The big-fish-little-pond effect stands up to scrutiny

Responds to comments made by Dai (see record 2004-14303-011) and Plucker et al (200414303-012) on the current authors' original article (see record 2003-06802-005) on the big-fish--little-pond effect (BFLPE). In its simplest form the BFLPE predicts that equally able students have lower academic self-concepts when attending schools where the average ability levels of other students is high than when attending schools where the school-average ability is low. The authors argue that there is extremely strong support for internal validity, external validity, generalizability and policy-practice implications of the BFLPE and that it stands up to critical scrutiny. The article discusses long-lasting effects of the BFLPE and important educational outcomes, reflected-glory effects (RGEs), theoretical predictions. From social comparison theory, and policy implications, and the authors urge parents to think carefully about the implications of school placements and policymakers and practitioners to reflect on potential negative effects of current policy practice.