Negative Effects of School-Average Achievement on Academic Self-Concept: A Comparison of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect across Australian States and Territories

Abstract

Attending academically selective schools is intended to have positive effects, but a growing body of theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that the effects are negative for academic self-concept The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), based on social comparison theory, posits that equally able students will have lower academic self-concepts in academically selective schools than in nonselective schools. Here we test the validity of these predictions for representative samples of 15-year-olds from eight Australian states and territories by using multilevel modelling. Consistent with the BFLPE, the effects of individual student achievement were positive but the effects of school-average achievement were negative. Although there were small differences between states/territories in academic achievement, there were no significant differences between states/territories in the negative effects of school-average ability.

Keywords

ability grouping school effectiveness self concept academic achievement selective admission social theories

References

Aiken

L. S.

West

S. G.

(1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Alwin

D. F.

Otto

L. B.

(1977). High school context effects on aspirations. Sociology of Education, 50, 259–273.

Branden

(1994). Six pillars of self-esteem. New York: Bantam.

Byrne

B. M.

(1996). Measuring self-concept across the lifespan: Issues and instrumentation. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Chapman

J. W.

(1988). Learning disabled children's self-concepts. Review of Educational Research, 58, 347–371.

Coleman

J. M.

Fults

B. A.

(1985). Special class placement, level of intelligence, and the self-concept of gifted children: A social comparison perspective. Remedial and Special Education, 6, 7–11.

Craven

R. G.

Marsh

H. W.

(2000). Selective, streamed and mixed-ability programs for gifted students: Impact on self-concept, motivation, and achievement. Australian Journal of Education, 44, 51–75.

Davis

J. A.

(1966). The campus as a frog pond: An application of theory of relative deprivation to career decisions for college men. American Journal of Sociology, 12, 17–31.

Diener

Fujita

(1997). Social comparison and subjective well-being. In Buunk

B. P.

Gibbons

F. X.

(Eds.), Health, coping, and well-being: Perspectives from social comparison theory (pp. 329–358). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

10.

Festinger

(1954). A theory of social comparison processes. Human Relations, 7, 117–140.

11.

Gamoran

Nystrand

Berends

LePore

P. C.

(1995). An organizational analysis of the effects of ability grouping. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 687–715.

12.

Goldstein

(1995). Multilevel statistical models. London: Arnold.

13.

Goldstein

Rasbash

Plewis

Draper

Browne

Yang

Woodhouse

Healy

(1998). A user's guide to MLwiN. London: University of London, Institute of Education.

14.

Gross

(1992). The use of radical acceleration in cases of extreme intellectual precocity. Gifted Child Quarterly, 36, 91–99.

15.

Gross

(1993). Exceptionally gifted children. London: Routledge.

16.

Gross

(1997). How ability groups turns big fish into little—or does it? Of optical illusions and optimal environments. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 6(2), 18–30.

17.

Helson

(1964). Adaptation-level theory. New York: Harper & Row.

18.

Hyman

(1942). The psychology of subjective status. Psychological Bulletin, 39, 473–474.

19.

Inquiry into the Provision of Public Education in New South Wales (Tony Vinson, Chair). (2002). Report of the Vinson Inquiry: Sponsored by the New South Wales Teachers Federation and the Federation of P&C Associations of New South Wales (3 vols.). Retrieved from http://www.pub-ed-inquiry.org/reports/final_reports/.

20.

Jerusalem

(1984). Reference group, learning environment and self-evaluations: A dynamic multi-level analysis with latent variables. In Schwarzer

(Ed.), The self in anxiety, stress and depression (pp. 61–73). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.

21.

Marsh

H. W.

(1974). Judgmental anchoring: Stimulus and response variables. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.

22.

Marsh

H. W.

(1984). Self-concept: The application of a frame of reference model to explain paradoxical results. Australian Journal of Education, 28, 165–181.

23.

Marsh

H. W.

(1987). The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 19, 280–295.

24.

Marsh

H. W.

(1990). A multidimensional, hierarchical self-concept: Theoretical and empirical justification. Educational Psychology Review, 2, 77–172.

25.

Marsh

H. W.

(1991). The failure of high ability high schools to deliver academic benefits: The importance of academic self-concept and educational aspirations. American Educational Research Journal, 28, 445–480.

26.

Marsh

H. W.

(1993). Academic self-concept: Theory, measurement and research. In Suls

(Ed.), Psychological perspectives on the self (Vol. 4, pp. 59–98). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

27.

Marsh

H. W.

(1994). Using the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 to evaluate theoretical models of self-concept: The Self-Description Questionnaire. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86, 439–456.

28.

Marsh

H. W.

(2002, July 26). Comment: Pupils can lose their shine in elite schools. Sydney Morning Herald, Editorial Section, p. 11. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/25/1027497382341.html.

29.

Marsh

H. W.

Chessor

Craven

R. G.

Roche

(1995). The effects of gifted and talented programs on academic self-concept: The big fish strikes again. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 285–319.

30.

Marsh

H. W.

Craven

R. G.

(1998). The big fish little pond effect, optical illusions, and misinterpretations: A response to Gross [1997]. Australasian Journal of Gifted Education, 7, 6–15.

31.

Marsh

H. W.

Craven

(2002). The pivotal role of frames of reference in academic self-concept formation: The big fish little pond effect In Pajares

Urdan

(Eds.), Adolescence and education (Vol. 2, pp. 83–123). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

32.

Marsh

H. W.

Johnston

C. F.

(1993). Multidimensional self-concepts and frames of reference: Relevance to the exceptional learner. In Obiakor

F. E.

Stile

(Eds.), Self-concept of exceptional learners: Current perspectives for educators. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.

33.

Marsh

H. W.

Köller

Baumart

(2001). Reunification of East and West German school systems: Longitudinal multilevel modeling study of the big fish little pond effect on academic self-concept. American Educational Research Journal, 38, 321–350.

34.

Marsh

H. W.

Kong

C-K.

Hau

K-T.

(2000). Longitudinal multilevel modeling of the big fish little pond effect on academic self-concept: Counterbalancing social comparison and reflected glory effects in Hong Kong high schools. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 337–349.

35.

Marsh

H. W.

Parker

(1984). Determinants of student self-concept: Is it better to be a relatively large fish in a small pond even if you don't learn to swim as well? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 213–231.

36.

Marsh

H. W.

Plucker

J. A.

Stocking

V. B.

(2001). The Self-Description Questionnaire II and gifted students: Another look at Plucker, Taylor, Callahan & Tomchin's (1997) ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 61, 976–996.

37.

Marsh

H. W.

Rowe

K.J.

(1996). The negative effects of school-average ability on academic self-concept—an application of multilevel modelling. Australian Journal of Education, 40, 65–87.

38.

Marsh

H. W.

Yeung

A. S.

(1998). Longitudinal structural equation models of academic self-concept and achievement: Gender differences in the development of math and English constructs. American Educational Research Journal, 35(4), 705–738.

39.

Meyer

J. W.

(1970). High school effects on college intentions. American Journal of Sociology, 76, 59–70.

40.

Morse

Gergen

K.J.

(1970). Social comparison, self-consistency, and the concept of self. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 16, 148–156.

41.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2001a). Knowledge and skills for life: Results from the first OECD programme for international student assessment (PISA) 2000. Paris: Author.

42.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development. (2001b). PISA international data base (Technical Report). Paris: Author.

43.

Parducci

(1995). Happiness, pleasure, and judgment: The contextual theory and its applications. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

44.

Raudenbush

S. W.

Bryk

A. S.

(2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

45.

Robinson

N. M.

Zigler

Gallagher

J. J.

(2000). Two tails of the normal curve: Similarities and differences in the study of mental retardation and giftedness. American Psychologist, 55, 1413–1424.

46.

Sampson

J. F.

(1969). The high school examination achievements of opportunity “C” class pupils. Sydney: NSW Department of Education.

47.

Sampson

J. F.

(1977). The secondary school performance of pupils in selective and comprehensive schools. In New South Wales Department of Education, The education of the talented child (pp. 111–131). Sydney: Author.

48.

Sherif

C. W.

(1969). Social psychology. New York: Harper & Row.

49.

Stouffer

S. A.

Suchman

E.A.

DeVinney

L.C.

Star

S.A.

Williams

R.M.

(1949). The American soldier: Adjustments during army life (Vol. 1). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

50.

Suls

J. M.

(1977). Social comparison theory and research: An overview from 1954. In Suls

J. M.

Miller

R. L.

(Eds.), Social comparison processes: Theoretical and empirical perspectives (pp. 1–20). Washington, DC: Hemisphere.

51.

Tracey

D. K.

Marsh

H.W.

Craven

R. G.

(2003). Self-concepts of preadolescent students with mild intellectual disabilities: Issues of measurement and educational placement. In Marsh

H. W.

Craven

R. G.

Mclnerney

D. M.

(Eds.), International advances in self research (Vol. 1, pp. 203–230). Greenwich, CT: Information Age.

52.

Upshaw

H.S.

(1969). The personal reference scale: An approach to social judgment. In Berkowitz

(Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 4, pp. 315–370). New York: Academic Press.

53.

Wills

T. A.

(1981). Downward comparison principles in social psychology. Psychological Bulletin, 90, 245–271.

54.

Zeidner

Schleyer

E. J.

(1999). The big-fish-little-pond effect for academic self-concept, test anxiety and school grades in gifted children. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 24, 305–329.