Not Next to You: Peer Rejection, Student Characteristics and the Moderating Effects of Classroom Composition

Although sociodemographic characteristics such as immigrant background and low socioeconomic status have been found to increase the risk for peer rejection, it remains unclear whether rejection in school settings primarily occurs between different-characteristic peers or is also driven by same-characteristic peers, nor whether these types of processes are moderated by classroom composition. Building on person-group dissimilarity theories, we address this gap in the literature using a large sample of 4,215 Swedish students (aged 14-15) in 201 eighth grade classes. Sociometric data provide information on received rejection nominations and rejection networks in school classes. Five characteristics are examined at the student- and classroom-levels: gender, immigration background, household income, parental education, and cognitive ability. Information on sociodemographic characteristics is drawn from linked survey and administrative population registers. A two-pronged empirical strategy is used, using both multilevel random effects models and Exponential Random Graph Models. We find that multiple characteristics are associated with peer rejection, and classroom composition moderates how these characteristics are associated with the extent to which students are rejected and reject classmates who are different to themselves.

The relation between teacher self-reported individualization and student-perceived teaching quality in linguistically heterogeneous classes: an exploratory study

Germany historically responded to student diversity by tracking students into different schools beginning with grade 5. In the last decades, sociopolitical changes, such as an increase in “German-as-a-second-language” speaking students (GSL), have increased diversity in all tracks and have forced schools to consider forms of individualization. This has opened up the scientific debate in Germany on merits and limitations of individualization for different student groups within a tracked system and heterogeneous classes. The aim of the present exploratory study was to examine how individualized teaching (i.e., teacher self-reported individualized teaching practices and individual reference norm orientation) is related to student-perceived teaching quality. Additionally, we considered moderation effects of classroom composition in relation to achievement and proportion of GSL students. Longitudinal data came from 35 mathematics classes with 659 9th and 10th grade students. Results showed significant relation between teacher self-reported individualized teaching practices and individual reference norm orientation and monitoring. Regarding the composition effects, the proportion of GSL students in class moderated the relation between teacher self-reported individual reference norm orientation and cognitive activation. Our findings contribute to the growing body of evidence that classroom composition can differentially impact the relation between teachers’ behaviors and students’ perceptions of teaching quality.

Who Are Your Friends in Class?

Educational settings such as classrooms provide important opportunities for social learning through interactions with peers. Our paper addresses the research question of whether and to what extent classroom composition characteristics make a difference. We carried out multilevel analyses based on a sample of n = 791 students in 48 classrooms (grades 5 – 7) in inclusive lower-secondary comprehensive schools in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). 22.6 % of the variance in students’ reciprocal friendship nominations were attributable to classroom-level differences. A higher average socioeconomic status and, respectively, a lower percentage of immigrant students negatively affected the number of reciprocal friendship nominations within classrooms. These results indicate that more privileged classroom settings can be related to less dense friendship networks of students. Our findings can be understood as an impulse to consider contextual factors when evaluating and addressing the social structure of classrooms in research and practice.

Ethnic Classroom Composition and Minority Language Use among Classmates: Do Peers Matter for Students’ Language Achievement?

This article examines the relationship between ethnic classroom composition and students’ language-related achievement. We investigate whether minority language use among classmates accounts for effects of ethnic composition on minority students’ German reading comprehension and their proficiency in the minority languages Russian and Turkish. We employ multilevel models using cross-sectional data from a sample of ninth-grade students participating in the German National Educational Panel Study. Our findings indicate that students’ minority language background rather than their ethnic origin accounts for ethnic composition effects. We find a negative relationship between the ethno-lingual classroom composition and students’ German reading comprehension, but the association is small and limited to minority students. Moreover, the ethno-lingual classroom composition is positively correlated with minority language proficiency, specifically among Turkish-speaking students. These associations are substantially reduced after controlling for students’ minority language use with their classmates, indicating that a higher proportion of minority language students in a classroom provides additional opportunities for acquiring or maintaining higher levels of proficiency in the minority language. Overall, the ethnic classroom composition does not appear to substantially reinforce existing inequalities between minority and majority students.