The purpose of this study is to examine the
relationships between fourth and eighth grade students’ selfconcept
and achievement in mathematics and science within
one educational system based on the big-fish-little-pond
effect (BFLPE) model. The samples were from the data of
the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
2011, and hierarchical linear modeling was used to differentiate
the effects of the student-level and school-level
achievement on student self-concept of learning in Taiwan.
The results indicated that the self-concept of students of both
grade levels is positively associated with individual
achievement in mathematics and science. However, there is
generally a statistically significant and negative correlation
between student self-concept and school mean achievement.
At the same time, the results also showed that the correlation
was stronger for the eighth than for the fourth grade students,
and for mathematics than for science. The findings of this
study document the different degree of BFLPE on students of
different grades and on different academic subjects.

EB00000002572K

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• Investigation of the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect on Students’ Self-Concept of Learning Mathematics and Science in Taiwan: Results from TIMSS 2011