Reading and spelling skills inGerman third graders: Examining the role of student and context characteristics

Abstract

Variances in students' reading and spelling skills were in large part explained by student characteristics (>90%). Classroom and school characteristics yielded little variance. Student-level intelligence and self-control were significantly related to reading fluency. For orthographic spelling, student-level intelligence and self-control, class-average intelligence, and, at the school level, the socio-economic status of the school's neighbourhood were significant predictors. Future research needs to investigate relevant classroom and school factors that may directly and indirectly relate to academic outcomes.

Boys have caught up, family influences still continue: Influences on executive functioning and behavioral self‐regulation in elementary students in Germany

“…Longitudinal investigations of sex differences in elementary school students’ self‐regulation, however, are scarce. Two recent studies with different samples of third‐grade students from Germany reported a female advantage in behavioral self‐regulation using self‐reports (von Suchodoletz et al, ) but a male advantage in executive functioning measured with the Tower of London task (Gunzenhauser, Saalbach, & Karbach, ). With regard to differing results for sex differences in executive functioning versus behavioral self‐regulation, it has been suggested that the female advantage in behavioral self‐regulation might be facilitated by sex‐specific socialization experiences and expectations of girls being calmer and more compliant (cp.…”

“…Children from more advantaged family backgrounds seem to possess better executive functioning as well as higher behavioral self‐regulation as compared to their less privileged peers (G. W. Evans & Rosenbaum, ; Gunzenhauser & von Suchodoletz, ; Raver et al, ; Rhoades, Greenberg, Lanza, & Blair, ; von Suchodoletz et al, ; Wanless et al, ). In addition to observed differences in behavioral self‐regulation, effects of the home environment, childhood poverty in particular, have also been demonstrated at the neuropsychological level (Kishiyama, Boyce, Jimenez, Perry, & Knight, ; Lipina et al, ; Stevens, Lauinger, & Neville, ).…”

“…Baumeister, Vohs, & Tice, ; Blair, ; Diamond, ; McClelland & Cameron, ). Considerable individual differences in self‐regulation exist at the beginning of elementary school and beyond (Blair, ; Duckworth & Seligman, ), accounting for variance in children's test performance and report‐card grades above and beyond intelligence (Duckworth & Seligman, ; von Suchodoletz, Larsen, Gunzenhauser, & Fäsche, ). The preschool period has been identified as a pivotal time in the development of self‐regulation (Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, ).…”

First‐graders’ allocation of attentional resources in an emotional Stroop task: The role of heart period variability and classroom climate

“…Of importance, not all students respond in the same way when facing emotional social interactions within the classroom, with some being more involved than others (Suchodoletz, Larsen, Gunzenhauser, & Fäsche, ). Furthermore, Pérez‐Edgar and Fox () have shown that there are large individual differences in children's performance during an emotional Stroop task.…”

Phontasia: A phonics game for German and its effect on orthographic skills–first corpus explorations

“…In addition, we have access to VERA test data that can be used to look at performance using a country-wide standardized test for comparison. However, it is well known (PISA) and recently supported again [21] that in Germany, school characteristics such as neighborhood and classroom intelligence have a significant impact on student performance. This makes comparative studies very difficult to impossible, not only across classrooms but even more so across both schools and classrooms.…”