The International Observatory on Academic Achievement - Documentary search

File number :
CS-PC-39e

Bibliographic reference :
Scott, D., Celene, E., Domitrovich, & Welsh, J.A. (2005). Peer Academic Reputation in Elementary School: Associations With Changes in Self-Concept and Academic Skills. Journal of Education Psychology, 97(3), 337-346.

Abstract :

The first goal of this American study was to test the validity of a measure of the academic reputation of upper elementary students. Academic reputation implies student reputation, more particularly with regard to academic skills. The authors of this article also examined the potential link between academic reputation and changes observed in student self-concept and academic effort and skills.

Methodology
The data of 400 students from grades three, four and five were collected in Pennsylvanian elementary schools across the United States. A first data collection took place with students and teachers in October of Year 1 of the study. A second collection took place with students only in the following spring. Teachers were asked to assess students again in the fall of Year 2.

Teachers provided information on several aspects of student adaptation: (1) academic skills (competences in core academic subjects such as mathematics, reading, writing and sciences); (2) effort (teachers’ judgment on how hard students worked); (3) aggressiveness (oppositional behaviour towards teachers or behaviour hurtful to peers); and (4) prosocial behaviour.

Students were asked to identify the classmates they liked and disliked and those who best represented certain types of behaviour related to academic skills (e.g., good at reading) and certain types of aggressive behaviour (e.g., starts fights). All the students were also asked to complete the Self-Perception Profile for Children, a measure aimed at providing information on self-concept based on three dimensions (academic skills, social skills, self-worth).

Main Results
First, results confirmed the validity of the academic reputation measure used. Therefore, it would seem that academic reputation is a concept likely to predict change observed in students’ self-concept in the same, yet independent, manner as the teacher-rated effort and academic skills of students.

The results also showed that academic reputation could be associated with fall-to-spring changes observed in students’ self-concept for the three dimensions under study (academic skills, social skills, self-worth).

Lastly, the results showed that academic reputation and self-concept (for the school dimension) contributed to predicting change observed in the teacher-rated effort and academic skills of students from one school year to the next.

The study suggests that academic reputation has a significant effect on student academic trajectory. Once more, this confirms the importance of peer influence on academic achievement.

Links :
This journal is also available in electronic format. Publisher’s Website Address: http://www.apa.org/journals/edu/"

Key Words :
Academic Reputation, Self-concept, Academic Skills, Academic Performances, Behaviour Change, Longitudinal Study, Primary, Elementary, Newsletter10

Monitored Countries :
United States