Teacher, classroom, and student growth orientation in mathematics: A multilevel examination of growth goals, growth mindset, engagement, and achievement
Section snippets
Growth orientation
Growth orientation comprises three well-established growth constructs: growth mindset, self-based growth goals, and task-based growth goals (Bostwick et al., 2017, 2019). Growth mindset refers to beliefs about the malleability of intelligence, skills, and ability (Dweck, 2000). Those with a fixed mindset believe that intelligence is resistant to change whereas those with a growth mindset believe that intelligence is capable of development, especially through effort (Dweck, 2000). Self-based
Growth orientation from a multilevel perspective: teachers and classrooms
Although important work has been conducted into students’ GO (Bostwick et al., 2017, 2019), more work is needed – particularly in investigating potential classroom and teacher associations by using multilevel models that can estimate individual-student and between-classroom differences with teacher information simultaneously. In so doing, it is possible to extend current understanding from a student-level knowledge-base on GO to one that also considers classroom and teacher effects. More
Mathematics outcomes
The current study investigated GO of students and classrooms with teachers in relation to two important mathematics outcomes: engagement and achievement. Engagement is defined as a multifaceted construct that includes cognitive, behavioral, and emotional aspects (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Students who are engaged in mathematics tend to exhibit a lot of effort in their learning (cognitive), they participate actively in classroom settings (behavioral), and they report high rates of
Student and teacher background factors and classroom composition
We controlled for a series of covariates in order to better identify the unique associations between GO and mathematics outcomes at the student and classroom-level. At Level 1 (L1; student-level), we controlled for students’ gender, age, neighborhood socio-economic status (SES), language background, and prior achievement, as each has previously demonstrated relations with growth constructs or mathematics outcomes (Bong, 2009; Chouinard & Roy, 2008; Hemmings; Grootenboer, & Kay, 2011; F. L.;
Aims and hypotheses
The current study examined associations between GO (student, classroom, and teacher) and mathematics outcomes using a multilevel model. The aims of the study were to examine: (a) the associations between student GO and student outcomes (L1), (b) the associations between classroom GO and classroom mathematics outcomes (L2), (c) the associations between teachers’ GO and classroom mathematics outcomes (L2), and (d) the interaction between classroom and teacher GO (classroom∗teacher) and its
Participants
The current project comprised secondary school students (N = 1414) and their mathematics teachers (N = 91; 91 classrooms) from 15 schools across three states in Australia. The student sample was 46.7% male, 82.0% were primarily English-speaking at home, and 1.5% identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. On average, students were 14.3 years of age (SD = 0.9) and had a mean SES (M = 1082.0, SD = 80.8) slightly above the national average (M = 1000, SD = 100). The teacher sample was 56.0%
Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations
Descriptive and reliability statistics are presented in Table 1. In addition, the results from UMM are presented in Table 2. All variables were approximately normally distributed (as indicated by skew and kurtosis values; |skew|<3, |kurtosis|<10; Kline, 2015) and demonstrated adequate reliability and all student variables had adequate variance at Level 2 with significant variance in each intercept at Level 2. All bivariate correlations, including correlations with covariates, are presented in
Students’ growth orientation
Concurrent with previous single-level research (Bostwick et al., 2017, 2019), we found that students’ GO was positively associated with their mathematics outcomes. As detailed in earlier research, this is important as it suggests that the ‘growth’ core that underpins growth constructs is also an important component of students’ academic development and functioning. That is, when students are growth oriented, they possess the intersecting components of growth constructs simultaneously, leading
Conclusion
Taken together, the current study found evidence of significant classroom-level and teacher-related associations among GO and mathematics outcomes. After accounting for individual student variation, classroom GO was positively associated with classroom achievement, teacher GO was positively associated with classroom achievement (even after accounting for prior achievement), and there was a marginally significant interaction effect between classroom and teacher GO on classroom engagement. The
Author note
Keiko C.P. Bostwick, School of Education, University of New South Wales; Andrew J. Martin, School of Education, University of New South Wales; Rebecca J. Collie, School of Education, University of New South Wales; Tracy L. Durksen, School of Education, University of New South Wales.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Keiko C.P. Bostwick: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing - original draft, Visualization. Rebecca J. Collie: Conceptualization, Methodology, Resources, Data curation, Writing - review & editing. Andrew J. Martin: Conceptualization, Resources, Writing - review & editing, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. Tracy L. Durksen: Investigation, Writing - review & editing.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Drs Emma Burns and Marianne Mansour for assisting with data collection. The authors also thank the Australian Research Council, Discovery Project Grant (DP140104294) for funding the research.
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