Centre for Educational Research

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Analysing grade retention beliefs within teachers’ psycho-pedagogic beliefs system

Publication . Santos, Natalie Nóbrega; Pipa, Joana; Monteiro, Vera

Teachers have a complex and multidimensional system of socially constructed beliefs that influence their professional practice. Based on self-reported beliefs of 449 Portuguese primary teachers we explored the connectivity between grade retention beliefs and other psycho-pedagogical beliefs using a structural equation model. We also studied the psychological centrality of grade retention beliefs using a latent profile analysis. The results indicated that teachers’ grade retention beliefs are maintained within their beliefs system with a high degree of connectivity and centrality, especially when shared by their community. These findings may have implications to the educational policies that aim to reduce retention rates

2023Journal article

Open access

One step back or one step forward? Effects of grade retention and school retention composition on portuguese students’ psychosocial outcomes using PISA 2018 Data

Publication . Pipa, Joana; Peixoto, Francisco

Grade retention is a common practice applied to academically struggling students within the Portuguese context. Studies investigating the psychological experiences of grade-retained students are still scarce. In addition, most studies tend to neglect the multilevel nature of the school context. This study examines the effects of grade retention in grades 1–9 on Portuguese students’ psychosocial outcomes by the age of 15, using PISA 2018 data. Using a quasi-experimental design through full matching, we reduced the bias between 1362 retained and 4189 promoted students in relevant background variables. Results from the multilevel models showed that retained students, by the age of 15, present lower task orientation and school belonging. In addition, we found that the high retention rates negatively relate to students’ reading self-concept, task orientation, and school valuing and that school retention rates moderate the relationship between students’ retention and the psychosocial variables considered. Overall, these findings suggest detrimental effects of grade retention and that grade retention also affects the promoted peers of retained students.

2022Journal article

Open access

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. .

2021Journal article

Open access

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.

2021Journal article

Open access

“To give someone a fish or teach them how to fish?”: effects of a self-reflection tool on orthographic performance in Portuguese children

Publication . Silva, Ana Cristina; Peixoto, Francisco; Salvador, Liliana

Our aim was to assess the effect of a self-correction spelling tool based on orthographic revision procedures on third-grade children’s orthographic performance. This tool consisted of grids displaying explicit contextual, phonological and morphological rules. Participants were 70 third-grade students, randomly assigned to an experimental (N = 35) and control group (N = 35). A pretest and post-test were performed a week before the training programme and two weeks after the end of it, consisting of a 76-word spelling test that referred to contextual (32 words), phonological (32 words) and morphological (12 words) rules. The experimental training programme was carried out with children in class and consisted of nine sessions in which children had to spell words dictated by an adult, who then underlined their misspellings with a specific colour (a different colour was assigned to each rule) and asked them to self-correct the misspellings using the grid. None of the words present in the pre- and post-test were used in the training programme. The same words were used in the control group, but instead of self-correcting the misspellings, children were shown the correct spelling and had to copy it three times. The post-test results showed that the experimental group decreased significantly the number of misspellings when compared with the control group, with statistically significant differences for each rule. Nevertheless, the morphological misspellings, after the intervention, were superior to the other types of misspellings. These results show the importance of inducing self-correction spelling strategies in educational contexts.

2021Journal article

Restricted access