The Role of Teachers' Expectations in the Association between Children's SES and Performance in Kindergarten: A Moderated Mediation Analysis

This study examines the role of teachers' expectations in the association between children's socio-economic background and achievement outcomes. Furthermore, the role of children's ethnicity in moderating this mediated relation is investigated. In the present study, 3,948 children from kindergarten are examined. Data are analysed by means of structural equation modeling. First, results show that teachers' expectations mediate the relation between children's SES and their later language and math achievement, after controlling for children's ethnicity, prior achievement and gender. This result indicates that teachers may exacerbate individual differences between children. Second, children's ethnicity moderates the mediation effect of teachers' expectations with respect to math outcomes. The role of teachers' expectations in mediating the relation between SES and math outcomes is stronger for majority children than for minority children

Looking for clues. Associations between teacher, classroom, and school characteristics and students' cognitive outcomes in primary education in Flanders

The field of educational effectiveness research (EER) is traditionally about investigating teacher, classroom, and school characteristics that―directly or indirectly―explain variation in the outcomes of students. The present dissertation consists of four theory-driven manuscripts within the field of EER, connected by their common focus on mathematics and language outcomes in primary education as well as by the fact that all studies used data from the large-scale longitudinal SiBO Project in Flanders. The general question is whether teachers and schools make a difference to student achievement and if so, how.Manuscript 1 is based on the comprehensive multilevel framework of Palardy and Rumberger (2008) and aims to investigate the effects of teachers background qualifications, their attitudes and beliefs, and the instructional practices of teachers on student achievement in first grade. Results showed that teachers made a difference to student achievement and teacher effects depended upon the learning domain under scrutiny, with larger effects found for mathematics than for reading fluency and spelling. Moreover, teachers background was most important to mathematics, whereas instructional practices teachers use were most important to reading fluency and spelling.In Manuscript 2, the focus is on the association between the composition of schools in terms of prior achievement, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender, and mathematics achievement at the end of second grade. Additionally, we aimed at testing one potential explanation for the school composition effect proposed by Harker and Tymms (2004) by investigating whether school processes mediate these associations. No direct school composition effects were found, after controlling for students math achievement at the onset of primary education, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, gender, age, school well-being, and self-directedness. The results pointed at two small differential school composition effects, and two small indirect effects via the school process variable keeping in regular contact with parents . This seems to indicate that, in general, school composition hardly matters in the early years of primary education.In Manuscript 3, the model of academic optimism a higher order construct composed of academic emphasis, collective efficacy, and faculty trust in students and parents developed by Hoy, Tarter, and Woolfolk Hoy (2006a, 2006b), was thoroughly examined. Contrary to the first two manuscripts wherein the focus was primarily on students in the early stage of primary education, the internal factor structure of academic optimism was investigated in fifth grade because of data availability. Our results partially supported Hoy s et al. model. At the school level, we were able to corroborate the latent factor structure of academic optimism first observed by Hoy et al. In line with Hoy s et al. model, positive associations were found between academic optimism and students achievement in fifth grade. However, unlike Hoy et al., we found that schoolcompositionin terms of socioeconomic status and prior achievement primarily seemed to matter to students achievement via its association with academic optimism.Finally, in Manuscript 4, the generic perspective on school effects and the one-size-fits-all models that are assumed to apply to all schools are questioned. In line with the central predictions of contingency theory, we investigated not only the main effects of ten school processes on student growth during fifth and sixth grade, but differential effects according to the socioeconomic composition of the school as well. Results indicated that only principal leadership had a small but positive effect on math growth. No school processes were associated with growth in reading comprehension. In addition, no differential associations were found, indicating that there is no need to go beyond generic models. As such, the use of contingency theory is not supported by our results.In sum, we may conclude that teachers and schools make a difference to students in Flemish primary education, especially to their mathematics outcomes and to a lesser extent, to language outcomes. The composition of classrooms and schools hardly matters and if so, primarily indirectly via school processes. Furthermore, only three school processes appeared to matter to student outcomes, that is, keeping in regular contact with parents, academic optimism, and principal leadership.status: publishe

Teacher effects on student achievement in first grade: Which aspects matter most?

The present study investigates the effects of teachers (background qualifications, attitudes and beliefs, and instructional practices) on student achievement in mathematics, reading, and spelling in 1st grade. Its theoretical framework and methodology are based on recent work by Palardy and Rumberger (2008). Data from the SiBO Project, a longitudinal study in Flemish primary education, were analyzed for the present study using 2-level regression analysis. The results showed that teacher background had the largest effect on mathematics achievement, whereas instructional practices had the largest effects on both reading and spelling achievement. Moreover, the size of teacher effects depended upon the specific learning domain: Larger teacher effects were found for mathematics than for spelling and reading. Overall, the results suggest that teachers had a modest to strong effect on student achievement in first grade.peerreview_statement: The publishing and review policy for this title is described in its Aims & Scope. aims_and_scope_url: http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?show=aimsScope&journalCode=nses20status: publishe

Teacher effects on student achievement in first grade: Which aspects matter most?

The present study investigates the effects of teachers (background, attitudes and beliefs, and instructional practices) on student achievement in math, reading, and spelling in first grade. Theoretical framework and methodology are based on recent work by Palardy and Rumberger (2008). Data from the SiBO-project, a longitudinal study in Flemish primary education, were analyzed using multilevel regression analyses. The results show that teacher background has the largest effect on math achievement, whereas instructional practices have the largest effects on both reading and spelling achievement. Moreover, teacher effectiveness depends on the learning domain at focus: larger teacher effects are found for math than for spelling and reading.status: publishe

Principal leadership long-term indirect effects on learning growth in mathematics

In both the school effectiveness and the educational administration literature, growing attention has been paid to the extent of principal leadership effects and the means by which they affect school performance. The main goal of this study is to estimate the effects of principal leadership on students' achievement growth in mathematics over a period of 6 years. Results from multilevel latent growth show that the impact of principal leadership on students' achievement growth is mediated by teacher collaboration and collective efficacy.status: publishe

Principal leadership long-term indirect effects on learning growth in mathematics

In both the school effectiveness and the educational administration literature, growing attention has been paid to the extent of principal leadership effects and the means by which they affect school performance. The main goal of this study is to estimate the effects of principal leadership on students' achievement growth in mathematics over a period of 6 years. Results from multilevel latent growth show that the impact of principal leadership on students' achievement growth is mediated by teacher collaboration and collective efficacy

Should schools be optimistic? An investigation of the association between academic optimism of schools and student achievement in primary education

Academic emphasis, collective efficacy, and faculty trust in students and parents (3 school characteristics positively associated with student achievement) are assumed to form a higher order latent construct, “academic optimism” (Hoy, Tarter, & Woolfolk Hoy, 2006a, 2006b). The aim of the present study is to corroborate the latent factor structure of academic optimism and to investigate its association with student achievement in Flanders while taking the hierarchical structure of the data into account. Data from 1,375 staff members and 3,538 fifth-grade students within 117 schools were analysed using multilevel confirmatory factor analysis and multilevel structural equation modelling. The results indicated that all three school characteristics make up one latent school construct, “academic optimism”. Academic optimism was found to be positively associated with student achievement in mathematics and reading comprehension. School mean socioeconomic status and school mean prior achievement are mainly indirectly associated with student achievement through academic optimism.status: publishe

Assessing the “explanatory power” of school process variables constructed through multilevel exploratory factor analysis

This paper investigates the “explanatory power” of school process variables based on teacher data constructed through multilevel exploratory factor analysis, compared to school process variables developed using conventional exploratory factor analysis plus aggregation. Measures for school process variables are associated with student achievement and non-cognitive outcomes. The results are mixed: While for some measures we observe different results depending on the constructional approach, for other measures we find exactly the same results irrespective of the constructional approach. Nevertheless, these results underline the importance of using the correct approach to develop measures for school process variables. Since multilevel exploratory factor analysis has only scarcely been used in educational effectiveness research, this study has major relevance for educational effectiveness researchers.status: publishe

Experiential education in kindergarten. Associations with school adjustment and the moderating role of initial achievement

Experiential education is a child-centered educational framework that is popular in Flemish kindergartens. In this study, the impact of five experiential practices (autonomy support, stimulation, emotional support, time for choice activities, and interest-based activities) and the moderating influence of initial achievement (language and arithmetic achievement) was examined. Data were collected on 2,360 kindergartners (139 classes), their parents, and their teachers. Hierarchical linear models examined the extent to which experiential practices and children’s background characteristics predicted several aspects of children’s school adjustment: language and arithmetic achievement, school enjoyment, and independent participation. Results indicated that not all experiential practices were related to optimal school adjustment; a stimulating teaching style was related to greater learning gains in academic achievement, but an autonomy-supportive teaching style was related to smaller learning gains in academic achievement, especially among low-achieving children.status: publishe