At the beginning of primary school, young children need to adapt academically, socially, and emotionally to their new school environment. Enjoying going to school and becoming socially integrated are important preconditions for successful learning. However, children from disadvantaged families have fewer resources and receive less support, and such deficits can result in lower attainment, negative emotions, and lower well-being. In recent years, interest in emotions and well-being in school has grown in educational research. However, studies analyzing the affective characteristics of disadvantaged students, especially in primary school, are still scarce. In this study, we analyzed reciprocal relationships between school enjoyment, social integration, and achievement using cross-lagged structural equation modeling (Grades 1 and 2), while controlling for family background and sex. We used data from the National Educational Panel Study in Germany (NEPS; N = 4,986). Results showed positive effects of school enjoyment on achievement and social integration on school enjoyment. Additionally, a better home learning environment had positive effects on school enjoyment and social integration in Grade 1. Effects of socioeconomic and migration background on school enjoyment and social integration were not significant. Our results show no evidence that educationally disadvantaged students are additionally disadvantaged in their school enjoyment or social integration at the beginning of primary school.  

Previous research focused on individuals’ background, contexts and cognitive performance in education, work, and life. Given the increasing number of people living alone temporarily, the question arises whether the frequent use of skills, including social skills, relates to individuals’ later positively self-evaluated skills and social lives. Based on an integrated framework, the current analysis aimed to disentangle these relationships with longitudinal data from Germany over three years. The target sample consisted of n = 3263 working adults. A Bayesian structural equation model included adults’ frequent use of skills, self-evaluated skills, household size, close friends, and seven covariates (e.g., numeracy and literacy test scores, weekly working hours. The results suggested positive relationships between adults’ frequent use of numeracy, literacy, and social skills and later self-evaluations (except literacy used on self-evaluated numeracy). Those who less frequently used social skills three years earlier were also less likely to have a larger household size than those who reporting frequently using their social skills. Adults who frequently used literacy skills three years earlier reported higher numbers of close friends than those who less frequently used literacy. The findings highlight the importance of adults’ social skills and frequently used skills for self-evaluated numeracy and literacy.

Acquiring mastery in reading is considered one of the primary academic skills during the early years of elementary school. Additionally, attaining proficiency in reading during the early grades of elementary school serves as a strong predictor for future academic achievements and overall success in life. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the effect of several linguistic and cognitive variables on decoding abilities in the Bosnian language. The sample consisted of 153 children in the 2nd to 5th grades of elementary school. To assess decoding abilities, we employed tasks involving reading real words and non-words (pseudowords). The key predictors for both tasks included phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming of letters, working memory, and processing speed. Both models accounted for approximately 64% of the variance in the scores, signifying a substantial advancement compared to existing models of reading in the Bosnian language. The results of this study may contribute to the development of targeted and effective reading interventions in early elementary education.

Education in the modern era expects institutions to help students to thrive. Not only may class engagement improve academic performance, but it may also enhance students' well-being. This study investigated class engagement and its motivation and academic achievements’ effect on university students’ mental well-being. 231 university students, with a mean age of 21.46, participated in this study. About 65% were senior students, and average GPA was 3.46 (SD = 0.32). For measurements, General Class Engagement Scale, Motivations for Class Engagement Scale, and Warwick-Edinburg Mental Well-being Short Form was employed. Academic achievement was measured by GPA. For data analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and regression analyses were conducted. Results show that class engagement, its motivations, academic achievement, and mental well-being were all positively correlated. Moreover, class engagement and its motivations positively predicted mental well-being. However, GPA was non-significant. Hence, in a group of mostly senior university students, class engagement was more significant than academic achievement regarding their mental well-being. Furthermore, about 91% of this study’s participants were honor students (above 3 GPA). Therefore, being academically successful may not always be enough to be happy and well. However, educators may help students by emphasizing class engagement.

Using R to conduct univariate meta-analyses is becoming common for publication. However, R can also conduct multivariate meta-analysis (MMA). However, newcomers to both R and MMA may find using R to conduct MMA daunting. Given that, R may not be easy for those unfamiliar with coding. Likewise, MMA is a topic of advanced statistics. Thus, it may be very challenging for most newcomers to conduct MMA using R. If this holds, this can be viewed as a practice gap. In other words, the practice gap is that researchers are not capable of using R to conduct MMA in practice. This is problematic. This paper alleviates this practice gap by illustrating how to use R (the metaSEM package) to conduct MMA on educational psychology data. Here, the metaSEM package is used to obtain the required MMA text outputs. However, the metaSEM package is not capable of producing the other required graphical outputs. As a result, the metafor package is also used as a complimentary to generate the required graphical outputs. Ultimately, we hope that our audience will be able to apply what they learn from this method paper to conduct MMA using R in their teaching, research, and publication.

The use of grades as an extrinsic motivator in formal schooling has been demonstrated in previous research to have negative implications for students’ learning and mental health. This subject matter has been particularly absent from the research literature in Vietnam, where the obsession with grades is self-evident. The present study aims to explore Vietnamese university students’ orientations toward learning and grades, learning strategy use, mental well-being, and how these variables correlate. In addition, the study examines the potential interplay between learning orientation and grade orientation to influence the latter two variables. A quantitative research design was employed to achieve these goals. Survey responses were collected from 38 second- and third-year students majoring in English Language at a large, public university during a summer semester. Specifically for learning strategy use, participants were directed to pull from their experiences in a Public Speaking course that they had completed in the previous semester. Results revealed that a learning orientation was moderately related to both adaptive learning strategy use and mental wellness, whereas a grade orientation was only negatively related to learning strategy use and unrelated to mental well-being. Moreover, a strong learning orientation alone resulted in the most positive outcomes for both learning and mental health, and higher levels of grade orientation weakened those outcomes. Limitations of the study, directions for future research in this area, and implications for students and educators are then discussed.  

Addressing and managing the disruptive behavior of students is a major classroom management concern for teachers. These concerns become even more important when, in addition to normal classroom disruptions, teachers must also address the behaviors of students’ at risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties. Although ample bodies of evidence-based instructional and behavior management practices exist, teachers have expressed difficulties implementing these practices into their daily classroom praxis. One method for supporting teachers’ practice implementation is through ongoing classroom observations that measure classroom practices and yield data to support direct implementation feedback to teachers. The current study investigated relations between observational assessment of instructional and behavior management practices and students’ emotional and behavior risk as part of a brief observation and feedback process. We also examined how brief teacher performance feedback may change the relationships between teacher practices and student emotional and behavioral risk. Participants included 31 Greek elementary school teachers who were observed with the Classroom Strategies Assessment System (CSAS) by their school administrators for three-30 minutes observations and received brief performance feedback following each observation period. Following the third observation period, teachers also completed the Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) Teacher Form for 115 students. Multilevel analyses revealed that assessment of instructional and behavior management strategies were significantly associated with student risk for emotional and behavior difficulties prior to feedback, but nonsignificant findings were found following brief performance feedback. Results illustrate a shift in the relationships between observer ratings of teachers’ instructional and behavior management practices and teacher ratings of student emotional and behavioral risk following brief performance feedback. Implications for practice and research are discussed.