Effects of Perceived Teacher Practices on Latino High School Students’ Interest, Self-Efficacy, and Achievement in Mathematics

Abstract

The author examined the effects of teacher caring, teacher content explanations, and teacher interest promotion on Latino students’ interest, self-efficacy, and achievement in mathematics. Participants in the year-long study were 326 Latino 9th- and 10th-grade students attending a large urban high school in southern California. Teacher variables made unique contributions to students’ interest, self-efficacy, and achievement after controlling for demographics and initial levels of interest and self-efficacy. In addition, the author found the 2 instructional practices—content explanations and interest promotion—to mediate the relation between teacher caring and interest, self-efficacy, and achievement. The author did not detect any moderating effects with respect to gender, grade level, English language proficiency, or initial motivation. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Keywords:

• instructional practices
• interest
• mathematics
• self-efficacy
• teacher caring

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The author thanks the principal, teachers, and students at the study site for their dedication to this research project. This study would not have been possible without the generous assistance of Ann Nemerouf, who contributed to the data collection efforts and provided valuable feedback on an earlier draft of this article. The author is grateful to Stuart Karabenick and Kathryn Wentzel, who provided valuable feedback on earlier versions of this article.

Michelle M. Riconscente is now at the New York Hall of Science.