Francisco Peixoto

The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire–Elementary School uses pictorial response anchors to assess enjoyment, boredom, and anxiety across academic settings. This study examined the psychometric properties of a modified mathematics version, the AEQ-ES-Gn, in which the original gender-specific faces were replaced by gender-neutral, smiley-based representations. Participants were 12,738 students (M age at Wave 1 = 9.57 years, SD = 0.83; 50.7% girls among students with available gender information) from 287 schools in Estonia, Finland, Norway, Portugal, Serbia and Sweden. Students were in grades 3–4 at Wave 1 and Grades 4–5 approximately one year later in Wave 2. Confirmatory factor analyses compared alternative measurement models, followed by tests of longitudinal and multigroup invariance, reliability, convergent and discriminant validity, temporal stability, and associations with mathematics competence. A hierarchical model distinguishing emotions and academic settings was retained, showing a good fit and providing the most appropriate overall solution for subsequent analyses. Scalar invariance was supported over time and across gender, grade, and country. Scores showed adequate-to-excellent reliability, generally satisfactory convergent validity, and evidence of discriminant validity, although enjoyment and boredom were strongly negatively related. Temporal stability was moderate, and associations with mathematics competence were small and theoretically consistent. These findings support the AEQ-ES-Gn as a reliable and valid measure of mathematics-related achievement emotions among students in Grades 3–5, while direct comparisons with the original response format remain necessary.

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated the importance of academic emotions for learning, with boredom attracting significant attention due to its frequent occurrence in school life and the increasing evidence of its negative effects on academic results and motivation. Aims: Building on Schwartze et al. (2024), this study examined whether boredom‐achievement profiles identified among secondary school students could be replicated among primary school pupils across four educational systems. Sample: Data included 3231 pupils from Finland, Norway, Portugal and Serbia who attended Year 4 in spring 2022 and were assessed again in spring 2023 while in Year 5. Methods: We tested models for Years 4 and 5 with one to seven latent classes based on standardized scores for homework‐related boredom, in‐class boredom and mathematics achievement. Latent transition analysis (LTA) examined the consistency of profiles over time and the influence of educational systems as covariates. Results: Five boredom‐achievement profiles were identified across both waves, largely replicating patterns reported in the previous study (Well‐off, Indifferent, Overchallenged and Underchallenged groups) while revealing one additional profile characterized by moderate boredom and lower achievement (mid‐boredom overchallenged). LTA analysis confirmed overall profile stability from Year 4 to Year 5. Although profiles were largely stable across countries, transition probabilities varied across educational systems, particularly for pupils in the Well‐off profile. Conclusions: The findings suggest that boredom‐achievement profiles are relatively stable during primary school, while cross‐national differences highlight the role of learning conditions in shaping pupils' emotional trajectories in mathematics.

Teachers have a complex, multidimensional system of socially constructed beliefs that shape their practices. Grade retention beliefs, in particular, are embedded within a broader psycho-pedagogical framework and may be reinforced when shared by the teachers’ community. The present study used a person-centred approach to identify teachers’ profiles based on their perceptions of collective teacher culture and grade retention beliefs, to examine how these profiles relate to other psycho-pedagogical beliefs, and to their grade retention intentions and practices. An online questionnaire was completed by 1,597 Portuguese basic education teachers, assessing their beliefs about learning, assessment, intelligence, and grade retention; their intentions and practices regarding grade retention; and their perceptions of collective teacher culture. Latent profile analysis identified six profiles, differentiated by teachers’ perceptions of the collective teacher culture (two weak, two moderate, and two strong), with three profiles supporting grade retention and three sceptical of it. Covariate analyses showed that teachers in the Grade Retention Support profiles reported stronger transmissive and fixed intelligence beliefs, whereas teachers in the Grade Retention Scepticism profiles reported more malleable intelligence beliefs. Teachers in the Strong Collective Teacher Culture profiles also endorsed more transmissive teaching and summative assessment beliefs. Teachers in the Scepticism profiles showed a lower intention to use this practice. The highest grade retention rates were observed within the Weak Collective Teacher Culture and Grade Retention Scepticism profile. These findings highlight the importance of reflective and collaborative practices among teachers to share effective strategies that enhance student success, strengthen collective efficacy, and reduce grade retention rates.

Research on academic achievement highlights the combined role of cognitive abilities and motivational beliefs. Grounded in the CHC framework, this study examined how three broad cognitive abilities—verbal, numeric, and spatial—and academic self-concept jointly predict achievement in Portuguese and mathematics. A sample of 3034 students from the third cycle (grades 7–9) and secondary education (grades 10–12) completed the BAC-AB cognitive battery and a validated academic self-concept scale. Using multigroup structural equation modelling, we tested whether the predictive patterns differed across educational stages. Academic self-concept emerged as the most consistent predictor across subjects and levels. Cognitive contributions displayed clear developmental differentiation: verbal ability was more strongly associated with Portuguese (and increasingly with Mathematics) in secondary education, whereas numeric and spatial abilities were comparatively more relevant for Mathematics in the third cycle. These patterns support the view that linguistic, quantitative, and visuospatial processes contribute to achievement in distinct and developmentally sensitive ways. Overall, the findings underscore the importance of instructional approaches that build on quantitative and spatial strengths in earlier grades while progressively supporting advanced verbal comprehension and reasoning in later schooling.

Research shows that parental involvement and specific parenting practices positively and significantly influence students’ motivation and academic achievement. Conversely, some findings indicate a different relationship in which parental assistance or support negatively correlate with academic performance and motivation. However, the cross-sectional design of many studies makes it difficult to determine whether parental support leads to lower academic achievement or if such a relationship arises because parents are more likely to offer support when their children encounter difficulties at school. This study clarifies the ambiguity by analysing three waves of student data (T1, T2, T3) and two waves of parent data (T1, T3). The data were collected from 420 fourth-grade students and their parents in Portugal across T1, with subsequent data collections for students in T2 (fifth-grade) and T3 (sixth-grade). In addition, we investigate the effects on academic performance and motivation of strategies promoting interest in mathematics and practices emphasising costs. Our results demonstrate distinct effects of parental practices across motivational constructs and mathematics achievement. Among these practices, those promoting interest exhibit the most consistent positive effects between T1 and T3 across all constructs. Supportive parental practices showed a small positive effect on mathematics achievement from T1 to T2, although this effect was weaker than the effect of achievement on support. These longitudinal results clarify previous negative correlations reported in cross-sectional studies by showing that parents tend to increase their support when children are struggling, indicating that parental support reflects a bidirectional and reactive process rather than being inherently detrimental.

Building on previous research into teachers’ beliefs and practices in mathematics and their effects on students’ motivation, grounded in the situated-expectancy value framework, we combine person- and variable-centred approaches to examine changes in students’ motivation for mathematics as they transition to middle school. Using longitudinal data from 6656 students across six countries, we examined the slope of change in students’ motivation for mathematics and whether this trajectory is associated with specific constellations of mathematics teachers’ beliefs and practices. Four distinct teacher profiles emerged, with teachers belonging to all profiles in five out of six examined countries. Our findings indicate that each profile is uniquely associated with patterns that support or undermine different facets of students’ motivation for mathematics, suggesting a more complex relationship between teachers’ beliefs and practices and students’ motivation for mathematics. Moreover, this relationship varied across the education systems studied, highlighting the importance of considering cultural patterns when discussing teachers’ roles in fostering students’ motivation for mathematics.

Initial teacher education plays a decisive role in preparing future educators to establish meaningful and reciprocal relationships with families that support children’s learning across contexts. Moving beyond traditional, school-centred notions of family involvement, this study adopts a family engagement (FE) perspective to examine preservice early childhood teachers’ perceptions of their preparation, the difficulties they anticipate, and their self-efficacy in working with families. A total of 181 Portuguese preservice early childhood teachers completed a questionnaire comprising three scales: Training Evaluation, Anticipated Difficulties, and Self-efficacy. The Training Evaluation Scale revealed two dimensions (theoretical and practical), which were used in a Latent Profile Analysis that identified three groups (Positive, Neutral, and Low-rating). Participants within each profile showed consistent evaluations across both dimensions. Significant differences emerged between profiles in perceived difficulties, with self-efficacy lowest in the low-rating group. Overall, the findings highlight that variations in perceived training quality are closely associated with preservice teachers’ confidence and their expectations regarding the challenges of engaging families. These results underscore the importance of more systematic, integrated and practice-oriented approaches within initial teacher education to support a shift towards family engagement practices that recognise families as active partners in children’s learning from the outset of teachers’ professional careers.

The subjective task value (STV) aspect of Expectancy-Value Theory has recently gained significance in achievement motivation research. It posits that students are motivated to engage in a particular task due to its intrinsic value, attainment value, utility value, and perceived cost. More recently, these components have been divided into more specific facets. This study aimed to adapt Gaspard et al. (2017) value beliefs scale for Portuguese vocational secondary school students in the subjects of Portuguese and Mathematics. The confirmatory factor analysis conducted with 1859 students ( M _age = 16.02) suggested that a hierarchical structure of STV fits the data adequately, with ten specific facets organized into four second-order components. Construct reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity, was also achieved. This instrument offers a useful tool for assessing students’ STV.

En Europe, de nombreux élèves sont retenus. Ce rapport examine les facteurs prédictifs et les effets du redoublement dans les 37 pays du réseau Eurydice, par le biais d'une revue de la littérature et d'une analyse secondaire des données PISA/TALIS, soulignant l'inefficacité et l'injustice de cette pratique.

En Europe, de nombreux élèves sont retenus. Ce rapport examine les réglementations et les pratiques concernant le redoublement dans les 37 pays du réseau Eurydice, via une analyse de documents, des questionnaires et une analyse secondaire des données PISA, en soulignant des points communs et des différences intéressantes.