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Background: National ranking from the triennial Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) often serves as a barometer of national performance and human capital. Though excessive student‐ and school‐level covariates (n > 700) may prove intractable for traditional least‐squares estimate procedures, shrinkage methods may be more suitable for subset selection. Aims: With a focus on the United States, this paper proposes sparse regression for PISA 2012 to discover salient student‐ and school‐level predictor variables for mathematical literacy achievement. Sample: The sparse regression analysis was conducted on 10 top‐tiered OECD countries/economies, Canada, and the United States in mathematical literacy on the 2012 PISA. Two‐ and three‐level hierarchical regression analyses were performed on Canadian and US students (N = 26,522) along with five of the ten top‐tiered countries/economies (N = 58,385). Methods: Using the 'least absolute shrinkage and selection operator' (LASSO) technique, the study (1) identified salient predictor variables of mathematical literacy performance for the top‐tiered countries/economies, Canada, and the United States and (2) used these salient variables to perform two‐ and three‐level hierarchical regression on data from Canada and the United States along with five top‐tiered countries/economies. Weights and replicates were used to account for complex sample design. A weighted, two‐level confirmatory factor analysis was performed to identify latent constructs. Missing data were handled through multiple imputation. Results: Separate two‐level hierarchical models accounted for 32–35% student‐level and 58–70% school‐level variance in Canada and the United States, respectively; three‐level models accounted for 33% of level‐one variance, 62–65% level‐two variance, and 13–44% of level‐three variance for the US/Canada and US/Canada/top‐tiered students, respectively. Following top‐tiered countries/economies, Canadian students had high levels of self‐efficacy, were more likely to encounter advanced concepts in class, were less activity/small group‐centred, and were more likely to consider truancy a learning hindrance. Factor analyses revealed a positive relation with rigour and class organization (teacher‐centred) for top‐tiered countries and Canada, though not for the United States. For all countries, there was a strong relation between rigour and self‐beliefs. Conclusion: Compared to top performers, a less rigorous curriculum, coupled with class and school factors, may explain lag in US performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The powerful role of self‐efficacy on student achievement is clear. Less clear, however, is our understanding of the specific roles of the different factors of writing self‐efficacy on student writing self‐regulation and success. Aims: This study expands our knowledge about student writing self‐efficacy – including its dimensions and the relationship between its dimensions and practical writing outcomes with students from different age groups. Sample: Participants were 992 elementary and 518 high school students across 65 teachers and 6 schools in the United States. Methods: Data were collected via online questionnaires, one assessing student writing self‐efficacy and the others teachers' reports of student writing self‐regulation and writing/ELA grades. Results: Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) results demonstrated significantly improved model fit for a three‐factor model of writing self‐efficacy compared to a one‐factor model. A measurement invariance analysis of the writing self‐efficacy scale indicated scalar invariance between the elementary and secondary samples. Structural equation modelling (SEM) results indicated that the second self‐efficacy factor, self‐efficacy for writing conventions, was statistically significantly related to writing/ELA grades for elementary students (β =.33, p <.001) as well as for high school students (β =.27, p <.01). Conventions were also the only factor statistically significantly related to teacher‐reported student writing self‐regulation for both elementary students (β =.26, p <.01) and high school students (β =.37, p <.001). Self‐efficacy for ideation and self‐efficacy for self‐regulation were not found to be significantly related to either student writing/ELA grades or teacher‐reported self‐regulation (all ps >.19). Conclusions: Results support the multidimensionality of writing self‐efficacy. In addition, findings emphasize a meaningful link between students' beliefs in their ability to conform to the rules of writing and their writing self‐regulation and success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The number line task assesses the ability to estimate numerical magnitudes. People vary greatly in this ability, and this variability has been previously associated with mathematical skills. However, the sources of individual differences in number line estimation and its association with mathematics are not fully understood. Aims: This large‐scale genetically sensitive study uses a twin design to estimate the magnitude of the effects of genes and environments on: (1) individual variation in number line estimation and (2) the covariation of number line estimation with mathematics. Samples: We used over 3,000 8‐ to 16‐year‐old twins from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Russia, and a sample of 1,456 8‐ to 18‐year‐old singleton Russian students. Methods: Twins were assessed on: (1) estimation of numerical magnitudes using a number line task and (2) two mathematics components: fluency and problem‐solving. Results: Results suggest that environments largely drive individual differences in number line estimation. Both genes and environments contribute to different extents to the number line estimation and mathematics correlation, depending on the sample and mathematics component. Conclusions: Taken together, the results suggest that in more heterogeneous school settings, environments may be more important in driving variation in number line estimation and its association with mathematics, whereas in more homogeneous school settings, genetic effects drive the covariation between number line estimation and mathematics. These results are discussed in the light of development and educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Self-based achievement goals use one's own intrapersonal trajectory as a standard of evaluation, and this intrapersonal trajectory may be grounded in one's past (past-based goals) or one's future potential (potential-based goals). Potential-based goals have been overlooked in the literature to date. Aims The primary aim of the present research was to address this oversight within the context of the 3 × 2 achievement goal framework. Samples The Study 1 sample was 381 US undergraduates; the Study 2 sample was 310 US undergraduates. Methods In Study 1, we developed scales to assess potential-approach and potential-avoidance goals and tested their factorial validity with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. In Study 2, we used confirmatory factor analysis to test both the separability of past-based and potential-based goals and their higher order integration within the self-based category. Results Study 1 supported the factorial validity of the potential-approach and potential-avoidance goal scales. Study 2 supported the separability of past-based and potential-based goals, as well as their higher order integration within the self-based category. Conclusions This research documents the utility of the proposed distinction and paves the way for subsequent work on antecedent and consequences of potential-approach and potential-avoidance goals. It highlights the importance of focusing on distinct types of growth-based goals in the achievement goal literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Previous research on small-group learning has found that level of constructive activity (solving or explaining how to solve problems using ideas stated or implied in the explanation provided by a partner) was a better predictor of post-test achievement than either a student's prior achievement or the quality of help received (Webb, Troper, & Fall, 1995). Aims. The purpose of this study was to extend this research by examining the influence of additional factors, in particular, achievement goals and comprehension monitoring, on low achieving students' constructive activity after receiving help from a high achieving peer. Sample. Thirty-two low achieving upper elementary students from an urban school district in the mid-west of the United States were paired with high achieving partners. Methods. Videotape data from a previously reported study on peer collaboration were transcribed and reanalyzed. In that study, dyads were randomly assigned instructions designed to induce either a learning or performance goal and were videotaped as they worked together to solve a set of mathematical word problems. The following day, students were individually post-tested on problems similar to the ones worked on in pairs. Results. Consistent with previous research, low achieving students' level of constructive activity predicted post-test performance. In addition, constructive activity was found to mediate the relationship between achievement goals and learning. However, achievement goals were not related to low achievers constructive use of help. Instead, achievement goals were related to low achievers' relative accuracy in comprehension monitoring, which in turn was related to level of constructive activity. Conclusions. The meaning of these results for understanding the processes by which low achievers learn from peer help and implications for classroom practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]