Equally able students have lower academic self-concept in high achieving schools or classes, a phenomenon known as the big fish little pond effect (BFLPE). The class (more so than the school) has been shown to be the pivotal frame-of-reference for academic self-concept formation--a local dominance effect. However, many school systems worldwide…

The aims of this study are to: (a) assess if cognitive self-concept (competence) and affective self-concept in mathematics and science are different constructs, (b) evaluate the construct validity of self-concept in the context of conflation and separation, and (c) test if the relationships among cognitive and affective variables are invariant…

Extensive support for the seemingly paradoxical negative effects of school- and class-average achievement on academic self-concept (ASC)-the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE)--is based largely on secondary students in Western countries or on cross-cultural Program for International Student Assessment studies. There is little research testing the…

The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) was evaluated with 4,461 seventh to ninth graders in Singapore where a national policy of ability streaming is implemented. Consistent with the BFLPE, when prior achievement was controlled, students in the high-ability stream had lower English and mathematics self-concepts (ESCs and MSCs) and those in the…

The distinctiveness of affects associated with different school subjects was studied with 24,599 students (National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988). This distinctiveness was evaluated in relation to school grades and standardized test scores. Ratings in different subjects were very distinct, a finding supported by models incorporating grades…

Derived longitudinal causal models of growth in mathematics and English constructs using three waves of data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (n=24,599). Results indicate that the contribution of prior variables in English and mathematics to subsequent outcomes in both subjects was similar for females and males. Contains 68…

This study showed that working during high school had negative effects on 15 of 23 Grade 12 and postsecondary outcomes such as achievement, coursework selection, educational and occupational aspirations, and college attendance. These effects were found with control for background variables and parallel outcomes from Grades 8 and 10 based on the…

Structural equation models were used to examine the paths from school grades and self-concept to subsequent course selection for 246 male 8th- and 10th-grade Catholic school students in Australia. Specific components of self-concept were more strongly related to course selection than were grades, a finding with implications for the study of…

Using the nationally representative National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS88) database, the relationships of first language (L1) proficiency to subsequent use of that language (home language maintenance), English proficiency and achievement and English self-concept were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis results showed that L1…

The construct validity of children's responses to the Self Description Questionnaire, the Perceived Competence Scale for Children, and the Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perceptions of Control was assessed. The tests' authors emphasized the importance of distinguishing self-perceptions in the physical, social, academic, and general content…

The construct validities of the Self Description Questionnaire I, the Perceived Social Competence Scale, and the Multidimensional Measure of Children's Perceptions of Control were assessed, using 508 seventh through ninth graders in Sydney (Australia). Factor analysis, multitrait-multimethod analyses, and patterns of correlations with additional…