The current study investigated the relationships between grit, self-efficacy, achievement orientation goals, and academic performance in parallel and serial mediation models. University student participants (N = 258) responded to an online survey containing demographic items and scales measuring the non-cognitive factors noted above. The results demonstrated that 'grit' (i.e. perseverance of effort and consistency of interest) positively associates with academic performance through a sequential pathway of mediators including self-efficacy and achievement orientation goals. Findings supported the positive relationships between mastery, approach goals, and academic performance, as well as the negative association between avoidance goals and academic performance. The model revealed that self-efficacy may play supportive and protective roles by increasing the positive effect of mastery and performance-approach goals and reducing the negative effect of avoidance goals on academic performance, respectively. These novel findings support the contribution of 'grit' in predicting various academic outcomes.

The current study investigated patterns of growth in academic achievement trajectories among American high school students (N = 12,314) that were obtained from a nationally representative, public-use dataset (the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009) in relation to key demographic information (i.e., gender, grade level, socioeconomic status [SES] in ninth grade, and ethnicity) and a distal outcome (i.e., applying for college). Unconditional growth mixture model showed that the three-class model was most appropriate in capturing the latent heterogeneity (i.e., low-achieving/increasing, moderate-achieving/decreasing, and high-achieving/slightly increasing). Two covariates (i.e., gender and SES in ninth grade) were positively associated with the intercept growth factor (i.e., initial GPA) in two of the three achievement classes (i.e., high-achieving and moderate-achieving). In contrast, two other covariates (i.e., Hispanic and African American) were negatively associated with the intercept growth factor in all of the achievement classes. The multinomial logistic regression coefficients identified an increase in the likelihood of belonging to the following achievement classes: (1) Moderate-achieving, if the students were male or African American and of low SES, (2) Low-achieving, if the students were male and of low SES, and (3) High-achieving, if the students were female and of an ethnicity other than African American and high SES. The probability of not applying for college was higher among the low-achieving and the moderate-achieving classes compared with the high-achieving class (223 words).

Development and validation of a 25-item Student–Teacher Relationship Measure is described. It is a self-report measure estimating students’ perceptions of their relationship with teachers. The study was applied among adolescents in grades 7–11 in Oman. The measure was administered in Arabic. In Study 1, findings from exploratory factor analysis for 1,035 students indicated the presence of a 2-factor model (academic relation and social relation). In study 2, the confirmatory factor analysis results of 1,099 students supported study 1 results. High internal consistency was acquired. STRM was regarded as a reliable and potentially valid measure of the quality of student–teacher relationships.

The current study aimed to adopt and assess the psychometric properties and measurement invariance of Grit-S among Omani and American students (N = 487) using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Multi-Group Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The scale's construct validity was estimated by investigating its associations with achievement goal orientations (AGOs). EFA results suggested that a two-factor solution (i.e., perseverance of effort [G_PE] and consistency of interest [G_CI]) was the best factorial structure, explaining 47.74% and 51.02% of the variance in the Omani and American samples, respectively. The factors had good reliability coefficients in the two samples. Related to the intercultural differences, G_PE explained more variance among Omanis (31.02%) relative to American sample, whereas G_CI explained a larger proportion of variance among Americans (36.86%) compared with Omani sample. The first level of measurement invariance, configural invariance, was not supported, necessitating the investigation of the other levels of measurement invariance using a new sample. Grit correlated positively with mastery and performance-approach goals (r = .29 and .12, respectively) and negatively with avoidance goals (r = -.25), supporting the scale's construct validity. These findings showed that Grit-S scale can be used as valid and reliable assessment tool to assess student interest and perseverance in the academic context in Arabic/Omani and American cultures.

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Background: Different biological and environmental factors may play roles in the development of self-concept. Many studies have focused on gender or age differences in self-concept separately. Objective: The current study aimed at examining the effects of grade, gender and their interaction on the development of four self-concept dimensions (appearance, school, parent-relations, and peer-relations) among Omani adolescents. Methods: The study sample was 651 middle and high school students from two districts in Oman. The students were enrolled in grades 7, 9 and 11. The study utilized the Self-Description Questionnaire (SDQ-1, Marsh, 1988) to assess students' levels in the self-concepts dimensions. The study adopted the descriptive design using Two Way Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Results: The study results demonstrated that grade and gender interaction affected appearance self-concept development; however, this interaction had no effects on the other dimensions. Moreover, gender and grade differences were found in some dimensions of self-concept. Conclusion: The study suggested that the effects of grade level and gender varied based on the self-concept dimensions. Adolescents' self-concept should be given a careful attention for its important role in providing healthy outcomes.

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The present study examined the predictive role of students’ perceptions of parenting styles on their academic efficacy beliefs. This relationship was examined using two large sets of national data that were collected from school and university students to see how the relationship between parenting styles and academic efficacy beliefs may or may not vary across life stages. The sample included 1431 school students and 1119 university students cross the Sultanate of Oman. The participants responded to the Arabic version of the Parental Authority Questionnaire (PAQ) and to the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (ASES) constructed by the researchers. Using linear regression model for each sample, the results showed that the amount of variance in school students’ academic self-efficacy beliefs explained by parenting styles (R2 adjusted = 0.21) was higher than the amount of variance explained for the university sample (R2 adjusted = 0.10). The researchers concluded that the effects of parenting styles on students’ self-efficacy beliefs decrease as children grow up.