%. The findings lend support to the theoretical assumptions in the literature that supportive social relationships influence achievement through motivational and affective pathways

Indicators of (in)tolerance toward immigrants among European youth:an assessment of measurement invariance in ICCS 2016

Background: Promoting tolerance is an important goal of European education policies focused on education for democratic citizenship and human rights. In this article, we argue that cross-cultural comparability must be empirically assessed and ensured for the measurement of highly relevant indicators that serve to monitor inter-European and international differences in young people's tolerant attitudes toward immigrants.Methods: Using the framework and data provided by the recent International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS 2016), we examine the extent to which average comparisons of cross-national differences in young people's tolerant attitudes toward immigrants are empirically justified. Multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) is applied to estimate the measurement model of the concept and test its measurement invariance across fourteen European countries.Results: In line with prior research, our findings show that cross-cultural comparability can be achieved with some modifications. Results of measurement invariance analysis point to the achievement of full scalar invariance with the implication that average scores can be validly compared across the European educational systems under investigation. These findings are largely corroborated by robustness analyses.Conclusions: We conclude by providing information on further scale refinement and improvement. Limitations and implications for further research are outlined and discussed.</p