Abstracts - Earli

The dynamics of sociometric and self-reported peer acceptance and academic achievementKathrin Jonkmann, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, GermanyUlrich Trautwein, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, GermanyOliver Lüdtke, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, GermanySuccessful school adjustment requires students to develop and perform a wide range of academicas well as social competencies. In addition to academic achievement, students strive to establishand maintain interpersonal relationships and to behave in ways that are valued by classmates andteachers (Wentzel, 2003). In the current study we investigate the interplay of two major aspects ofthe academic and social domains – school grades and peer acceptance - and their prediction ofanother important outcome of successful school adjustment, namely academic self-concept. Aspeer acceptance is by definition a contextual phenomenon we further ask if these associationssystematically vary between classes reflecting different classroom norms. This multi-levelquestion has been neglected by most sociometric research so far. The empirical basis of theinvestigation provides a sample 2,357 7th graders (mean age = 13.3 years; 56.1% female) from140 classes. Peer acceptance was measured in two ways: by sociometric positive and negative peernominations and by a self-report scale. Academic self-concept was assessed by a well establishedsix item scale. Achievement was operationalized as grade point average. Data analysis combinedbivariate and multivariate latent analysis and multi-level modelling. The results indicated that, inline with previous research, grades predicted sociometric peer acceptance. Moreover, grades alsopredicted self-reported peer acceptance. All constructs showed direct or mediated effects onstudents’ academic self-concept. The multi-level analysis suggested that these associations wereuniversal across classrooms. Future directions for a multi-perspective view of classroom dynamicsand classroom norms will be discussed.J 1230 August 2007 17:00 - 18:20Room: HarmóniaPaper SessionSpecial educationChair:Éva Molnár, University of Szeged, HungaryStructured FlexibilityMona Holmqvist, Kristianstad University, SwedenIn this article a study of how six participants, diagnosed with autism or Asperger syndrome,developed independency in daily living activities is presented. Combined with using structure androutines in the learning situation, flexibility by the use of limited variation was evoked. Based onvideo recorded observations of the participants’ behaviour and theoretical assumptions of what ittakes to learn, intervention in six case studies was carried out. The learning outcomes wereanalysed in terms of how the participants’ abilities to discern, discern single aspects simultaneityand handle variation in the learning situation affected the learning outcome. The analysesconsisted of the comparison between the participants’ initial ability with the achieved ability afterthe intervention. All six children who participated improved their targeted abilities, which weremeasured by analyses of video documented situations in natural settings, shown by differences in– 555 –