Student Readiness to Learn and Teacher Effectiveness: Two Key Factors in Middle Grades Mathematics Achievement

Figures & data

Table 1 Factor Analysis for the Collective Efficacy Short Form When Used with Middle School Students

Item #	Survey Statement	Factor I Group Compe-tence	Factor II Task Analysis
GC 1	Teachers in the school are able to get through to the most difficult students.	.707
GC 2	Teachers here are confident they will be able to motivate their students.	.472
GC 3	If a child doesn’t want to learn teachers here give up (reverse scored).	.624
GC 4	Teachers here don’t have the skills needed to produce meaningful student learning (reverse scored).	.595
GC 5	Teachers in this school believe that every child can learn.	.642
GC 6	Teachers in this school do not have the skills to deal with student disciplinary problems (reverse scored).	.434
TA 1	These students come to school ready to learn.		.123
TA 2	Home life provides so many advantages that students here are bound to learn.		.174
TA 3	Students here just aren’t motivated to learn (reverse scored)		.339
TA 4	The opportunities in this community help ensure that these students will learn.		.559
TA 5	Learning is more difficult at this school because students are worried about their safety (reverse scored).		.540
TA 6	Drug and alcohol abuse in the community make learning difficult for students here (reverse scored).		.513

GC = “Group Competence” of Faculty; TA = Student Readiness for “Task Analysis”

Table 2 Descriptive Data

Variable Name	N	Mean	SD	Minimum	Maximum
Level 1 Descriptive Statistics – Student Responses
Percent Correct on
State Math Assessment	964	53.35	19.68	4.00	98.00
Student Perceptions of
Faculty Group Competence	964 4.42	0.91	1.00	6.00
Level 2 Descriptive Statistics – Teacher Responses
Teacher Perceptions of
Faculty Group Competence		93	4.45	0.73	1.83	5.83
Teacher Perceptions of Student Readiness
for Academic Tasks	93	3.22	0.79	1.00	5.50

Note. N = Number of participants; SD = Standard Deviation

Table 3 Results of HLM Random Coefficient Model

Final Estimation of Fixed Effects
Fixed Effect	Standard Coefficient	Error	Approx. T-ratio	d.f.	p-value
For Intercept1, B0 Intercept2, G00	53.473335	0.627327	85.240	90	0.000
Teacher Perceptions of Faculty Group Competence, G01	−1.809876	0.930203	−1.946	90	0.054
Teacher Perceptions of Student Readiness for Task, G02	2.555986	0.837929	3.050	90	0.003
For Student Perceptions of Faculty Group Competence slope, B1 Intercept2, G10	2.773522	0.780149	3.555	959	0.001

Dependent variable: Math Achievement