Chapter 10: School
Samuel R. Mathews, Ph.D.
The Department of Psychology
The University of West Florida
Patterns of Schooling: USA
• USA: Mandatory attendance ages based on
states law(FL: students may drop out of school
with parent’s permission at 16 years)
• Organization of school systems based on state
and school district political systems
• Curriculum is state or local decision
• National requirements based on No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) but dependent on state level
assessment
Patterns of Schooling in USA
• Elementary School—kindergarten through 5th
or 6th grade
• Middle School—6th grade through 8th grade
• Junior High School—7th grade through 9th
grade
• High School—9th or 10th grade through 12th
grade
• Alternative plan: Primary (K-8) & Secondary
(9-12)—tends to be more adaptive.
Patterns of Schooling: A Global Perspective
• Globally the compulsory age varies by country.
– Frequently attendance is required through basic
school which goes through 8th or 9th grade.
– Assessments frequently determine the type of
post basic education (gymnasium=college prep;
professional=technical career; vocational=trade or
guild)
– Decisions about profession and type of school
made quite early
Patterns of Schooling: A Global Perspective
• Education in Post Conflict Regions
– Low Numbers of Trained Teachers
– Universities and Teacher Training Centers lack
trained faculty
– Dependent upon foreign trainers and faculty
– Number of females in secondary schools
significantly lower than males
– Textbooks typically outdated and shared by
multiple students
Effective Schools for Adolescents
• Two dimensions for consideration:
– School climate & belongingness:
• the degree to which adolescents feel part of the social
fabric of the school
• Adolescents’ sense of support and care from peers,
faculty, and administration
– Academic achievement
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Level of academic performance
Test scores
Class levels (advanced, basic, remedial)
Class grades
School climate & Belongingness
• School Size:
– 500 students is likely optimal
– Above 1000 students isolation of shy, neglected
students more frequent
– School-within-a-school
• Within larger schools, students and teachers form
smaller learning communities
– Teacher as Advisor
• Each teacher is assigned a small group of students to
maintain contact across the middle or high school years
School climate & Belongingness
• Transition from Primary to Secondary School:
– Teacher expectations generally negative re:
adolescents (Eccles and associates)
– Multiple teachers across subjects
– Broader range of peer groups
– Age at transition less important than school, peer,
& parental factors
School Climate & Academic Achievement
• Factors predicting academic achievement
(Stewart, 2007/2008):
– School Attachment: the extent to which students
care about and have positive feelings for school.
– School Commitment: students’ perceptions that
education is important to themselves
School Climate & Academic Achievement
• Factors predicting academic achievement
(Stewart, 2007/2008):
– Positive Peer Affiliations: values peers who have
high academic aspirations and prosocial behaviors
– Parent-Child Discussions: parents who engage in
conversations with their children about school and
school-related topics in the home
School Climate
• Norms of Secondary Education:
– Greater teacher control of the teaching/learning
process
– More negative stereotype about adolescents in
general
– Low expectations for most students
– Less individualized attention than in primary
schools
School Climate
• Creating Positive School Climates
– High Demandingness
• High and appropriate expectations of all students
– High Responsiveness
• Provide necessary and appropriate support for student
needs to meet or exceed expectations.
• Create a safe and warm atmosphere
– Sound familiar????
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Teacher Attitudes that Foster Positive School
Climate
All students are capable of learning
Expectations are high for all students
Teachers value free and positive interactions
with all students
Teacher student relationship reflects
authoritative style
Teachers freely provide and receive feedback
that is encouraging & informative
Attribution for Success & Failure
Internal Attribution
External Attribution
Stable Factor
Ability
Luck, Fate
Variable Factor
Effort; Strategy
Selection
Task Difficulty
Other’s Bias
Attribution for Success & Failure
• Middle & High School:
– Females
• Tend to attribute success in science or math to luck or
task (easy)
• Tend to attribute failure in science or math to ability
• (Dickhauser & Wulf-Uwe, 2006)
– Males
• Tend to attribute success in science or math to ability
• Tend to attribute failure in science or math to luck or
lack of effort (self-handicapping)
• (Dickhauser & Wulf-Uwe, 2006)
Attribution for Success & Failure
• College students:
– females more than males indicated lack of ability
for failure and effort for success (males attributed
success to ability)
• (Beyer ,1998)
• Attributions of internal and variable factors for
success and failure linked to greater
perception of control.
Motivation Orientation and Engagement
Dweck’s Motivation Orientation
– task/mastery orientation—
• the completion of the task and learning the material or
mastering the skill is key
• Tends to have a more intrinsic motivational set
Motivation Orientation and Engagement
• Dweck’s Motivation Orientation
– performance/ability orientation—
• Focus is on external evaluation; getting the grade
• Tends to have more extrinsic motivational set
– Schooling typically requires both!!!
Beyond School Climate: Student Engagement
• Family factors in Student Engagement:
– Parental expressions of value of educational
attainment (e.g. Stewart, 2007/2008)
– Parental monitoring of students’ homework and
academic progress
– Parental models for literacy
– Parents provide a text rich environment
– Authoritative parenting related to higher
engagement regardless of social class.
• How might a parent with low skills and little
financial resources accomplish this?
Peers, Friends, & School
• Friends typically share similar levels of
engagement and achievement
• Larger peer groups (e.g. crowds) can influence
social comparisons
• Selective schools/programs can have
differential impacts on peer status
Work, Leisure, & School
• Broad issue is linked to competing priorities
• Work of greater than 10 hours/wk linked to:
– reduced engagement in school,
– lower academic performance,
– increased psychological difficulties, and
– over all poorer outcomes
• Students from lower SES families tend to work
to provide partial family income
• Others tend to work for disposable income
(e.g. car)
Ethnic Differences in Schooling: Engagement and
Achievement
• Cautionary Notes:
– Ethnic differences are confounded by economic
factors
– As much intragroup variability exists as intergroup
variability
– When economic, prejudice, and peer influences
are considered, little difference in engagement
and academic achievement exist
Gender Differences
• Cautionary Notes
– Differences in academic achievement related to
social support from peers, teachers, and families
– Overall females achieve higher than males
– Domain specific differences (e.g. science & math)
likely due to socialization (Nosak’s work)
Academic Achievement
• What are factors that impact one’s level of
academic achievement?
– Educational history
– Parenting factors
– Individual motivation
– Peers and friends
– Psychological/Learning disabilities
– Teacher expectations
Academic Achievement
• Accommodations for Differences
– Special needs programs (Exceptional Student
Education) within schools
– Different schools (Charter Schools)
– Individual interventions (e.g. medication, therapy,
tutoring)
– Tracking (grouping by achievement levels)
Tracking
• Research on tracking
• Snow (1986) with tracking "low" kids tend to
be alienated from school
• Gamoran & Mare (1989) When achievement is
held constant, tracking predicts drop out
better than scores on achievement tests.
• Page (1990) kids in low tracks tend to think
that luck and guessing is more fruitful than
hard work and skills
School Dropouts/School Leavers
• School Dropouts:
– Old-for-grade (retained one or more grades)
– Disengagement from social fabric of the school
• Relevant peer groups outside of school
– Disengagement from the process of learning
• Repeated failure with no sense of possibility of
recovery
– Behavioral Problems
• Rejected peer group
School Dropouts/School Leavers
• Family Factors:
– Competing priorities in the home
• Need for additional income
• Need for child care or care for ill parent
– Neglectful Parenting
• Little parental monitoring
• Little encouragement to succeed in school
School Dropouts/School Leavers
• Prevention
– School within a school
– Active learning strategies
– Models/Mentors
– Cooperative learning with mixed ability groups
– Family involvement programs
– Alternative programs/Pathways
• Adult High School (Pensacola Junior College)
• Cooperative Education (.5 day academics/.5 day work
placement)
• On the next slide are some questions I’d like
you to prepare for our discussion. Do not
spend too much time but make some notes
for yourself for our discussion on School and
Adolescence.
Education during Emerging Adulthood: The
College Years
• Think about your first year in college.
– How would you describe your peer group?
– How has it changed since that year?
– How would you describe your own educational
experience to date in your college tenure?
– In what ways have you as a person changed during
your college years?
– What other priorities have you had to handle
during your college years?