In this study, I explore the potential impact of differing educational policies and reform efforts that influence state and federal standards-based assessments and their interpretations. Specifically, I examine the educational policies of Arizona (Structured English Immersion [SEI]) and Texas (bilingual education) for their effect on the belief systems of students, parents, and teachers. I also examine the role of identity and language in the motivation to learn and student disposition toward school among English Language Learners (ELLs). In support of a co-regulation model of emerging identity, acculturation, acculturative stress, and student perceptions of scholastic competence, student disposition toward school, and student motivational dynamics contributed to the accurate prediction of 77.5% of the participants' group membership in either SEI or bilingual education. ELLs in bilingual education had higher perceptions of scholastic competence than ELLs in SEI (d = .54). Four types of dispositions toward school, Pride in Achieving, Participation and Belonging, Literacy, and Math, were higher for ELLs in bilingual education than for ELLs in SEI. Contrary to the hypothesized results, however, there were no differences in the Rigid and Right disposition between ELLs in SEI and bilingual education. In reference to motivation, scores on Disengaged and Distracting were higher for ELLs in SEI (Arizona) than for ELLs in bilingual programs (Texas). However, contrary to the hypotheses, Good Worker/Engaged Learner, and Struggling and Persistent were higher for ELLs in SEI than for ELLs in bilingual programs. I conclude by discussing the potential impact of differing educational policies and reform efforts on the belief systems of ELLs, their parents, and teachers.

A study was conducted among a sample of Korean American students to investigate the potential moderation of the risks related to English proficiency by the protection of school belonging. Perceived scholastic competence, self-reported school grades, and academic expectancies were used for dependent variables. It was hypothesized that students with higher sense of belonging would be less affected by English proficiency than their peers with lower sense of belonging. The risk of English proficiency was confirmed. However, school belonging did not have as much of an effect as expected and students with higher English proficiency seemed to gain more benefit from increased school belonging. This finding reminds educators of the pressing importance of English proficiency, and future research is suggested to investigate the unique effects of belonging among students of Korean, and perhaps other Asian, backgrounds.

A study was conducted among a sample of Korean American students to investigate the potential moderation of the risks related to English proficiency by the protection of school belonging. Perceived scholastic competence, self-reported school grades, and academic expectancies were used for dependent variables. It was hypothesized that students with higher sense of belonging would be less affected by English proficiency than their peers with lower sense of belonging. The risk of English proficiency was confirmed. However, school belonging did not have as much of an effect as expected and students with higher English proficiency seemed to gain more benefit from increased school belonging. This finding reminds educators of the pressing importance of English proficiency, and future research is suggested to investigate the unique effects of belonging among students of Korean, and perhaps other Asian, backgrounds.

Cette thèse a pour objet l’étude de la perception par les enfants du soutien conditionnel parental et enseignant, défini comme un soutien vu comme dépendant de l’atteinte des exigences fixées par ces adultes (Harter, 1999). Deux objectifs sont poursuivis dans ce travail. Le premier étudie l’évolution d’une telle perception lors de la transition entre le primaire et le secondaire. Pour ce faire, nous devions disposer d’un outil de mesure. Nous avons testé, dans trois études, les qualités psychométriques d’une échelle de perception du soutien conditionnel parental et enseignant dans le domaine scolaire auprès d’élèves de CM2 et de 6ème. Les analyses sur l’instrument ont mis en évidence trois dimensions dans le soutien conditionnel : un soutien conditionnel d’estime (parental et enseignant), un soutien conditionnel émotionnel parental et un soutien conditionnel émotionnel enseignant. Concernant le premier objectif, les résultats révèlent que la perception du soutien conditionnel émotionnel parental est stable du CM2 à la 6ème. La perception du soutien conditionnel émotionnel enseignant est aussi stable entre le début et la fin du CM2, mais diminue en 6ème alors que celle du soutien d’estime diminue faiblement au cours du temps. Le deuxième objectif vise à vérifier les liens entre ce soutien conditionnel parental et enseignant et la perception de compétence scolaire des élèves. Nous supposions (1) que les différents types de soutien conditionnel perçu seraient liés négativement à la perception des élèves de leur compétence scolaire, (2) que ces relations seraient médiatisées par l’anxiété envers l’évaluation et la sensibilité à l’erreur et (3) que le lien entre le soutien parental et la perception de compétence scolaire des élèves serait modéré par le soutien conditionnel émotionnel enseignant. Nos résultats montrent que le soutien conditionnel émotionnel parental et le soutien conditionnel émotionnel enseignant sont bien liés négativement à la perception de compétence scolaire et que seule l’anxiété d’évaluation médiatise cette relation. Le soutien conditionnel d’estime n’est pas lié à la perception de compétence quand le soutien conditionnel émotionnel est contrôlé. Enfin, le soutien conditionnel émotionnel parental et le soutien conditionnel enseignant interagissent pour prédire la perception de compétence scolaire : sous une perception élevée du soutien conditionnel d’une source, la perception du soutien conditionnel de l’autre source n’est plus liée à la perception de compétence scolaire. Pris dans leur ensemble, nos résultats confortent les études qui soulignent les effets néfastes du soutien conditionnel perçu en termes d’adaptation scolaire et sociale (e.g., Assor, Roth, & Deci, 2004 ; Côté, Bouffard, & Vezeau, 2014 ; Makri-Botsari, 2015). Ils ajoutent aux connaissances en montrant l’importance du soutien conditionnel de l’enseignant dans cette même adaptation. / This thesis focuses on children perception of the conditional support provided by their parents and teachers. Conditional support refers to a support that depends on succeeding to achieve standards set by these adults (Harter, 1999). This work has two objectives. The first aims at studying the evolution of the perception of the adults’ conditional support during the transition from primary to secondary school. To do so, a series of three studies was conducted to test the psychometric properties of an instrument devoted to assess the perception of students from the 5th and 6th grades that the availability of their parents and teachers support was conditional to their academic achievement. Factorial analyses (EFA and CFA) revealed the presence of three types of conditional support: an esteem conditional support common to parents and teachers, a parents’ emotional conditional support and a teachers’ emotional conditional support. Regarding our first objective, results reveal that the perception of parents’ emotional conditional support is stable across the transition to secondary school. Teachers’ emotional conditional support is stable between the beginning and the end of 5th grade, but decreases during the 6th grade. The esteem conditional support slowly drops throughout the whole period. Our second objective is to verify the links between perception of conditional support from parents and teachers and the students’ perception of their scholastic competence. We hypothesised (1) that all types of conditional support would be negatively linked to the students’ perception of their scholastic competence, (2) that anxiety towards evaluation and sensitivity to error would mediate these relations and (3) that the teacher’s emotional conditional support would moderate the link between the parents’ conditional support and the students’ perception of their scholastic competence. Our results show that the emotional conditional support from both the parents and the teacher are negatively linked to the perception of scholastic competence and that only anxiety mediates these relations. The esteem conditional support is unrelated to the perception of scholastic competence when emotional conditional support is controlled. Finally, the parents’ emotional conditional support and the teachers’ conditional support interact to predict the perception of scholastic competence: under a high perception of conditional support from one source, the perception of conditional support from the other source is no more linked to the perception of scholastic competence. Altogether, our results strengthen previous studies that underline the deleterious effects of perceived conditional support on social and academic adaptation (e.g., Assor et al., 2004 ; Côté et al., 2014 ; Makri-Botsari, 2015). They bring new knowledge by showing the importance of teacher conditional support for this adaptation.