This study analyzes the relationships between cognitive appraisals, classroom and test emotions and math achievement in a sample of 1219 Portuguese students from the 6 th and 8 Results showed significant associations between students competence and value appraisals, their emotional experiences in test and classroom situations, and their math achievement. However, when emotions were considered simultaneously in Structural EquationModelling, only anger in test situations and hopelessness were significant negative predictors of students math achievement. Hopelessness appears to play a particular role in the interplay between cognitive appraisals, emotions and academic achievement as it is the only emotion that relates to math achievement both in test and classroom situations. Furthermore, findings also support the existence of differences in the relationships between cognitive appraisals and the achievement emotions students experience in these two settings.

The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire is a self-report instrument developed to measure the emotions of students in academic situations. The main purpose of this research was to adapt and validate this questionnaire to assess pre-adolescent class-related and test-related emotions towards mathematics. The participants were 1515 Portuguese students from grades 5 and 7 (age range 10-13 years). Confirmatory factor analyses and descriptive statistics confirm the reliability and internal validity the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire for PreAdolescents (AEQ-PA), providing evidence that the AEQ-PA is an effective instrument to assess pre-adolescent achievement emotions towards mathematics classes and tests.Keywords: Emotions, Achievement, Mathematics, Psychometrics 3 AEQ -Pre-Adolescents Emotions are central to the understanding of student learning and achievement (e.g. Govaerts & Grégoire, 2008; Pekrun, 2006;Weiner, 2010). Despite the importance of emotions in academic settings, research on this topic is relatively recent, with some exceptions including research on test anxiety (Zeidner, 1998) and Weiner's attribution theory (Weiner, 2010). Results of several qualitative studies (e.g. see Pekrun, Goetz, Titz & Perry, 2002) highlight that, in their academic activities, students experience a wide range of emotions, which can appear periodically at different frequencies depending on the academic situations. This emotional diversity must be considered in order to deeply understand student's affective life.Pekrun's (2006) control-value theory provides a social-cognitive perspective on achievement emotions providing a theoretical taxonomy of the internal structure of academic emotions. It maintains that control appraisals (competence beliefs, expectancies, attributions) and value appraisals (perceived value of activities or outcomes) are critical antecedents of achievement emotions. This theory organizes emotions according to three dimensions: valence (positive vs. negative), activation level (activating vs. deactivating), and object focus (activity vs. outcomes). It has been the theoretical framework for the development of instruments adapted to different grade levels which allows us to understand emotions and emotional change in different school situations.Pekrun, Goetz and Perry (2005) conceived the Achievement Emotions Questionnaire (AEQ) based on exploratory studies identifying the emotions reported by students in academic situations (see Pekrun, Goetz, Frenzel, Barchfeld, & Perry, 2011). The AEQ includes nine different emotions (enjoyment, hope, pride, relief, anger, anxiety, hopelessness, shame, and boredom), classified according to the three dimensions above. Items focus on emotions experienced in three contexts: class attendance, learning, and doing tests (Pekrun et al, 2005). AEQ -Pre-AdolescentsResearch with the AEQ supports the idea that achievement emotions are better understood when taking into consideration "both the differences between discrete emotions and the differences between emotions that occ...

No abstract

Keeping students back in the same grade -retention -has always been a controversial issue in Education, with some defending it as a beneficial remedial practice and others arguing against its detrimental effects. This paper undertakes an analysis of this issue, focusing on the differences in student motivation and self-related variables according to their retention related status, and the interrelationship between retention and these variables. The participants were 695 students selected from two cohorts (5th and 7th graders) of a larger group of students followed over a 3-year project. The students were assigned to four groups according to their retention-related status over time: (1) students with past and recent retention; (2) students with past but no recent retention; (3) students with no past but recent retention; (4) students with no past or recent retention. Measures of achievement goal orientations, self-concept, self-esteem, importance given to school subjects and Grade Point Average (GPA) were collected for all students. Repeated measures MANCOVA analyses were carried out showing group differences in selfesteem, academic self-concept, importance attributed to academic competencies, task and avoidance orientation and academic achievement. To attain a deeper understanding of these results and to identify profiles across variables, a cluster analysis based on achievement goals was conducted and four clusters were identified. Students who were retained at the end of the school year are mainly represented in clusters with less adaptive motivational profiles and almost absent from clusters exhibiting more adaptive ones. Findings highlight that retention leaves a significant mark that remains even when students recover academic achievement and retention is in the distant past. This is reflected in the low academic self-concept as well as in the devaluation of academic competencies and in the avoidance orientation which, taken together, can undermine students' academic adjustment and turn retention into a risk factor.

Background. The current paper is based on two different approaches. One is the relational model of authority (Tyler & Lind, 1992), which addresses the effects of justice perceptions on the legitimacy of authorities and behavioural compliance. The other is Emler and Reicher's theory (1995, 2005), which explains the involvement of adolescents in delinquency through their relationship with the institutional authorities of society. Aims. To provide empirical evidence for the linkage of these perspectives, analysing the relationship between justice perceptions about teachers and the involvement of adolescents in deviant behaviour. Our hypotheses are that teachers’ justice is negatively related with deviant behaviour and that this relationship is mediated through the evaluation of institutional authorities, after controlling for school failure. Sample. Three hundred and ninety adolescents aged between 14 and 17 years. Methods. Participants completed the following scales: perceptions of justice about teachers, evaluation of institutional authorities, and deviant behaviour. Data were examined through correlation and bootstrap analyses. Results. Justice judgments about teachers were negatively related with deviant behaviour, and this relationship was partially mediated by the evaluation of institutional authorities, even after controlling for school failure. However, procedural justice revealed a much stronger relationship with deviance, compared to distributive justice. Conclusions. As predicted, these results suggest that when adolescents perceive school authorities as fair, other institutional authorities are likely to be perceived in a similar way and the more those authorities are positively evaluated, the less often adolescents engage in deviant conduct. Results are discussed according to the theories underlying our hypothesis. Directions for future research are suggested.

No abstract

This study presents the development and analysis of the psychometric properties of the Deviant Behavior Variety Scale (DBVS). Participants were 861 Portuguese adolescents (54 % female), aged between 12 and 19 years old. Two alternative models were tested using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Although both models showed good fit indexes, the two-factor model didn't presented discriminant validity. Further results provided evidence for the factorial and the convergent validity of the single-factor structure of the DVBS, which has also shown good internal consistency. Criterion validity was evaluated through the association with related variables, such as age and school failure, as well as the scale's ability to capture group differences, namely between genders and school retentions, and finally by comparing a sub-group of convicted adolescents with a group of non-convicted ones regarding their engagement in delinquent activities. Overall, the scale presented good psychometric properties, with results supporting that the DBVS is a valid and reliable self-reported measure to evaluate adolescents' involvement in deviance.

No abstract