Journal of Educational Psychology

Ethnic/racial discrimination, school cultural socialization, and negative affect: Daily diaries reveal African American, Asian American, and Latinx adolescents’ resilience.
Adolescents of color are particularly poised to experience the mental health crisis partly due to the absence of a clear-cut solution that prepares them to cope with ethnic/racial discrimination. One resilience-promoting factor in minoritized adolescents’ lives is cultural socialization (i.e., the beliefs, practices, and worldviews that youth receive about their ethnic/racial group’s heritage, history, and values), but the role of cultural socialization in relation to adolescents’ resilience in the face of ethnic/racial discrimination is sporadic with extant studies documenting mixed results. Prior studies are likely limited by their focus on cultural socialization from parents relative to school adults and the larger school context. Following ethnic/racial discrimination, school-based cultural socialization may reduce youth’s anticipation of discrimination, trust in others from different ethnic/racial groups, and rejection sensitivity. To test our theories, the present study used two daily diaries: Study 1 followed 134 African American adolescents over a 14-day period (N diaries = 1,494), and Study 2 followed 159 Asian American and Latinx adolescents over a 30-day period (N diaries = 3,458). In both studies, on days when ethnic/racial discrimination occurred, adolescents reported greater negative affect. This daily effect of ethnic–racial discrimination on negative affect was exacerbated on days when adolescents received less school-based cultural socialization but weaker on days when adolescents received more school-based cultural socialization. The present studies underscore how school adults foster youth’s resilience in the context of ethnic/racial adversity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Mediators that matter: Psychological distress, developmental assets, and educational outcomes among Black youth.
Persistent inequities in the educational success of Black adolescents are a critical social justice concern. Though psychological distress has been associated with worse educational outcomes, less is known about the mechanisms that may influence this association. This study used nationally representative cross-sectional data from the National Survey of American Life-Adolescent (2001–2004) to explore how developmental assets (i.e., self-esteem, mastery, school bonding, educational aspirations, and educational expectations) mediate associations between psychological distress (i.e., perceived stress, depressive symptoms) and educational outcomes (i.e., grades, grade repetition, suspensions, and expulsions) among 1,170 Black adolescents ages 13–17 (52% female; Mage = 15). The study found that educational expectations were a statistically significant mediator; lower psychological distress was associated with greater expectations which, in turn, was linked to better grades, lower grade repetition, and fewer expulsions. Additionally, school bonding was a statistically significant mediator such that lower perceived stress and depressive symptoms were associated with better school bonding. In turn, school bonding was associated with higher grades and fewer school expulsions. Self-esteem also significantly mediated the association between psychological distress and grade repetition. Study findings can contribute to precision in identifying culturally relevant targets of interventions among Black adolescents and help to address racial disparities in adolescent educational outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
A web-based intelligent tutoring system for reading comprehension delivered to fifth-grade students attending high-poverty schools: Results from a replication efficacy study.
Reading comprehension is an essential skill for academic success in K-12 settings and professional success beyond schooling. Unfortunately, approximately 33% of students fail to master this essential skill in elementary grades. Students attending high-poverty schools are at a bigger disadvantage due to high teacher turnover and lack of high-quality instruction. Recent efficacy studies with upper elementary-grade students attending rural and suburban schools have revealed that the text structure strategy focused on generating main ideas and summarization and delivered by a web-based intelligent tutor for structure strategy (ITSS) had a positive impact on reading comprehension measured by standardized and researcher-designed measures. The current study focused on replicating these findings with fifth-grade students attending high-poverty schools. A cluster randomized controlled trial with 33 elementary schools was conducted with 2-day teacher practice-based professional development, pretests at the beginning of the academic year, followed by a year-long implementation of the ITSS with coaching and modeling for teachers to provide consistent instruction, and posttests administered at the end of the academic year. Multilevel analysis of data revealed large effects on researcher-designed measures related to writing the main idea and recall (effect sizes ranged from 0.97 to 1.32). A small, yet not statistically significant, effect (effect size = 0.23) was found that favored the intervention classrooms on the standardized Gray silent reading test. These results replicate findings from previous studies on the ITSS. The positive results provide additional evidence of the impact of ITSS on reading comprehension for students attending high-poverty schools who need support the most. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Promoting effective teaching and learning through a professional development program: A randomized controlled trial.
Widespread concerns about the quality of early childhood education and care (ECEC), and the desire for better child outcomes, have led to a focus on improving teachers’ professional development (PD) as a cost-effective means of improving ECEC quality. However, most randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of PD programs have taken place in areas with advanced educational systems. This study aims to fill this research gap by adapting (both educationally and culturally) an evidence-based PD program entitled “Leadership for Learning” in the Chinese context where there is a paucity of effective PD programs. Ninety-five classrooms, 202 teachers, and 547 children (3–5 years old) from 24 kindergartens (12 control, 12 intervention) participated in this RCT program which was designed to improve teachers’ teaching quality and child development. The results of the multilevel modeling indicated that the intervention was positively predictive of classroom quality and child developmental outcomes in literacy and executive function skills. As one of the first studies exploring PD effectiveness in China, this study has several meaningful implications for PD intervention as well as cross-cultural research. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Estimating the effect of intervention compliance on long-term outcome trajectories: Application of the latent adherence growth curve model in a cluster-randomized trial of the good behavior game.
The effectiveness of universal, school-based interventions in preventing the emergence, maintenance, or escalation of behavioral difficulties in children and adolescents is supported by a growing body of research. Nevertheless, this understanding is somewhat limited to “what works” assessments, leaving aside fundamental questions on relevant underlying mechanisms that make an intervention effective under specific circumstances, for some groups, or even at certain times. Using data from the cluster randomized controlled trial of the Good Behavior Game in England, involving 3,084 children in 77 schools, we showcase the latent adherence growth curve model, a multilevel structural equation modeling approach that takes account simultaneously of intervention compliance, subgroup moderator effects, change over time, and higher-level data structures. This statistical framework allowed a more nuanced view of the effects of the Good Behavior Game on the long-term developmental trajectories of disruptive behavior among male and female students. Our approach enabled us to ascertain the effect of child- and school-level covariates on intervention compliance and change in disruptive behavior over time, as well as the effects of both compliance and noncompliance on outcomes. In doing so, we found evidence of positive effects (reduction of disruptive behavior) on female compliers, but also iatrogenic effects among male noncompliers (increased disruptive behavior). We discuss the implications of our approach and findings for further research and practice. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
How the predictors of math achievement change over time: A longitudinal machine learning approach.
Researchers have focused extensively on understanding the factors influencing students’ academic achievement over time. However, existing longitudinal studies have often examined only a limited number of predictors at one time, leaving gaps in our knowledge about how these predictors collectively contribute to achievement beyond prior performance and how their impact evolves during students’ development. To address this, we employed machine learning to analyze longitudinal survey data from 3,425 German secondary school students spanning 5 to 9 years. Our objectives were twofold: to model and compare the predictive capabilities of 105 predictors on math achievement and to track changes in their importance over time. We first predicted standardized math achievement scores in Years 6–9 using the variables assessed in the previous year (“next year prediction”). Second, we examined the utility of the variables assessed in Year 5 at predicting future math achievement at varying time lags (1–4 years ahead)—“varying lag prediction.” In the next year prediction analysis, prior math achievement was the strongest predictor, gaining importance over time. In the varying lag prediction analysis, the predictive power of Year 5 math achievement waned with longer time lags. In both analyses, additional predictors, including intelligence quotient, grades, motivation and emotion, cognitive strategies, classroom/home environments, and demographics (including socioeconomic status), exhibited relatively smaller yet consistent contributions, underscoring their distinct roles in predicting math achievement over time. The findings have implications for both future research and educational practices, which are discussed in detail. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Mature number sense predicts middle school students’ mathematics achievement.
Students with mature number sense “make sense” of numbers and operations, use reasoning to notice patterns, and flexibly select the most effective and efficient problem-solving strategies (McIntosh et al., 1997; R. Reys et al., 1999; Yang, 2005). Although national standards and policy documents (e.g., CCSS, 2010; NCTM, 2000, 2014) emphasize the importance of number sense, limited research exists on the association between students’ mature number sense and other important psychological constructs in mathematics education, such as grade-level mathematics achievement. The present study addressed this gap through a longitudinal design, advancing fundamental knowledge of number sense as a construct. At the start of the school year, middle school students (N = 129 at Time Point 1) completed measures of mature number sense and several related constructs, including grade-level mathematics achievement, executive functioning, and fraction and decimal computation. Students returned in the spring (N = 115 at Time Point 2) to complete an end-of-year mathematics achievement assessment as a measure of grade-level content learned during the year. We found mature number sense to be measurably distinct from related constructs and uniquely predictive of students’ grade-level mathematics achievement at the end of the school year, controlling for their beginning-of-year mathematics achievement. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
The role of comparative processes in shaping the effects of between-class ability grouping on students’ math ability self-concept.
Many researchers have studied the effects of ability grouping on students’ academic self-concept due to its critical importance for students’ educational choices and trajectories. However, the available evidence is almost exclusively correlational, the results are inconsistent, and it is thus unclear how ability grouping may influence students’ academic self-concept. This study applies causal inference methods to understand the mechanisms underlying the effects of math ability grouping on students’ math self-concept. Using a quasi-experimental design and following students who transitioned from elementary school (Grade 6) to middle school (Grade 7) with or without ability grouping (N = 1,660, 90% White, 53% female), we investigated whether between-class math ability grouping impacts seventh graders’ formation of their math self-concept through comparative processes (social and dimensional comparisons) and objective performance information. Through propensity score weighting and average marginal effect estimation, we found that high-grouped students reported lower math self-concepts than high-achieving ungrouped students, and low-grouped students reported higher math self-concepts than low-achieving ungrouped students at the end of Grade 7. Average-achieving students attending schools with a between-class grouping policy showed stronger dimensional comparison effects than their ungrouped counterparts. The effects of prior math performance on math self-concept were nonsignificant for high- and low-achieving students, regardless of their grouping status. These findings advance our understanding of how pervasive school practices, such as ability grouping, shape students’ self-relevant motivational beliefs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Gender cognitions before and after graduating from single-sex versus coeducational high schools: A longitudinal study using propensity score matching.
Comparisons between single-sex (SS) and coeducational (CE) schools are often limited in design. Associations between SS schooling and gender cognitions remain especially unclear. We compared gender cognitions in students from SS versus CE high schools. A longitudinal design addressed long-term reciprocal effects, and propensity score matching addressed preexisting (confounding) differences between SS and CE students. During the final year of high school (N = 667) and again following graduation (N = 463), students completed measures of gender salience, gender stereotypes, felt pressure for gender conformity, and exposure to gender equality. Before graduation, SS students were more gender salient about self, reported more exposure to gender equality, and had less pressure for gender conformity. The magnitudes of these SS–CE differences were small but did not change significantly over time. However, gender salience about self did not predict or mediate other gender cognitions as often hypothesized, and there were no differences in gender salience about others or in gender stereotypes. We conclude that SS schooling is related to some gender-related cognitions both prior to and following high school graduation. However, findings are neither consistently supportive nor critical of either type of schooling. SS schooling was positively related to students’ attention to their own gender, but how this attention relates to other gender cognitions may vary across individuals in ways that need further research. Our design innovations and inclusion of debated yet understudied outcomes contribute to a fuller evaluation of SS versus CE schooling by examining long-term development and by expanding the outcomes evaluated. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Improving concept learning in education via category construction.
A central goal of education is to provide students with knowledge they: (a) can successfully apply within the domain of learning and (b) can transfer, as appropriate, to new and different domains. Yet, much research has shown that learners frequently fail to access and use applicable stored knowledge when the circumstances at retrieval differ from those at encoding. Recent laboratory studies have revealed that encoding instances of a concept as members of a relational category considerably attenuates such failures of access. In the present work, we evaluate the efficacy of one such technique (category construction) applied in conjunction with direct instruction in the authentic educational setting of middle-school classrooms. Across two experiments, category construction is evaluated relative to a standard classroom practice of a worksheet with comprehension questions in order to assess how well each promotes mastery and transfer of a target concept. In addition, potential supports to improve learning outcomes are assessed: practice with category construction (Experiment 1) and partial precompletion of the category construction task (Experiment 2). Overall, we find favorable evidence that category construction leads to greater sensitivity to the underlying conceptual structure of targeted concepts and delivers transfer advantages over a worksheet control. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
Preparation for future conceptual learning: Content-specific long-term effects of early physics instruction.
This study used a quasirandomized within-classroom design to investigate whether prior knowledge about physics gained in elementary school prepares students for future learning in related content areas in secondary school. A total of 433 children (intervention group) received four basic curriculum units on physics from their elementary school teachers. The units dealt with floating and sinking, air and atmospheric pressure, the stability of bridges, and sound and the spreading of sound. These children entered 60 newly composed classes in early secondary school that completed an advanced curriculum unit on hydrostatic pressure and buoyancy force with their secondary school teachers. A total of 942 students (control group) in these classes had not received the four basic physics curriculum units. On a conceptual knowledge test about hydrostatic pressure and buoyancy force, the intervention group outperformed the control group in the pretest (d = 0.28) and in the posttest (d = 0.25). Students in the intervention group showed similar learning gains as those in the control group, but when controlling for pretest performance, they achieved higher learning outcomes. Regression analyses within the intervention group revealed that this advantage resulted from the content-specific transfer of conceptual knowledge from topically related basic curriculum units. The basic physics instruction also prepared male and female students equally for future learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)
A process-oriented analysis of speech and silent intervals in responses to serial naming tasks.
We present a framework for conceptualizing and analyzing responses to serial naming (rapid automatized naming) tasks, in which participants sequentially name stimuli presented simultaneously in an array. We aim to understand how these tasks are processed and why they are associated with reading skills. We analyzed responses by 298 Greek children in Grades 1, 3, and 5 to serial and discrete naming of digits, dice, objects, number words, and words. We measured the durations of silent and speech intervals in each task and grade and tested predictions about their relations based on a hypothesis of two overlapping processing stages. We found that articulation times were longer in the serial tasks, modulated by task demands. Total times were faster for serial than for discrete tasks, and their differences (serial advantage) were increasingly associated with the duration of speech intervals, consistent with efficient scheduling. Serial naming rate approached or exceeded the limits imposed by processing time, consistent with increasing processing overlap. These patterns were primarily observed for digits, number words, and—to some extent—dice, after Grade 1. Object naming seemed to pose different cognitive demands, stably across grades. Word reading exhibited the greatest differences between grades, consistent with rapid development of automaticity. We interpret the findings within a cascaded processing framework, in which performance is determined by the efficiency of cognitive scheduling of successive operations, constrained by susceptibility to interference from adjacent items. We propose that reading fluency is predicted by serial naming because it is also governed by the same scheduling constraints. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved)

Journal of Educational Psychology - Vol 116, Iss 8