The role of cognitive and non-cognitive factors in mathematics achievement: The importance of the quality of the student-teacher relationship in middle school

Semeraro, Cristina; Giofrè, David; Coppola, Gabrielle; Lucangeli, Daniela; Cassibba, Rosalinda

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0231381

Cited by 47 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 115 publications

(152 reference statements)

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“…The associations found between the different profiles of school refusal behaviors and the dimensions of school anxiety can be used by education and mental health professionals as an empirical basis to develop effective preventive and intervention actions to promote school adjustment. These actions could include educational methodologies, such as tutoring or school counseling, cooperative learning and self-evaluation, as well as interventions devoted to improving the quality of the student-teacher relationship ( 60 ). In turn, relaxation training, cognitive-behavioral techniques and self-control, self-reinforcement and problem-solving techniques would be recommended to enhance the mental health of individuals with school attendance problems.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the Functional Profiles of School Refusal Behavior and Clarifying Their Relationship With School Anxiety

Gonzálvez

Díaz-Herrero

Sanmartín

et al. 2020

Front. Public Health

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Students with school attendance problems are a diverse and heterogeneous group whose patterns of symptomatology can change over time. This study aims to identify different school refusal behavior profiles and to determine whether these profiles differ from each other based on four situational factors and three response systems of school anxiety across gender. The participants were 1,685 Spanish students (49% female) aged 15–18 years (M = 16.28; SD =0.97). The School Refusal Assessment Scale-Revised (SRAS-R) and the School Anxiety Inventory (SAI) were administered. Latent profile analysis revealed five school refusal behavior profiles: Non-School Refusal Behavior, Mixed School Refusal Behavior, School Refusal Behavior by Positive Reinforcement, Low School Refusal Behavior, and High School Refusal Behavior. The results indicated that High School Refusal Behavior and Mixed School Refusal Behavior groups were the most maladaptive profiles since it obtained the highest mean scores on school anxiety. In contrast, Non-School Refusal and School Refusal Behavior by Positive Reinforcement groups revealed the lowest scores in school anxiety. Non-significant gender-based differences were found, only girls were more represented in the mixed school refusal behavior profile in comparison with boys but with a small effect size. Findings are discussed in relation to the importance of promoting good mental health to prevent school attendance problems in adolescents and younger ages.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the Functional Profiles of School Refusal Behavior and Clarifying Their Relationship With School Anxiety

Gonzálvez

Díaz-Herrero

Sanmartín

et al. 2020

Front. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The quality of relationships with teachers has been found to have a direct influence on students' mathematics engagement and achievement (Attard, 2011(Attard, , 2013Semeraro et al, 2020). Positive relationships with teachers also help to develop students' socio-emotional skills and motivation for mathematics learning (Semeraro et al, 2020;Stroet et al, 2015). Additionally, secondary teachers' emphasis on mastery goals was found to promote higher self-efficacy in students (Friedel et al, 2010).…”

Section: Social Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Student-teacher relationships is another influential construct that shapes students' experiences of mathematics transition. The quality of relationships with teachers has been found to have a direct influence on students' mathematics engagement and achievement (Attard, 2011(Attard, , 2013Semeraro et al, 2020). Positive relationships with teachers also help to develop students' socio-emotional skills and motivation for mathematics learning (Semeraro et al, 2020;Stroet et al, 2015).…”

Section: Social Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mathematics and science across the transition from primary to secondary school: a systematic literature review

2022

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This study presents the findings from a systematic review of literature (1990–2020) of mathematics and science transition from primary to secondary education. The purpose of this review was to explore factors that influence students’ experiences of mathematics and science transition from primary to secondary school, implications of these experiences and measures that have been used to support students during these transitions. In total, 73 publications related to mathematics transition and 47 publications related to science transition were analysed. Synthesis of findings identified three factors, namely student self-regulation, school and academic related, and social factors that contribute to shaping students’ positive or negative experiences of mathematics and science transitions. The review findings suggest that no single factor can be attributed to influence students’ experiences of mathematics and science transition and an interplay between various factors contributes to these experiences. The implications of difficult transition experiences were identified as shifts in students’ academic achievement, attitudes towards mathematics and science and constructs related to identity development. Recommendations for future research are proposed to address gaps identified in current literature.

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“…More generally, individual differences in academic achievement, achievement growth, and grade-point average are related to domain-general cognitive abilities (e.g., working memory; Geary et al, 2017 ; Peng et al, 2019 ) and to non-cognitive factors, such as mathematics self-efficacy ( Marsh and Yeung, 1998 ; Eccles and Wang, 2016 ; Semeraro et al, 2020 ). However, most of the learning difficulties research has focused on cognitive factors, such as poor working memory ( Geary, 1993 , 2004 ; Swanson et al, 2009a ; Peng and Fuchs, 2016 ; Koponen et al, 2017 ), although non-cognitive factors are sometimes considered ( Cirino et al, 2018 ; Devine et al, 2018 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comorbid Learning Difficulties in Reading and Mathematics: The Role of Intelligence and In-Class Attentive Behavior

et al. 2020

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The goal was to identify the domain-general cognitive abilities and academic attitudes that are common and unique to reading and mathematics learning difficulties that in turn will have implications for intervention development. Across seventh and eighth grade, 315 (155 boys) adolescents ( M age = 12.75 years) were administered intelligence, verbal short-term and working memory, and visuospatial memory, attention, and ability measures, along with measures of English and mathematics attitudes and mathematics anxiety. Teachers reported on students’ in-class attentive behavior. A combination of Bayesian and multi-level models revealed that intelligence and in-class attentive behavior were common predictors of reading accuracy, reading fluency, and mathematics achievement. Verbal short-term memory was more critical for reading accuracy and fluency, whereas spatial ability and mathematics self-efficacy were more critical for mathematics achievement. The combination of intelligence and in-class attentive behavior discriminated typically achieving students from students with comorbid ( D = 2.44) or mathematics ( D = 1.59) learning difficulties, whereas intelligence, visuospatial attention, and verbal short-term memory discriminated typically achieving students from students with reading disability ( D = 1.08). The combination of in-class attentive behavior, verbal short-term memory, and mathematics self-efficacy discriminated students with mathematics difficulties from their peers with reading difficulties ( D = 1.16). Given the consistent importance of in-class attentive behavior, we conducted post hoc follow-up analyses. The results suggested that students with poor in-class attentive behavior were disengaging from academic learning which in turn contributed to their risk of learning difficulties.

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The role of cognitive and non-cognitive factors in mathematics achievement: The importance of the quality of the student-teacher relationship in middle school

Cited by 47 publications

References 115 publications

Testing the Functional Profiles of School Refusal Behavior and Clarifying Their Relationship With School Anxiety

Testing the Functional Profiles of School Refusal Behavior and Clarifying Their Relationship With School Anxiety

Mathematics and science across the transition from primary to secondary school: a systematic literature review

Comorbid Learning Difficulties in Reading and Mathematics: The Role of Intelligence and In-Class Attentive Behavior

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