寧為雞首，不為牛後？班級排名對個人學業能力的影響

Abstract

身為班級的「雞首」或「牛後」，對一個人會有影響嗎？依照「大魚小池效應」（類同「雞首牛後」），學生每天長時間與班上同學一起上課、學習，班上同學的學業表現往往成為個人對自我學業表現評價的重要依據，進而影響其未來的學業發展：在班上排名前面（雞首），可讓學生更有自信去增進學業表現；反之，落後的班級排名（牛後）則減損個人自信。然而，「牛後」卻也同時意味著優秀同儕的正面影響。因此，在評估「大魚小池效應」時，如何排除同時存在的同儕因素，是一大挑戰。本研究利用「臺灣長期教育追蹤資料庫」與「一階差分模型」避免內生性與遺漏變項可能造成的估計偏誤。研究發現：一、對低學力的學生來說，身為雞首有相當大的正效應；反之，對程度較好者，雞首卻有負影響。二、同儕平均學業能力對所有人都有正面影響，但對程度較低者影響更強。

Existing literature investigating the Big-Fish-Little-Pond Effect (BFLPE) emphasizes the dependence of academic achievements and self-evaluations on students’ levels of performance in comparison to those of other students. Being a “small fish” (and the self-evaluations that result from it) is often assumed to negatively affect one’s intellectual developments. However, studies of peer effect imply that being surrounded by more extraordinary peers (i.e., being a small fish in a big pond) also benefits students' intellectual development. It is therefore necessary to separate the ranking effect from the peer effect if we want to evaluate either of the two. Using the data from Taiwan Education Panel Survey (TEPS), this study attempts to provide a more adequate estimate of BFLPE by first-difference models. Our analysis indicates that, the academic performances of fellow students being controlled, higher class rankings are beneficial for low-achievers’ academic progresses but disadvantageous for those of high-achievers. It also suggests that the average academic performance of a student’s peers has a uniformly positive effect, although it is stronger for low achievers. This study contributes to existing knowledge by showing that BFLPE may not be a homogeneous effect for different groups.