Compositional Effects on Achievement and Academic Self-Concept Over Time

• In Event: Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: School Effectiveness and School Improvement SIG Poster Session

Abstract

The present study investigates the interplay between the compositional effect on achievement and the big-fish-little-pond effect over time. For a sample of 6,463 seventh-graders from 285 classes, multilevel path models revealed that the effect of initial class-average achievement on individual achievement remained influential until the end of the school year, while no significant effect on students’ academic self-concept could be found in a longitudinal framework throughout grade 7. In addition, mediation analyses demonstrated that the compositional effect on achievement was mediated by the mid-term individual achievement, but not by the mid-term academic self-concept. The results of our study indicate that both effects should be taken into account to assess the overall effect of class-average achievement on students’ individual development.

Authors

• Franziska Stäbler, German Institute for International Educational Research

• Hanna Dumont, German Institute for International Educational Research

• Michael Becker, German Institute for International Educational Research

• Jurgen Baumert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development