Student self-regulated learning (SRL) is theorized to draw upon cognitive resources such as executive functions (EF) in support of planning, monitoring, and control processes in the service of academic goals. Prior work has demonstrated connections between direct measures of EF and reports of regulation behaviors, but this has not been frequently extended using an SRL framework to classroom behaviors and resulting school achievement. We find relations between inhibition and shifting elements of EF and teacher reports of SRL and links between both and student achievement on standardized tests and classroom grades in mathematics and language arts.We also find that links between EF and math achievement are partially mediated through SRL. Our results suggest that aspects of EF can support or may be a bottleneck for SRL and thus academic achievement, and as such, they have implications for cognitive and educational interventions.

This study uses data from an urban school district to examine the relation between students’ motivational beliefs about mathematics and high- versus low-stakes math test performance. We use ordinary least squares and quantile regression analyses and find that the association between students’ motivation and test performance differs based on the stakes of the exam. Students’ math self-efficacy and performance avoidance goal orientation were the strongest predictors for both exams; however, students’ math self-efficacy was more strongly related to achievement on the low-stakes exam. Students’ motivational beliefs had a stronger association at the low-stakes exam proficiency cutoff than they did at the high-stakes passing cutoff. Lastly, the negative association between performance avoidance goals and high-stakes performance showed a decreasing trend across the achievement distribution, suggesting that performance avoidance goals are more detrimental for lower achieving students. These findings help parse out the ways motivation influences achievement under different stakes.

No abstract

As more attention is placed on designing digital educational games to align with schools 0 academic aims (e.g., Common Core), questions arise regarding how professional development (PD) may support teachers 0 using games for instruction and how such integration might impact students 0 achievement. This study seeks to (a) understand how teachers use PD resources (e.g., technology personnel and game-use workshops) for integration; (b) determine how teachers integrate games into their instruction; and (c) examine how those teaching practices are associated with student achievement. This mixed method study used survey and interview responses from elementary school teachers (n = 863) with access to PD resources for implementing a math game intervention and standardized math-test scores from their second-through sixth-grade students (n = 10,715). Findings showed few teachers sought PD assistance for integration, but many desired such support. Some reported using integrative practices (i.e., referencing game and using game-generated progress reports) to identify struggling students, whereas several found integration challenging. Teachers 0 reordering of game objectives to align with lessons and viewing of game-based PD videos were associated with increased student math achievement in our OLSanalysis. However, this result was no longer statistically significant within a school fixed-effects model, suggesting school differences may influence how strongly teachers 0 practices are associated with student achievement.

No abstract