Poster #71 - Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effects during the Transition from Elementary to Secondary Schools: A Longitudinal Field Study

• In Event: 3-053 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: PS 10 Section - Education, Schooling

Integrative Statement

Research has shown that academic self-concept (ASC) is subject to contextual influences, in particular to the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), a phenomenon whereby able students report more negative ASC when they are schooled with relatively higher achieving students (Marsh et al.,1995). Although the effects of BFLPE on ASC has been identified across various educational settings (Marsh & Hau, 2003; Seaton et al., 2010), there is surprisingly little research conducted in natural school settings examining whether these effects translate to students’ motivational and behavioral profile. Furthermore, the strength of BFLPE across contexts, in particular during the transition from one educational context to another, remains unclear. The present study fills these gaps and explores the occurrence and lasting consequences of the BFLPE during the transition from elementary to secondary school for ASC, motivational indicators (expectancies, task values), behavioral indicators (internalized and externalized behaviors) and achievement, in the two core domains of mathematics and language arts. Our research draws on a longitudinal design including 1,078 students who were followed across the transition from a non-selective public elementary school to either a public or private secondary school with selective or non-selective admission procedures based on students’ prior achievement. Gender differences were also examined. Figure 1 exposes the study design.

We found evidence of BFLPEs for ASC but only for private secondary schools with selection of students based on prior achievement. For students schooled in public high schools, those who were schooled in selective groups with high-achieving peers reported higher ASC than those from non-selective groups. A similar pattern was observed for expectancies, affective engagement and achievement in mathematics, suggesting that BFLP effects mainly occur in private selective institutions. However, results did not point out BFLPEs for externalized behaviors, as students’ externalized behavior evolved in a similar way despite the type of secondary school. For internalized behaviors, female students’ internalized behavior increased in all environments during the transition. In contrast, for male students, internalized behaviors increased in selective schools whereas they remained similar in non-selective schools. This last result suggests that BFLPE could affect internalized behavior but only for male students in selective environments. Finally, for most variables, a main effect of time was observed, showing a diminishing trend overtime for all types of schools (selective or non-selective, private or public). These results are consistent with prior work on the topic highlighting that transition from elementary to secondary school is a critical period for students (Duchesne et al., 2017; Goldstein et al., 2015). On the whole, our results suggest that BFLPEs rather apply to motivational and achievement indicators than behaviors, and that BFLPEs are mostly salient in private selective schools. These findings suggest that school practitioners, particularly those in private selective institutions, should focus on reducing academic comparison in order to provide a school environment favorable to students’ school adjustment and achievement.

Authors

• Isabelle Plante, Université du Québec à Montréal
  Presenting Author

• Annie Dubeau, Universite du Quebec a Montreal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Catherine Fréchette-Simard, Université du Québec à Montréal
  Non-Presenting Author

• Frédéric Guay, Université Laval
  Non-Presenting Author