The longitudinal development of students' well-being in adolescence: The role of perceived teacher autonomy support.

Although a decline in adolescents' well-being has repeatedly been reported, longitudinal evidence for this development is rare and time-varying factors like teacher autonomy support that could be associated with this trend have sparsely been investigated. Therefore, the present study examined how the temporal development of perceived autonomy support from their German language arts teachers is related to changes in four different facets of students' well-being. Longitudinal data from 3446 adolescents from Germany (NSchools  = 178) on five measurement points (Grades 5-9) were analyzed using latent growth curve models. Satisfaction with school, enjoyment of school, and self-rated health decreased over time, while social integration remained stable. Perceived teacher autonomy support also declined between Grades 5 and 9. Furthermore, baseline levels of perceived teacher autonomy support and facets of well-being were positively related. Finally and most importantly, our results indicated that changes in perceived teacher autonomy support were positively associated with the development of satisfaction with school, enjoyment of school, and self-rated health, but not social integration. The findings suggest that perceived teacher autonomy support plays an important role in the development of students' well-being in adolescence.

What makes domain knowledge difficult? Word usage frequency from SUBTLEX and dlexDB explains knowledge item difficulty.

The quality of tests in psychological and educational assessment is of great scholarly and public interest. Item difficulty models are vital to generating test result interpretations based on evidence. A major determining factor of item difficulty in knowledge tests is the opportunity to learn about the facts and concepts in question. Knowledge is mainly conveyed through language. Exposure to language associated with facts and concepts might be an indicator of the opportunity to learn. Thus, we hypothesize that item difficulty in knowledge tests should be related to the probability of exposure to the item content in everyday life and/or academic settings and therefore also to word frequency. Results from a study with 99 political knowledge test items administered to N = 250 German seventh (age: 11-14 years) and tenth (age: 15-18 years) graders showed that word frequencies in everyday settings (SUBTLEX-DE) explain variance in item difficulty, while word frequencies in academic settings (dlexDB) alone do not. However, both types of word frequency combined explain a considerable amount of the variance in item difficulty. Items with words that are more frequent in both settings and, in particular, relatively frequent in everyday settings are easier. High word frequencies and relatively higher word frequency in everyday settings could be associated with higher probability of exposure, conceptual complexity, and better readability of item content. Examining word frequency from different language settings can help researchers investigate test score interpretations and is a useful tool for predicting item difficulty and refining knowledge test items.

Civic Education, Teaching Quality and Students' Willingness to Participate in Political and Civic Life: Political Interest and Knowledge as Mediators.

Civic education is generally assumed to play a key role in youth's political sophistication. It aims to equip young people with the necessary competencies and skills to effectively participate in political and civic life. However, few studies have examined the relative importance of different facets of teaching quality within civic education as well as mediating factors for fostering active citizens. The present study seeks to fill this gap by investigating how different facets of teaching quality are associated with adolescents' willingness to participate in political and civic life and how this relationship is mediated by political knowledge and interest. The study uses original data from N = 250 students (n = 152 7th graders: Mage = 12.54, SD = 0.91, range = 11-14, 45% female; n = 98 10th graders: Mage = 16.12, SD = 0.97, range = 15-18, 35% female). The findings show that not all teaching quality facets are equally important. While perceived cognitive activation and open classroom climate were positively associated with students' willingness to participate, a statistically significant association with discussions of current political events in the classroom was not found. In addition, the relationship between perceived cognitive activation and willingness to participate is fully mediated by students' political knowledge and interest. This study illustrates the relative importance of different teaching quality facets in civic education and calls for continued efforts to better understand teaching quality in civic education.

Teachers' occupational well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of resources and demands.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers suddenly faced multiple challenges related to closed schools and remote teaching. This study investigated teachers' occupational well-being (stress, exhaustion, job satisfaction) and its relation to job resources (e.g., support from colleagues), job demands (e.g., technical difficulties), and personal resources (e.g., self-efficacy with digital media). 3250 teachers (82.8% female, M age = 40.16) throughout Germany answered an online survey on resources, demands, and occupational well-being. The resource support from colleagues was particularly positively related to job satisfaction and negatively to stress and exhaustion. The results pattern remained mostly stable after including personal resources in the model.

Does an immigrant teacher help immigrant students cope with negative stereotypes? Preservice teachers' and school students' perceptions of teacher bias and motivational support, as well as stereotype threat effects on immigrant students' learning.

Can immigrant school students profit from an immigrant teacher sharing their minority background? We investigate preservice teachers' (Study 1; Mage = 26.29 years; 75.2% female) and school students' (Study 2; Mage = 14.88 years; 49.9% female) perceptions of a teacher as well as immigrant school students' learning gains (Study 2) by comparing four experimental video conditions in which a female teacher with a Turkish or German name instructs school students in a task while either saying that learning gains differed (stereotype activation) or did not differ (no stereotype activation) between immigrant and non-immigrant students. Study 1 shows that preservice teachers, regardless of their own cultural background, perceived the Turkish origin teacher as less biased, even when she voiced the stereotype, and as more motivationally supportive of school students in general than the German origin teacher. Study 2 shows that in contrast, among school students, the minority teacher was not perceived as less biased than the majority teacher. Rather, immigrant school students, in particular those with Turkish roots, were more concerned than students of the German majority that the teacher-irrespective of her background-was biased. Interestingly, these differences between students from different backgrounds disappeared when the teacher said that learning gains differed between immigrant and non-immigrant students. Immigrant school students of non-Turkish backgrounds, but not Turkish origin students suffered in their learning when instructed by the Turkish origin teacher who voiced the stereotype. We discuss implications for teacher recruitment.

COVID-19 Pandemic and Student Reading Achievement: Findings From a School Panel Study.

Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on education worldwide. There is increased discussion of possible negative effects on students' learning outcomes and the need for targeted support. We examined fourth graders' reading achievement based on a school panel study, representative on the student level, with N = 111 elementary schools in Germany (total: N = 4,290 students, age: 9-10 years). The students were tested with the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study instruments in 2016 and 2021. The analysis focused on (1) total average differences in reading achievement between 2016 and 2021, (2) average differences controlling for student composition, and (3) changes in achievement gaps between student subgroups (i.e., immigration background, socio-cultural capital, and gender). The methodological approach met international standards for the analysis of large-scale assessments (i.e., multiple multi-level imputation, plausible values, and clustered mixed-effect regression). The results showed a substantial decline in mean reading achievement. The decline corresponds to one-third of a year of learning, even after controlling for changes in student composition. We found no statistically significant changes of achievement gaps between student subgroups, despite numerical tendencies toward a widening of achievement gaps between students with and without immigration background. It is likely that this sharp achievement decline was related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings are discussed in terms of further research needs, practical implications for educating current student cohorts, and educational policy decisions regarding actions in crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Can I dismiss the stereotype - as my teacher did? Influence of stereotype activation and an immigrant teacher on student learning.

Lower vocabulary in German is repeatedly reported for students with Turkish migration background attending school in Germany. We investigated whether in students of Turkish descent (a) learning vocabulary is impaired when the teacher activates the negative stereotype that students with Turkish family language learn less well and (b) whether a Turkish-origin teacher, as an ingroup expert model, can mitigate negative effects of the activation of the stereotype. In an experimental study, Turkish- and German-origin students (N = 182) living in Germany worked individually on a tablet on a vocabulary learning task instructed by a teacher in a video tutorial who introduced herself with either a Turkish or German name. Before the task, the teacher either mentioned that students in general (no stereotype activation) or students who speak Turkish in their families (stereotype activation) often have difficulties acquiring new vocabulary. A multiple-group regression analysis showed that Turkish-origin students learned significantly more under stereotype activation with the Turkish-origin teacher than in all other conditions. Results suggest that students are particularly motivated to learn when the teacher represents their ingroup targeted by negative stereotypes and openly addresses potential difficulties students of the stigmatized ingroup may encounter. We discuss the findings in light of the literature on stereotype threat and on the role of ingroup expert models.

The interplay of gender and social background: A longitudinal study of interaction effects in reading attitudes and behaviour.

BACKGROUND: Researchers often report and discuss gender differences. However, recent research has drawn attention to interaction effects between gender and other social categories. AIMS: This study analysed the development of disparities in students' reading-related self-concept, intrinsic motivation, and behaviour, as they relate to differences in gender and socio-economic family background. Drawing on expectancy-value theory, we regarded reading-related self-concept, motivation, and behaviour as key to explaining the growing differences between boys and girls in adolescence. Specifically, we focused on the interaction between gender and socio-economic background in children, which has been discussed in the context of moderating gender differences but not in the context of reading-related attitudes and behaviour. SAMPLE: The investigation is based on a longitudinal sample of N = 717 German students between third and sixth grades. METHOD: We used questionnaire data from both students and parents. To compare students' development across time, we applied multigroup latent growth curve models. RESULTS: We found evidence of increasing gender differences, which were also moderated by the socio-economic status (SES) of parents: a gender gap either already existed (intrinsic motivation and reading behaviour) or intensified (reading self-concept and reading behaviour) between third and sixth grades. The interaction of gender and SES seemed particularly important for reading self-concept, with the gender gap growing less substantially for higher-SES children. Moreover, this pattern persisted for reading self-concept, even when controlling for achievement differences. CONCLUSIONS: The results provide evidence that gender, social background, and the interaction of the two are relevant for development in the domain of reading, even in young children.

Language-related values, reading amount, and reading comprehension in students with migration backgrounds.

BACKGROUND: Although various studies on general language performance have investigated determinants of students' reading comprehension (e.g., reading amount), they have paid insufficient attention to how students perceive parental values influence their language-related values and behaviour - and, as a consequence, their performance. This is particularly the case for bilingual students with a migration background. AIMS: The present study aims to examine the impact of how students perceive parental values regarding German (attainment, utility, and cost), students' (utility) value of German/Turkish, and students' reading amount in German/Turkish on German reading comprehension. SAMPLE: A total of 118 Grade 4 students in Germany with Turkish as their family language. METHODS: Reading comprehension was measured with a 15-item standardized test. Whereas students' reading amount (German/Turkish) was assessed through students' self-reports on three questions, students' utility value (German/Turkish) and perceived parental values regarding German (attainment, utility, and cost) were each measured with two items. RESULTS: Results of path modelling supported the hypotheses that students' utility value regarding German and their reading amount in German would positively predict their German reading comprehension, whereas their utility value regarding Turkish and their reading amount in Turkish would negatively predict their German reading comprehension. Data also confirmed a direct effect of the negatively perceived parental cost value of German on German reading comprehension. CONCLUSIONS: The new evidence is of practical relevance for teachers, educational scientists, and psychologists who are striving to improve the educational outcomes of bilingual students. Further research needs and the significance of the results for educational practice and home environment are discussed.

Subjective Well-Being, Test Anxiety, Academic Achievement: Testing for Reciprocal Effects.

In the context of adolescents' subjective well-being (SWB), research has recently focused on a number of different school variables. The direction of the relationships between adolescents' SWB, academic achievement, and test anxiety is, however, still open although reciprocal causation has been hypothesized. The present study set out to investigate to what extent SWB, academic achievement, and test anxiety influence each other over time. A sample of N = 290 11th grade students (n = 138 female; age: M = 16.54 years, SD = 0.57) completed measures of SWB and test anxiety in the time span of 1 year. Grade point average (GPA) indicated students' academic achievement. We analyzed the reciprocal relations using cross-lagged structural equation modeling. The model fit was satisfactory for all computed models. Results indicated that the worry component of test anxiety negatively and GPA positively predicted changes in the cognitive component of SWB (life satisfaction). Worry also negatively predicted changes in the affective component of SWB. Moreover, worry negatively predicted changes in students' GPA. Directions for future research and the differential predictive influences of academic achievement and test anxiety on adolescents' SWB are discussed with regard to potential underlying processes.

Adolescents' academic achievement and life satisfaction: the role of parents' education.

Drawing on the background of positive psychology, there has only recently been a focus on adolescents' life satisfaction (LS) in the context of education. Studies examining the relationship between adolescents' academic achievement and LS have shown conflicting results and the reasons are not fully understood. The present study investigated the role of parents' education as a potential moderator of the relationship between adolescents' academic achievement and LS. A sample of German high school students (N = 411) reported parents' educational attainment, as an indicator of family socio-economic status, and students' academic achievement was operationalized by grade point average in five subjects. Results indicated that only mothers' education functioned as a moderator of the relationship between academic achievement and students' LS. The association between academic achievement and LS was only found in the group of students whose mothers had achieved the same or a higher education (at least high school diploma) as their own children. Fathers' educational attainment, however, was not a significant moderator of the respective relationship. Directions for future research and the differential influences of fathers' and mothers' education are discussed with regard to potential underlying processes.