This study examined the relationship of intelligence mindsets to math achievement for primary school students in the Chinese educational context, as well as the mediating function of math self-efficacy and failure beliefs in this relationship. Participants included 466 fifth graders (231 boys and 235 girls) from two Chinese primary schools. Results indicated that boys had significantly higher mean levels of growth mindsets and math self-efficacy than girls, whereas boys had no statistically significant differences to girls on failure beliefs and math grade. Further, intelligence mindsets had a significant positive effect on math achievement, and failure beliefs and math self-efficacy played a full mediating role in the relationship between intelligence mindsets and math achievement. Moreover, intelligence mindsets affected math achievement through the chain mediating role of failure beliefs and math self-efficacy. These above findings contribute to advance our knowledge about the underlying mechanisms through which intelligence mindsets affect math achievement, which are of great significance to students' growth and current educational practice.
This study aimed to quantitatively determine the sociocultural adaptation profiles of ethnic minority senior high school students in mainland China. A large-scale questionnaire survey of 1873 Grade 12 students from 31 interior ethnic boarding schools throughout China was conducted. Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, the underlying structure of the sociocultural adaptation questionnaire was uncovered as consisting of three domains and six factors: General adaptation (daily life and school management), academic adaption (learning strategies and learning self-efficacy), and interaction adaptation (interethnic contact and cultural identity). By performing latent class analysis, four distinct sociocultural adaptation profiles of students were distinguished: The well-adapted group (28.0%), the general adaptation group (31.0%), the interaction adaptation group (24.4%), and the maladaptation group (16.6%). The results of chi-squared and variance analyses showed that the sociocultural adaptation profiles of ethnic minority senior high school students were significantly related to sociodemographic variables, such as ethnicity, class organization, hometown location, and family socioeconomic status. These profiles can be used to evaluate changes in ethnic minority students’ sociocultural adaptation and will contribute to the perfection of the ethnic minority boarding school system and the ultimate realization of inclusive and equitable quality education in China.
To improve the sustainable development of minority education and ensure equitable quality education, this study explored student- and school-related factors linked to the mathematics achievement of minority senior high school students in China. Based on the data obtained from 932 teachers and 1873 students, within 31 interior ethnic boarding schools in 14 provinces of China, multilevel analysis showed that gender, class organization, learning strategies, and learning self-efficacy were significant student-level predictors of mathematics achievement. Students were more likely to score highly if they were boys, were in mixed classes, had more self-efficacy in learning mathematics, and used more effective mathematics learning strategies. At the school level, teachers’ job satisfaction positively predicted students’ mathematics achievement. Additionally, there was a significant interaction between school location and expected class organization in relationship to students’ mathematics achievement. For schools located in the urban center, the effect of class organization on students’ mathematics achievement was greater than schools located in the suburbs. For the sustainable development of minority education, it is necessary to further promote mixed-class teaching, set such schools in the suburbs, and improve teachers’ job satisfaction through multiple measures.
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