SchoolBias

Following the conclusion of PISA (2012), one of the major problems that the French education system faces, seems to be the construction of negative beliefs of competence and consequently, the incapacity to enable certain students to acquire necessary skills for future academic and social success. This research program deals with the study of students’ judgments about their academic competence and the effects of these judgments on basic learning in French (e.g., language, reading, and writing) and mathematics (e.g., counting, and logical reasoning). A main concern will be to consider the discrepancy between the student’s actual potential (measured from standardized tests) and their self-evaluation of school competence (subjective potential), that is: the self-evaluation bias of school competence (for review, see Bouffard & Narciss, 2011; Bouffard, Pansu, & Boissicat, 2013). This bias can either be positive (overestimation of school competence) or negative (underestimation of school competence). Its size may also be more or less important. The aim of the present program is twofold and includes two distinct levels of analysis. First, at an intra-individual level (student), the aim will be to gather information about the dynamics of the self-evaluation bias of school competence (positive and negative) and about their effects on basic learning at different levels of schooling. To do so, the research program will examine two age groups: 9-12 years old and 15-18 years old. We will explore how their self-perception profile of school competence is shaped or re-shaped at each stage of schooling. We will also examine for whom, when and how the bias in self-evaluation of school competence affects basic learning and performances in French and mathematics. Second, at an inter-individual level (teachers’ judgment), we will examine how teachers perceive the functioning and achievement of students who have a self-evaluation bias of school competence (positive or negative) compared to students who don’t have such a bias. Then, we will investigate the relationship between student’s self-evaluation bias of school competence and the corresponding teacher’s evaluation. Indeed, recent results suggest that young students who overestimate their own competence are evaluated more positively regarding their school functioning and achievement. Additionally, young students, who underestimate their own competence, are more likely to be negatively evaluated by their teachers. However, this issue needs to be clarified and verified at each stage of schooling. Consequently, we will examine how and under which condition(s) self-evaluation biases of school competence lead to more or less favorable teachers’ judgments. In addition, the intercultural generalization of the outcomes at an intra- or inter-individual level is an issue that will be taken into account in the present program. This will allow us to verify the correlates of evaluation biases and their perception from one culture to another. In conclusion, this research program aims to improve the understanding of the dynamics of the self-evaluation bias of school competence, and to develop our knowledge about the consequences of such a bias at both intra- and inter-individual levels. On an applied perspective, the new knowledge issued from this research program could contribute to guide the reflections on teaching practices and thus improve the efficiency of the actors of the French educational system.