This study analyzed whether data at the elementary school level provide support for the hypothesized biasing effect of parents' gender stereotypes on their impressions of their children's competence in mathematics. Approximately 600 German elementary school students in Grades 3 and 4, their teachers, and their parents responded to questionnaires concerning perceptions of ability in mathematics, gender stereotypes in mathematical talent, and future expectations. Path analyses revealed consistent gender stereotypes held by mothers and fathers that interact with the gender of the child and predict the parents' beliefs about their child's abilities. In turn, parents' beliefs about their child relate to their child's self-perceptions of ability in mathematics. A biasing effect of parents' gender stereotypes on present mathematical achievement was not supported. I thank Walter Sievers for his helpful suggestions on an earlier version of this article and my students and the staff of the participating schools for their cooperation and participation.
ZusammenfassungZiel der vorliegenden Studie ist die Klärung der Frage, inwieweit sachfremde ethnische Kriterien die Übergangsempfehlung für weiterführende Schulen beeinflussen. Bei einer Stichprobe von 620 Schülerinnen und Schülern der vierten Klassenstufe wurden Schulleistungstest-und Fragebogendaten erhoben und diese in Beziehung zu den Übergangsempfehlungen gesetzt. Wenn individuelle Schülervoraussetzungen unter Einschluss kognitiver Fähigkeiten kontrolliert werden, gibt es keine Bestätigung der Auffassung, dass Kinder mit Migrationshintergrund bei der Übergangsemp-fehlung benachteiligt werden. Auch ein hoher Anteil an Kindern mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache in der Schulklasse übt keine ungünstigen Effekte auf die Empfehlung der Schulform aus. Hingegen ist ein sachfremder Referenzgruppeneffekt (Big-fish-little-pond-Effekt) nachweisbar: Mit einem höheren Anteil an Schülerinnen und Schü-lern in der Klasse, deren Schultestleistungen und kognitive Grundfähigkeiten hoch sind und deren Eltern eine höhere Bildungsorientierung aufweisen, sinkt die relative Chance, statt an eine Hauptschule an eine Realschule oder ein Gymnasium zu wechseln.
SummaryThe Influence The aim of this study is to clarify how far nonacademic ethnic criteria influence teachers' recommendations in regard to pupils' transition from primary to secondary education. A data set consisting of 620 fourth graders' academic achievement tests and questionnaires were correlated with teachers' transition recommendations. After controlling for individual students' competencies, e.g. their cognitive abilities, the common assumption that children with migration backgrounds are disadvantaged could not be confirmed. Even a high share of children in a class who do not speak German as a family language does not induce adversarial results in transition recommendations. In contrast, however, a concentration of high achievement orientation in a class indeed negatively affects transition recommendations: A high share of students with above-average academic achievement, cognitive abilities and achievement-oriented parents actually decreases students' chances of getting into higher educational tracks (Realschule and Gymnasium instead of Hauptschule). In sum, frame of reference effects can be found for educational achievement (big-fish-little-pond-effect), but not for a class's migration background.Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 10. Jahrg., Heft 1/2007, S. 108-120 109 Schlüsselwörter: Übergangsempfehlung; Schulklassenkontext; Kinder mit Migrationshintergrund; Big-fish-little-pond-Effekt.
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