5.6.1 Identifying and Predicting Gifted Children’s Achievement Trajectories: Effects of Teachers, Peers, and Child Characteristics
Our aim is to examine achievement trajectory classes of gifted children and the predicting role of children’s socio-emotional and learning-related characteristics and their relationships with teachers and peers. A sample of 344 gifted students (i.e., students with the highest ten percent of scores on cognitive abilities in a representative sample) was used. Mathematics achievement was assessed in grades four-six. In grade four, we assessed possible predictors. We defined a high, average, and low achieving class. Higher achievement was associated with more independence, more self-confidence, and better mathematical self-concept. Also, average-achieving children showed more hyperactive and anxious/fearful behavior than high achieving children.
Author(s):
Tessa Weyns
tessa.weyns@kuleuven.be
KU Leuven
Belgium
Tessa Weyns is a PhD student at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at KU Leuven. She obtained her Master’s Degree in Psychology at KU Leuven in 2015. Her main research interest is school psychology, and more specifically, giftedness and the effects of teachers, teacher-child interactions, and peers on the development of (gifted) children.
Bieke De Fraine
bieke.defraine@kuleuven.be
KU Leuven
Belgium
Bieke De Fraine is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences and head of the unit Educational Effectiveness and Evaluation. Her main research topics are: educational effectiveness research, longitudinal educational research, multilevel models (hierarchical linear models), growth curve models, school career research, and evidence-based education.
Karine Verschueren
karine.verschueren@kuleuven.be
KU Leuven
Belgium
Karine Verschueren is Full Professor at the at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences at KU Leuven and head of the unit School Psychology and Development in Context. Her research addresses the academic and psychosocial development of children and adolescents in schools and the role of classroom-based social relationships (i.e., teacher-child and peer relationships). Her research is conducted in general student samples as well as in high-ability samples.