A questionnaire on mathematics learning strategies (CEAMA): measurement and properties of an adaptation into Spanish / Cuestionario de Estrategias de Aprendizaje para las Matemáticas (CEAMA): medida y propiedades de una adaptación en lengua castellana

Learning strategies are an essential tool to enable the autonomous and active learning of mathematics and it is therefore necessary to identify these strategies correctly. The objective of this research is to analyse the factorial structure of the Spanish version of a questionnaire that measures the use of these strategies in the subject of mathematics (Cuestionario de Estrategias de Aprendizaje para las Matemáticas [CEAMA]). We adapt a questionnaire based on the MSLQ (Motivated Strategy for Learning Questionnaire), since it is focused on the context of mathematics learning. The study has been conducted in different schools located in the Basque Country and collects data from 631 students of the second, third and fourth years of compulsory secondary education (ESO). The results show a hepta-scale structure compared to the six-scale structure proposed by the original English version. The difference is detected in the division of metacognitive strategies into two factors: planning and monitoring/regulation. This finding improves data on metacognition in mathematics teaching and learning, making it richer and more exhaustive. The suitability of certain items is discussed.     

Placing Immigrant and Minority Family and Community Members at the School's Centre: the role of community participation

Schools alone cannot reverse the high rates of school failure in the poorest communities in Europe; they need the contributions of the entire community. Coordination between families, the larger community, and the school has proven crucial to enhance student learning and achievement, especially for minority and disadvantaged families. However, families from such backgrounds often participate in their schools only peripherally because the schools take a ‘tourist’ approach, call parents to inform them about school projects and teachers' programmes, or consult them about decisions to be made by professionals, rather than engaging them in their children's education. In contrast, the INCLUD-ED project studied schools across Europe whose students are culturally diverse and from low SES backgrounds; here, the communities are deeply involved in the schools and the students do well academically. This article focuses on three strategies used by these successful schools to engage immigrant and minority community members in more active, decisive, and intellectual ways and thus have greater impact on the school and the students' learning. It also describes some specific practices of involvement grounded in those strategies and the improvements they generate. Though the schools studied use different practices, the three strategies have been found to contribute to a transformative result in all schools: moving minority and disadvantaged families from the periphery of school participation to the centre.

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