Longitudinal Relations Among Parents' Reactions to Children's Negative Emotions,Effortful Control,and Math Achievement in Early Elementary School

Panel mediation models and fixed‐effects models were used to explore longitudinal relations among parents' reactions to children's displays of negative emotions, children's effortful control (EC), and children's math achievement (N = 291; M age in fall of kindergarten = 5.66 years, SD = .39 year) across kindergarten through second grade. Parents reported their reactions and children's EC. Math achievement was assessed with a standardized achievement test. First‐grade EC mediated the relation between parents' reactions at kindergarten and second‐grade math achievement, beyond stability in constructs across study years. Panel mediation model results suggested that socialization of EC may be one method of promoting math achievement in early school; however, when all omitted time‐invariant covariates of EC and math achievement were controlled, first‐grade EC no longer predicted second‐grade math achievement.     

The relationship between math anxiety and math achievement in young children is mediated through working memory,not by number sense,and it is not direct

Math anxiety is considered a predictor of math achievement, although the cognitive mechanism whereby math anxiety impairs math achievement is unclear. The paper presents the results of cross-sectional (N = 241) and longitudinal (N = 369) studies conducted among early school-aged children on the cognitive mechanism whereby math anxiety impairs math achievement. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) math anxiety directly affects math achievement; (2) in accordance with processing efficiency and attentional cognitive theories, math anxiety indirectly affects math achievement through working memory; (3) in accordance with the cognitive deficit model, math anxiety indirectly affects math achievement through number sense. The results mostly confirm the mediating role of working memory and undermine the mediating role of number sense and the direct path in the relationship between math anxiety and math achievement. Because previous studies undertaken in adults show the direct path from math anxiety to math achievement and the role of symbolic number processing in explaining the relationship between the two, the methodological and developmental aspects of the obtained results are discussed in the paper.     

How are upper secondary school students’ expectancy-value profiles associated with achievement and university STEM major? A cross-domain comparison

Expectancy-value theory (Eccles, 2009) posits that students’ relative expectancies and values across domains inform their academic choices. Students should therefore be more likely to choose a STEM major if they have higher expectancies and values in STEM domains compared with other domains. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore how upper secondary school students’ profiles in expectancy-value beliefs in math and English are related to concurrent achievement and university major choice. Data on expectancies and values in math and English were collected from 2153 German students in their last school year, along with their concurrent math and English achievement and their university major 2 years later. Latent profile analyses revealed four distinct expectancy-value profiles characterized as Low Math/High English, Moderate Math/Moderate English, High Math/Low English, and High Math/High English. Students’ gender, socioeconomic status, and type of school were meaningfully associated with profile membership. For instance, female students were overrepresented in the Low Math/High English profile compared with other profiles. Students in the four profiles also differed in their math and English achievement. These differences were mostly in line with students’ expectancies and values in the respective domain, but some differences suggested that intraindividual cross-domain comparison processes were also at play. Finally, profile membership predicted students’ choice of a STEM major over and above demographic characteristics and achievement. Students in the High Math/Low English profile were most likely to choose a STEM major. These findings support the importance of considering intraindividual comparisons of expectancies and values for students’ achievement-related behavior and choices.     

Maternal Support of Children's Early Numerical Concept Learning Predicts Preschool and First‐Grade Math Achievement

The primary goal in this study was to examine maternal support of numerical concepts at 36 months as predictors of math achievement at 4½ and 6‐7 years. Observational measures of mother–child interactions (n = 140) were used to examine type of support for numerical concepts. Maternal support that involved labeling the quantities of sets of objects was predictive of later child math achievement. This association was significant for preschool (d = .45) and first‐grade math (d = .49), controlling for other forms of numerical support (identifying numerals, one‐to‐one counting) as well as potential confounding factors. The importance of maternal support of labeling set sizes at 36 months is discussed as a precursor to children's eventual understanding of the cardinal principle.     

Math achievement,stereotypes, and math self-concepts among elementary-school students in Singapore

Singaporean elementary-school students (N = 299) completed Child Implicit Association Tests (Child IAT) as well as explicit measures of gender identity, math–gender stereotypes, and math self-concepts. Students also completed a standardized math achievement test. Three new findings emerged. First, implicit, but not explicit, math self-concepts (math = me) were positively related to math achievement on a standardized test. Second, as expected, stronger math–gender stereotypes (math = boys) significantly correlated with stronger math self-concepts for boys and weaker math self-concepts for girls, on both implicit and explicit measures. Third, implicit math–gender stereotypes were significantly related to math achievement. These findings show that non-academic factors such as implicit math self-concepts and stereotypes are linked to students' actual math achievement. The findings suggest that measuring individual differences in non-academic factors may be a useful tool for educators in assessing students' academic outcomes.     

Gender by racial/ethnic intersectionality in the patterns of Adolescents’ math motivation and their math achievement and engagement

Individuals' math motivational beliefs are theorized to shape their STEM achievement and engagement in high school and beyond. Combining situated expectancy-value theory and intersectionality framework, the goals of this study were to (a) identify the unique patterns of U.S. high school students' math motivational beliefs, (b) examine differences in the patterns based on the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity, and (c) test the extent to which these patterns predicted differences in students' math achievement and classroom behavioral engagement for each of the gender by racial/ethnic groups. The current study included 16,120 high schoolers (50% female; 63% White, 17% Latina/o, 11% Black, and 9% Asian Americans; Mage = 14.46 at Grade 9) from the High School Longitudinal Study. There were six unique patterns of students' math motivational beliefs: Overall High, Above Average but not Identified, Identified but Average Value, Average, Low Identity, and Overall Low. Pattern membership at the intersection of gender and race/ethnicity showed nuances that could not be represented by gender or race/ethnicity alone; for example, male and female Asian American adolescents had similar patterns, but many male and female adolescents of other racial/ethnic groups had different patterns. Adolescents' math motivational belief patterns were associated with their Grade 11 math achievement and behavioral engagement even after controlling for prior math achievement and family socioeconomic status, and the associated varied by the gender and racial/ethnic groups.     

Intraindividual relations between achievement goals and discrete achievement emotions: An experience sampling approach

Theories on the link between achievement goals and achievement emotions focus on their within-person functional relationship (i.e., intraindividual relations). However, empirical studies have failed to analyze these intraindividual relations and have instead examined between-person covariation of the two constructs (i.e., interindividual relations). Aiming to better connect theory and empirical research, the present study (N = 120 10th grade students) analyzed intraindividual relations by assessing students' state goals and emotions using experience sampling (N = 1409 assessments within persons). In order to replicate previous findings on interindividual relations, students' trait goals and emotions were assessed using self-report questionnaires. Despite being statistically independent, both types of relations were consistent with theoretical expectations, as shown by multi-level modeling: Mastery goals were positive predictors of enjoyment and negative predictors of boredom and anger; performance-approach goals were positive predictors of pride; and performance-avoidance goals were positive predictors of anxiety and shame. Reasons for the convergence of intra- and interindividual findings, directions for future research, and implications for educational practice are discussed.     

Interest in spatial activities predicts young children’s spatial ability development: A two-year longitudinal study

Studies have indicated the important impact of spatial abilities on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) achievement. However, little is known about the predictors of individual differences in the growth trajectory of spatial ability. Children’s interest in learning activities plays a significant role in their ability development in literacy, math, and science. Therefore, the current study explored the role of children’s interest in spatial activities in their spatial ability development. We hypothesized that children’s interest in spatial activities would positively predict both the initial level and subsequent growth rate of spatial ability. The spatial ability of 197 Hong Kong preschool children (mean age = 52.72 months and SD = 3.30 months in the first wave of spatial ability assessment [Time 1]) was assessed four times over a two-year period, using a visual–spatial skills task. Their mothers ranked the children’s interest in various activities from 1 (most interested) to 13 (least interested) at Time 1. A growth curve analysis was performed to examine the relationships between interest in spatial activities at Time 1 and initial level and subsequent growth of spatial skills, controlling for parents’ expectations concerning spatial development, children’s interest in art activities, and demographics. The results showed that children’s interest in spatial activities significantly predicted their spatial ability growth (β = 0.252, p = .042), explaining 5.7% of the variance in growth, but was unrelated to the initial level of spatial skills. This finding highlights the importance of preserving and enhancing young children’s interest in spatial activities, among other activities, for the development of their spatial abilities.     

The effect of blended learning on student performance at course-level in higher education: A meta-analysis

The present paper analyzes the impact of blended learning (BL) on the academic achievement of higher education students. A meta-analysis (k = 51 effect sizes) was conducted to perform a statistical synthesis of studies contrasting student performance in BL conditions with traditional classroom instruction. We include disciplines and instructors’ end-of-course evaluation method as moderating variables. The results show that BL demonstrates a small summary effect (g⁺ = 0.385, p < 0.001) compared to traditional teaching methods A significantly higher mean effect size was found in STEM disciplines (g⁺ = 0.496) compared to that of non-STEM disciplines (g⁺ = 0.210). Nevertheless, the weighted mean effect sizes reveal no significant differences regarding of end-of-course assessment methods, namely one-moment and multiple-component assessment. The finding confirms that BL is significantly associated with greater learning performance of STEM-disciplined students than with traditional classroom practice. Accordingly, discussion concerning the findings and implications for future research are elaborated.     

Parental involvement and general cognitive ability as predictors of domain-specific academic achievement in early adolescence

Numerous studies showed that general cognitive ability (GCA) is a reliable predictor of academic achievement. In addition, parental involvement in their children's academic development is of major importance in early adolescence. This study investigated the incremental validity of parental involvement over GCA in the prediction of academic performance within the domains of math and language. We examined four dimensions of perceived parental involvement: autonomy supporting behavior, emotional responsivity, structure, and achievement-oriented control. Results from a sample of 334 adolescents (mean age = 12.4, SD = .9, range = 10–14 years) showed that GCA was the strongest predictor of achievement in both domains. While autonomy support and emotional responsivity had no predictive value over GCA, high levels of achievement-oriented control and structure were detrimental to academic success. These findings provide new evidence for the significance of parental involvement in their children's achievement in school even after the most powerful predictor of academic success has been accounted for.     

The formation of academic self-concept and interest in primary school: Examining the generalized internal/external frame of reference model with first- and third-grade children

The generalized internal/external frame-of-reference (GI/E) model explains the formation of self-perceptions and motivational constructs through social and dimensional comparisons. Research examining the GI/E model with primary school children is scarce, especially with first-grade children. Using two fully representative first-grade cohorts and two fully representative third-grade cohorts (N = 21,162; 48% girls) from Luxembourg, we examined the relations between math and verbal achievements and corresponding domain-specific academic self-concepts (ASCs) and interests. In addition, we tested whether the relations between domain-specific achievements and interests are cross-sectionally mediated through ASCs. Positive achievement-ASC and achievement-interest relations were found within matching domains in both grade levels, while the relations between achievements and ASCs and between achievements and interests across nonmatching domains were significantly negative for third-grade children. For first-grade children, the majority of cross-domain relations were nonsignificant, except for the path between math achievement and verbal interest. For school children in both grade levels, domain-specific ASCs were found to mediate the relation between achievements and interests. Overall, the findings indicate that social comparisons play an important role in the formation of domain-specific ASCs and interests for both grade levels, while dimensional comparisons are not as important in the first school year as it is later in the third grade. Gender and cohort invariance were established in both grade levels.     

The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept and interest in first- and third-grade students

BackgroundThe big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE) postulates that class-average achievement has a negative effect on students’ academic self-concept. Research examining the BFLPE with elementary school students is scarce, especially with first graders.AimsThis study examined the BFLPE of class-average achievement on academic self-concept and interest in the math domain with first and third graders.SampleParticipants were Luxembourgish first graders (N = 5057) and third graders (N = 4925).MethodsA multilevel, doubly latent approach was used to assess a BFLPE model containing achievement (as the predictor) and ASC and interest (as outcomes) in the math domain.ResultsThe BFLPE on math self-concept was supported in both grades, whereas the BFLPE on math interest was supported only for third graders. In both grades, larger effect sizes were observed for the BFLPE on math self-concept than on math interest.ConclusionOur results suggest that the social comparisons underlying the BFLPE play an important role in the formation of math self-concept in both grades, but they play a less substantial—and probably later—role in the formation of math interest in elementary school.     

Effect of teacher support on students’ math attitudes: Measurement invariance and moderation of students' background characteristics

We examine the effect of students' perceptions of teacher support on attitudes towards math and whether the association varies between students from historically underrepresented groups in STEM. Participants included high school students enrolled in an AP Statistics course (N = 585, M_age = 16.75 years, SD_age = 0.88). Measurement invariance conducted on the basis of student background characteristics (i.e., biological sex, underrepresented race/ethnicity status, and parental educational attainment) provided evidence of metric invariance or greater. Standardized regression coefficients suggested potential differences, such that for students who were female, from an underrepresented racial/ethnicity group in STEM, or had parents with lower levels of education, the effect of teacher support appeared not as strong compared to their counterparts. However, scaled chi-square difference tests comparing nested latent path models did not suggest a moderation effect of these three characteristics. These findings have implications for understanding barriers many students face in receiving the benefits of teacher support.     

The importance of motivation as a predictor of school achievement

The present study examined to which extent different motivational concepts contribute to the prediction of school achievement among adolescent students independently from intelligence. A sample of 342 11th and 12th graders (age M = 16.94; SD = .71) was investigated. Students gave self-reports on domain-specific values, ability self-perceptions, goals, and achievement motives. Hierarchical regression and relative weights analyses were performed with grades in math and German as dependent variables and intelligence as well as motivational measures as independent variables. Beyond intelligence, different motivational constructs incrementally contributed to the prediction of school achievement. Domain-specific ability self-perceptions and values showed the highest increments whereas achievement motives and goal orientations explained less additional variance. Even when prior achievement was controlled, some motivational concepts still proved to contribute to the prediction of subsequent performance. In the light of these findings, we discuss the importance of motivation in educational contexts.     

Groupitizing reflects conceptual developments in math cognition and inequities in math achievement from childhood through adolescence

Understanding the cognitive processes central to mathematical development is crucial to addressing systemic inequities in math achievement. We investigate the “Groupitizing” ability in 1209 third to eighth graders (mean age at first timepoint = 10.48, 586 girls, 39.16% Asian, 28.88% Hispanic/Latino, 18.51% White), a process that captures the ability to use grouping cues to access the exact value of a set. Groupitizing improves each year from late childhood to early adolescence (d = 3.29), is a central predictor of math achievement (beta weight = .30), is linked to conceptual processes in mathematics (minimum d = 0.69), and helps explain the dynamic between the ongoing development of non-symbolic number concepts, systemic educational inequities in school associated with SES, and mathematics achievement (minimum beta weight = .11) in ways that explicit symbolic measures may miss.     

Achievement goals and academic achievement: A closer look at moderating factors

Two recently published meta-analyses (Huang, 2012, Hulleman et al., 2010) have focused on the association between achievement goals and achievement outcomes. These meta-analyses differed to some extent, e.g., regarding the identified moderators. The present meta-analysis serves to clarify those heterogeneous findings by considering more studies through 2011 and by considering more moderators. Our literature search identified 180 publications (N = 81 947). Analyses (using random effects models) revealed small but significant associations between achievement goals and achievement outcomes (r = −.12 to r = .13; all ps < .01; global performance goals: r = .01, p > .05). The results of the present moderator analyses differed from those of the previous meta-analyses. For example, in contrast to Huang (2012), we were able to find several moderators of the association between performance-approach goals and academic achievement. The results have several important implications, especially regarding the assessment of achievement goals.     

Estimating the co-development of executive functions and math achievement throughout the elementary grades using a cross-lagged panel model with fixed effects

Executive functioning (EF) is associated with children’s math skill development, both concurrently and longitudinally. However, it is not known how components of EF might be related to mathematics skills and vice versa over the course of elementary school. The present study addresses this issue by investigating relations between math achievement and two key components of EF -- working memory (WM) and cognitive flexibility (CF) -- from kindergarten to 5th grade, using the large-scale nationally representative dataset (N = 18,174) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten (ECLS-K: 2011). Results from cross-lagged panel models with fixed effects support a transactional theoretical model, demonstrating a long-term reciprocal relationship between WM and math achievement from kindergarten to 5th grade and between CF and math achievement from 2nd grade to 5th grade. However, we found that reciprocal relations decrease as children grow older, suggesting that their math achievement relies less on EF and more on prior math knowledge over time.     

Expectancy-value profiles in math and science: A person-centered approach to cross-domain motivation with academic and STEM-related outcomes

The need to enhance the STEM workforce and, in turn, the STEM educational pipeline is a prevailing issue in the U.S. One critical component in this pipeline is students’ interest in STEM majors and their persistence in such majors, theorized to be a function of both students’ perceived value and expectancy beliefs in the subject matter. Using an expectancy-value lens, we examined cross-domain patterns of high school students’ expectancy beliefs and values in both mathematics and science using a person-centered or profile approach. With data from the High School Longitudinal Study, latent profile analysis revealed five profiles characterized as Low Math/Low Science (i.e., endorsing low levels of expectancy and value beliefs in math and science), Moderate Math/Moderate Science, High Math/High Science, Low Math/High Science, and High Math/Low Science. Taking into account aspects of students’ background and school context, we found that motivational profile membership predicted math and science high school achievement, college persistence, and both STEM major intentions and major choices. Moreover, there were a number of gender and racial/ethnic differences and contextual variation in profile memberships as well. Implications for theory and educational practice are discussed in relation to study findings.     

Attention problems,phonological short-term memory,and visuospatial short-term memory: Differential effects on near- and long-term scholastic achievement

The current study examined individual differences in children's phonological and visuospatial short-term memory as potential mediators of the relationship among attention problems and near- and long-term scholastic achievement. Nested structural equation models revealed that teacher-reported attention problems were associated negatively with composite scholastic achievement (reading, math, language), both initially and at 4-year follow-up in an ethnically diverse sample of children (N = 317). Much of this influence, however, was attenuated by phonological short-term memory's contribution to near-term achievement and visuospatial short-term memory's contribution to long-term achievement. Domain-specific reading and math models showed similar results with some exceptions. In all models, measured intelligence made no contribution to later achievement beyond its initial influence on early achievement. The results contribute to our understanding of the mechanisms associated with individual differences in children's scholastic achievement, and have potential implications for identifying early predictors of children at risk for academic failure, and developing remedial programs targeting phonological and visuospatial short-term memory deficits in children with attention problems.     

Concurrent and longitudinal associations between parental educational involvement,teacher support,and math anxiety: The role of math learning involvement in elementary school children

Environmental and individual factors are regarded as powerful predictors of math anxiety. However, their joint contribution to predicting math anxiety has not been thoroughly explored. To address this, two studies were conducted to examine how parental educational involvement and teacher support related to math evaluation anxiety and learning math anxiety concurrently (Study 1) and longitudinally (Study 2) and whether the effect of parental educational involvement and teacher support on math anxiety needed to go through math learning involvement. Third-grade students (Study 1: N = 1780, Study 2: N = 1850) from three public elementary schools participated in the studies. Concurrent analyses revealed that higher parental educational involvement and teacher support were associated with higher math learning involvement and lower math anxiety. Moreover, math learning involvement partially mediated the relation between parental educational involvement and math evaluation anxiety, teacher support and math evaluation anxiety, teacher support and learning math anxiety, but fully mediated the relation between parental educational involvement and learning math anxiety. Longitudinally, robust associations were found between current parental educational involvement, current teacher support, and subsequent learning math anxiety. But similar patterns did not emerge in math evaluation anxiety. Specifically, the direct effect of parental educational involvement and teacher support on math evaluation anxiety was not significant. These findings suggested the importance of taking into account the dimension of math anxiety when understanding the mechanisms of math anxiety from a dynamic developmental perspective. We demonstrate areas that need improvement and suggest possible future directions.