The internal/external frame of reference and the big-fish-little-pond effect are two major models of academic self-concept formation which have considerable theoretical and empirical support. Integrating the domain specific and compensatory processes of the internal/external frame of reference model with the big-fish-little-pond effect suggests a…

Background: Academic buoyancy is students' ability to successfully deal with setbacks and challenges that are typical of academic life. The present study extends previous preliminary cross-sectional work that tentatively identified five motivational predictors of academic buoyancy--referred to as the "5Cs" of academic buoyancy: confidence…

This article is a methodological-substantive synergy. Methodologically, we demonstrate latent-variable contextual models that integrate structural equation models (with multiple indicators) and multilevel models. These models simultaneously control for and unconfound measurement error due to sampling of items at the individual (L1) and group (L2)…

The Physical Self-Description Questionnaire (PSDQ) was administered to 1,514 elite athletes and nonelite high school students. Physical self-concept was higher for the elite athletes, but gender differences were smaller in this group. Results support the usefulness of the PSDQ and extend understanding of self-concept in school settings. (SLD)

This paper examines the educational results of the reunification of East and West Germany. Specifically, it discusses what happened to students' self-concept when the East German system, which was highly standardized, was combined with the West German schools, which were highly differentiated and based on achievement. To study this result,…

Used longitudinal data from large cohorts of East and West German students, 2,778 seventh graders in 161 classrooms, to evaluate how the reunification of Germany affects self-concept formation. Results show how system-wide educational policy differences, the initiation of a selective school system and the institutionalization of different…

Differences in ratings of the same instructor teaching the same course on two different occasions are related to differences in background characteristics: (1) higher levels of workload/difficulty, (2) higher expected grades, and (3) instructor experience. (PN)

The effects of single-sex versus coeducational arrangements were compared for 2,332 Catholic high school students representing 21 single-sex boys', 26 single-sex girls', and 33 coeducational schools. Various outcomes during the sophomore-to-senior period were nearly unaffected by school type. These findings contradict those of earlier national…