Repository logo
 

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Creating a supportive classroom environment through effective feedback: effects on students’ school identification and behavioral engagement
    Publication . Monteiro, Vera; Carvalho, Carolina; Santos, Natalie Nóbrega
    Previous research revealed the connection between students’ behavioral and emotional engagement and a supportive classroom environment. One of the primary tools teachers have to create a supportive classroom environment is effective feedback. In this study, we assessed the supportive classroom environment using the perception shared by all students from the same classroom of teachers’ use of effective feedback. We aimed to explore the effect of such an environment on students’ behavioral engagement and school identification. Using a probabilistic sample of 1,188 students from 75 classrooms across 6th, 7th, 9th, and 10th grades, we employed multilevel regression modeling with random intercept and fixed slopes. We explored the effects of both individual perceptions of teachers’ use of effective feedback and the supportive classroom environment on student engagement. The analyses identified that students who perceived that their teachers use more effective feedback had a higher level of behavioral engagement and school identification. Once we controlled the effects of these individual perceptions of teachers’ effective feedback, we still observed the effect of a supportive classroom environment on student engagement. So, in classrooms where teachers used more effective feedback creating a supportive classroom environment, students had higher school identification and behavioral engagement levels, regardless of their individual perceptions of teachers’ feedback. The association between variables remained significant even after controlling students’ characteristics (gender, nationality, mother’s level of education, history of grade retention) and classroom characteristics (grade level, type of school, number of students at grade level). Our findings support the potential of teachers’ feedback practices to foster students’ school identification and behavioral engagement to build a more inclusive school environment and value students’ diversity.
  • Retenção escolar: crenças e práticas dos professores e a sua relação com as políticas educativas das escolas
    Publication . Santos, Natalie Nóbrega; Monteiro, Vera
    Alguns autores sugerem que as altas taxas de retenção escolar observadas em alguns países se devem à crença nos benefícios desta prática. O presente estudo procurou compreender o efeito moderador que as políticas educativas das escolas sobre a retenção têm na relação entre crenças e práticas de retenção no 2º ano de escolaridade. Uma análise dos documentos orientadores de 66 escolas da Madeira, Portugal, identificou os critérios e requisitos exigidos para a decisão de retenção. Um questionário online recolheu as crenças e práticas de retenção de 300 professores desta Região. Uma análise de perfis latentes identificou cinco grupos de professores organizados num continuum que variava entre uma maior rejeição e uma maior certeza nos benefícios da retenção. Observou-se uma associação entre as crenças e as práticas dos professores apenas nas escolas que não tinham nem critérios nem requisitos definidos para a decisão de retenção. Os resultados sugerem que os professores precisam de informação que oriente a tomada de decisão e que proporcione maior coerência na atuação dos intervenientes.
  • Second grade retention: Beliefs, decision‐making styles, and factors involved in the decision process
    Publication . Santos, Natalie Nóbrega; Monteiro, Vera
    Grade retention decisions are high‐risk because this practice can significantly affect students' academic and professional path and their socioaffective development. This study aimed to contribute to a better understanding of second‐grade retention decision‐making by exploring the factors the professionals consider during the retention decision‐making, their beliefs about the effectiveness of grade retention, and their cognitive decision‐making style. The study sets in Portugal, where second‐grade retention is a common practice. One hundred ninety‐four teachers answered an online questionnaire developed for this purpose. Path analysis results suggested that teachers' beliefs and decision‐making styles served as a filter, defining what factors they consider relevant or not to make grade retention decisions. Intuitive experiences seem to inform teachers' grade‐retention decisions, especially when they believe retention is essential for students' success
  • Assessment conceptions and practices: perspectives of primary school teachers and students
    Publication . Monteiro, Vera; Mata, Lourdes; Santos, Natalie Nóbrega
    Students’ and teachers’ conceptions of assessment are important because they guide how teachers’ assessments are implemented in the classroom and determine how students study. This multiple-case design study examined 1) how teachers and students view assessment, 2) how teachers assess their students’ learning, and 3) the similarities and disparities that occur when students’ and teachers’ conceptions and teachers’ practices of assessment are compared. Data were obtained from five third grade classes, involving a total of five teachers and 82 students. Data were gathered through individual interviews with teachers and focus group discussions with students. Classroom observations and documents produced by the students (worksheets and tests) during maths lessons were also analyzed. The results of the content analysis of the data indicate that teachers mostly conceive assessment as being for improvement, while their assessment practices and students’ conceptions focus on school and student accountability. The results obtained lead us to suggest that students’ conceptions of assessment are constructed from their classroom assessment experiences. The study also suggests that teachers adopt conceptions of assessment inconsistent with their practices, that allow them to work within social and contextual constraints.
  • Impact of grade retention and school engagement on student intentions to enrol in higher education in Portugal
    Publication . Santos, Natalie Nóbrega; Monteiro, Vera; Carvalho, Carolina
    Grade retention and inequalities that derive from grade retention can influence student school trajectories and careers. Grade retention can discourage students from education, and increase school failure and dropout. This study explored the relationship between grade retention and student intentions to enrol in higher education. We also studied the role of school identification and behavioural engagement in this relationship. The analysis is based on a sample of 1,089 students (grades 6 to 10) from Portugal, one of the European countries with the highest rates of grade retention. We employed multilevel probit regression modelling with random intercept and fixed slopes to explore both the individual and school level effects of grade retention. The analyses showed that retained students had a lower probability of intent to enrol in higher education and that there was a contextual effect of the number of retained students in the school, on students' probability of intent to enrol in higher education. This association was partially explained at the individual level by students' school identification. Retained students presented lower levels of school identification, which in turn results in lower probabilities of enrolling in higher education. Student behavioural engagement was not associated with grade retention nor student intentions. Our findings suggest the need for interventions that foster students' school identification to overcome the adverse effects of grade retention.
  • Emotional profiles regarding maths among primary school children – A two-year longitudinal study.
    Publication . Mata, Lourdes; Monteiro, Vera; Peixoto, Francisco; Santos, Natalie Nóbrega; Sanches, Cristina; Gomes, Marta
    . . . Learning maths is challenging for many primary school students, and teachers must understand students’ learning and emotional processes specific to learning maths. The current research, grounded in control-value theory, focused on achievement emotions regarding maths. Primary school students (N = 71) were studied with the primary objective of examining the longitudinal trajectories of achievement emotions of third graders over two years. The Portuguese Achievement Emotions Questionnaire for Elementary Students was administered biannually to assess enjoyment, anxiety, and boredom regarding maths. The results indicate that enjoyment decreased and boredom increased over time, revealing three emotional profiles: positive, negative and moderate. The positive profile showed the highest scores in maths achievement. Profile membership was moderately stable and became increasingly stable and structured. In examining the complexity of students’ emotional profiles and processes, the importance of understanding them to enhance educational support, development, and learning was highlighted. .
  • Second grade retention: Beliefs, decision‐making styles, and factors involved in the decision process
    Publication . Santos, Natalie Nóbrega; Monteiro, Vera
    Grade retention decisions are high‐risk because this practice can significantly affect students' academic and professional path and their socioaffective development. This study aimed to contribute to a better understanding of second‐grade retention decision‐making by exploring the factors the professionals consider during the retention decision‐making, their beliefs about the effectiveness of grade retention, and their cognitive decision‐making style. The study sets in Portugal, where second‐grade retention is a common practice. One hundred ninety‐four teachers answered an online questionnaire developed for this purpose. Path analysis results suggested that teachers' beliefs and decision‐making styles served as a filter, defining what factors they consider relevant or not to make grade retention decisions. Intuitive experiences seem to inform teachers' grade‐retention decisions, especially when they believe retention is essential for students' success.