The Impact of Teachers’ Characteristics and Self-Reported Practices on Students’ Algebra Achievement

• In Event: Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: Mathematics Teaching and Student Achievement

Abstract

This study utilized hierarchical linear modeling to examine the impact of students’ characteristics, teachers’ characteristics, and teachers’ self-reported practices on students’ achievement. It also investigated the emphasis that teachers’ reported placing on fifteen Standards-based instructional objectives. Results revealed that students’ prior achievement, SES, and attitude, as well as teachers’ expectations, experience, and self-reported emphasis on concepts, logic, connections, and standardized test preparation were all significant positive predictors of students’ achievement. Negative results were shown for Black students who had higher math utility, and teachers with higher self-efficacy and who reported emphasizing computations, algorithms, and problem solving. The final analyses revealed that a substantial proportion of teachers reported emphasizing practices with negative effects and not emphasizing practices with positive effects.

Author

• Liza Marie Cope, Delta State University