Teacher Expectations, Social-emotional Skills and Academic Achievement in Primary School: The Role of Mediator
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18690/rei.5044Keywords:
teacher expectations, socioemotional skills, academic achievement, mathematics literacy, reading literacy.Abstract
This study investigates the mediating role of primary school students’ socioemotional skills, such as goal-achievement skills, collaboration, and emotional management in the relationship between teachers’ expectations and students’ academic achievement. The study is based on data from the START-PROGRESS longitudinal study, which includes Russian schoolchildren and teachers. Structural equation modelling was used to model complex relationships between variables, including direct and indirect pathways of effect. The findings revealed that among the three socioemotional skills examined, only goal-achievement skills weakly mediated the relationship between teachers’ expectations and students’ academic achievement in the middle of primary school, and only in mathematics.
Downloads
References
Agirdag, O., Van Avermaet, P., and Van Houtte, M. (2013). School Segregation and Math Achievement: A Mixed-Method Study on the Role of Self-Fulfilling Prophecies. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education, 115(3), 1–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811311500305
Babad, E., Inbar, J., and Rosenthal, R. (1982). Pygmalion, Galatea, and the Golem: Investigations of biased and unbiased teachers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 74(4), 459–474. https://doi.or–g/10.1037/0022-0663.74.4.459
Babyak, M. A., and Green, S. B. (2010). Confirmatory factor analysis: an introduction for psychosomatic medicine researchers. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72(6), 587–597. https://doi.org–/10.1097/PSY.0b013e3181de3f8a
CASEL: Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) The Positive Impact of Social and Emotional Learning for Kindergarten to Eighth–Grade Students: Findings from Three Scientific Reviews // Technical Report. 2008. URL: http://www.casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/PDF-4-the-positive-impact-of-social-and-emotional-learning-for-kindergarten-to-eighth-grade-students-executive-summary.pdf
Demanet, J., and Van Houtte, M. (2012). Teachers’ attitudes and students’ opposition. School misconduct as a reaction to teachers' diminished effort and affect. Teaching and Teacher Education, 28(6), 860–869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2012.03.008
Duckworth, A. L., and Yeager, D. S. (2015). Measurement Matters: Assessing Personal Qualities Other Than Cognitive Ability for Educational Purposes. Educational Researcher, 44(4), 237–251. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X15584327
Enders, C. K., Bandalos, D. L. (2001) The relative performance of full information maximum likelihood estimation for missing data in structural equation models. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 8(3), 430—457. https://doi.org/10.1207/–S15328007_5
Federiakin, D., Larina, G., and Kardanova, E. (2021). Measuring Basic Mathematical Literacy in Elementary School. Voprosy Obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, 2, 199–226. https://d–o–i.org/10.17323/1814-9545-2021-2-199-226. (in Russian)
Friedrich, A., Flunger, B., Nagengast, B., Jonkmann, K., and Trautwein, U. (2015). Pygmalion effects in the classroom: Teacher expectancy effects on students' math achievement. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 41, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2014.10.006
Gentrup, S., Lorenz, G., Kristen, C., and Kogan, I. (2020) Self-Fulfilling Prophecies in the Classroom: Teacher Expectations, Teacher Feedback, and Student Achievement. Learning and Instruction, 66(5), Article no 101296. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101296
Hinnant, J. B., O’Brien, M., and Ghazarian, S. R. (2009). The longitudinal relations of teacher expectations to achievement in the early school years. Journal of Educational Psychology, 101(3), 662–670. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014306
Jamil, F. M., Larsen, R. A., and Hamre, B. K. (2018). Exploring longitudinal changes in teacher expectancy effects on children’s mathematics achievement. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 49(1), 57–90. https://doi.org/10.5951/jresematheduc.49.1.0057
Jamil, F. M., Stephan, A. T., and Bennett, A. E. (2024). Exploring Longitudinal Associations between Teacher Expectancy Effects and Reading Achievement among a US Nationally Representative Sample of K–8 Students. The Elementary School Journal, 125(1), 52–76.
Johnston, O., Wildy, H., and Shand, J. (2019). A decade of teacher expectations research 2008–2018: Historical foundations, new developments, and future pathways. Australian Journal of Education, 63(1), 44–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/0004944118824420
Jussim, L., and Harber, K. D. (2005). Teacher Expectations and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Knowns and Unknowns, Resolved and Unresolved Controversies. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9(2), 131–155. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr0902_3
Kardanova, E., Ivanova, A., Sergomanov, P., Kanonire, T, Antipkina, I., and Kayky, D. (2018). Patterns of First-Graders’ Development at the Start of Schooling: Cluster Approach Based on the Results of IPIPS Project. Voprosy Obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, no. 1 (March), 8–37. https://doi.org/10.17323/1814-9545-2018-1-8-37 (in Russian)
Kholmanskaya, M. V. (2024). Placing feedback skills among new literacies and competencies. Educational Policy, 2(98), 83–93. https://doi.org/10.22394/2078–838X–2024–2–83–93 (in Russian)
Kolen, M. J., and Brennan, R. L. (2013). Test equating: Methods and practices. Springer Science and Business Media.
Kulikova, A., and Orel, E. (2021). Social and emotional skills of student [sic]: The development of the tool for monitoring in secondary school. Experimental Psychology (Russia), 14(3), 202–216. https://doi.org/10.17759/exppsy.2021140314 (in Russian)
Liebfreund, M. D. (2015). Success With Informational Text Comprehension: An Examination of Underlying Factors. Reading Research Quarterly, 50(4), 387–392. https://doii.org/10.1002–/rrq.109
Moeller, A. J., Theiler, J. M., and Wu, C. (2012). Goal setting and student achievement: A longitudinal study. The Modern Language Journal, 96(2), 153–169.
Mueller, R. O., and Hancock, G. R. (2018). Structural equation modeling. In G.R. Hancock, L.M. Stapleton, and R.O. Mueller, eds. The Reviewer’s Guide to Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences (pp. 445–456), New York, London: Routledge.
OECD Skills for Social Progress. (2015). The Power of Social and Emotional Skills. [Electronic resource] URL: http://www.oecd.org/edu/skills-for-social-progress-9789264226159-en.h–tm
Orel, E. A., and Kulikova, A. A. (2018). Analysis of psychometric characteristics of a tool for assessing social-emotional skills in elementary school. Journal of Modern Foreign Psychology, 7(3), 8–17. (in Russian)
Orel, E., Brun, I., Kardanova, E., and Antipkina, I. (2018) Developmental Patterns of Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills of Russian First-Graders. International Journal of Early Childhood, 50(3), 297–314. https://doi.org//10.1007/s13158-018-0226-8
Orel, E., and Kulikova, A. (2020). A new theoretical model for assessing social-emotional skills in elementary school. Psychological Research, 13(69). https://doi.org/10.54359/ps.v13i69.207 (in Russian)
Pellegrino, G., Carretti, B., Napolitano, C., Soto, C. J., Menenghetti, C., and Feraco, T. (2024). The Skilled Student: Linking Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills to Engagement and Student Outcomes in Secondary School Students. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/rhmgk
Ponomariovienė, J., and Jakavonytė-Staškuvienė, D. (2024). Solutions for independent goal setting and implementation of primary school students fostering the competence of learning to learn. Education Sciences, 14(4), 368. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14040368
Reynolds, D. (2007). Restraining Golem and harnessing Pygmalion in the classroom: A laboratory study of managerial expectations and task design. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 6(4), 475–483. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2007.27694947
Rosenthal, R., and Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom. The Urban Review, 3(1), 16–20. htt–ps://doi.org/10.1007/BF02322211
Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2008) Teacher Beliefs and Expectations: Relationships with Student Learning. In C. M. Rubie-Davies, and C. Rawlinson, eds. Challenging Thinking about Teaching and Learning, (pp. 25–40). New York: Nova Science Publishers.
Rubie-Davies, C., Meissel, K., Alansari, M. et al. (2020). Achievement and beliefs outcomes of students with high and low expectation teachers. Social Psychology of Education, 23, 1173–1201. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-020-09574-y
Seidel, T., Schnitzler, K., Kosel, C., Stürmer, K., and Holzberger, D. (2021). Student Characteristics in the Eyes of Teachers: Differences Between Novice and Expert Teachers in Judgment Accuracy, Observed Behavioral Cues, and Gaze. Educational Psychology Review 33(1), 69–89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09532-2
Szumski, G., Karwowski, M. (2019). Exploring the Pygmalion Effect: The Role of Teacher Expectations, Academic Self-Concept, and Class Context in Students’ Math Achievement. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 59(2), Article no 101787. https://doi.org/10.101–6/j.ced–psych.2019.101787
Tymms, P., Merrell, C., and Wildy, H. (2015). The progress of pupils in their first school year across classes and educational systems. British Educational Research Journal, 41(3), 365–380. https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3156
Urgo, K., and Arguello, J. (2023). Goal-setting in support of learning during search: An exploration of learning outcomes and searcher perceptions, Information Processing and Management, 60(2), 103158, ISSN 0306-4573. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ipm.2022.103158
Wang, S., Rubie-Davies, C. M., and Meissel, K. (2018). A systematic review of the teacher expectation literature over the past 30 years. Educational Research and Evaluation, 24(3–5), 124–179. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2018.1548798
Yusupova, E. (2023). What Primary School Teachers Are Guided by in Their Expectations Regarding the Academic Success of Students. Voprosy Obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, (1), 273–297. https://doi.org/10.17323/1814-9545-2023-1-273-297 (in Russian)
Zhou, J., and Urhahne, D. (2013). Teacher judgment, student motivation, and the mediating effect of attributions. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 28(2), 275–295. doi:10.1007/sl0212-012-0114-9
Zhu, M., Urhahne, D., and Rubie-Davies, C. M. (2018). The longitudinal effects of teacher judgement and different teacher treatment on students’ academic outcomes. Educational Psychology, 38(5), 648–668. doi: 10.1080/01443410.2017.1412399
Downloads
Published
Data Availability Statement
The article is based on data fully presented and discussed within the article itself; therefore, no additional data archiving is required.
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Elen Yusupova
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.