Developmental trajectories of school-beginner’s ability self-concept, intrinsic value, and performance in mathematics

This study investigated the developmental interdependence of Finnish school-beginners’ (N = 285) ability self-concept, intrinsic value, and performance in mathematics. More specifically, we examined: (i) whether and how children’s ability self-concept and intrinsic value in mathematics change over their first three years in school, (ii) how those changes are related to each other, (iii) how they predict later math performance, and (iv) whether there are gender differences in these trajectories. The results showed significant decrease over time in children’s ability self-concept and intrinsic value, but also significant individual differences in the trajectories. The high dependency between the levels and changes in children’s self-concept and intrinsic value led us to specify a factor-of-curves latent growth model, thus merging the trajectories of ability self-concept and intrinsic value into one common model (i.e., math motivation). The subsequent results showed prior math performance to predict change in children’s math motivation, meaning that higher initial competence was connected with less steep decrease in motivation. After controlling for the effects of first-grade math performance, both the level and change in math motivation predicted third-grade math performance and teacher-rated grades. That is, higher initial motivation and less steep decrease in it independently predicted better later math competence. Boys reported less steep decrease in math motivation than girls, despite no gender differences in initial math performance.

The Dark Side of Detracking: Mixed-Ability Classrooms Hurt Low-Achievers’ Math Motivation

We tested how detracking school reforms, which abolish ability grouping and introduce mixed-ability classrooms, affect students’ math motivation. To do so, we made use of data from two unique natural experiments (N Study 1 = 78,376, N Study 2 = 2,257) and compared student cohorts before and after detracking. In both studies, we found low achievers’ math motivation to be substantially lower after the reform, whereas this was not the case for high achievers. Our study reminds researchers and policymakers that detracking school reforms can have unintended side effects on student motivation. Only when such negative side effects are reduced or eliminated, detracking school reforms can unfold their full potential in establishing educational equality.

The Prevalence and Motivation of the Undeclared Employment in Latvia

Until recently a common practice to combat undeclared employment in Latvia was to provide wide inspections in risk economic sections. New knowledge about the motivation of undeclared employment motivation has raised considerable concerns about the quality of the existing practices. The goal of this study is to investigate the prevalence and motivation of the undeclared employment in Latvia in order to accept/confirm or to deny/reject these concerns. This paper delivers the results of qualitative analysis of the survey that authors undertook. The results show that the current definition of undeclared employment in Latvia cannot be considered as fully supported by society, because the perception of the need to declare employment differs significantly depending on the employment regularity and the relationship with the employer. The authors found that the results obtained in the study on the prevalence of undeclared income do not differ significantly from the results obtained in the previous study of Putnins and Sauka (2018) with the leading “hard math” motivation.