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Published on: September 17, 2019
Exploring the interplay between socioeconomic status and reading achievement: An expectancy-value perspective
Susanna S S Yeung1, Ronnel B King2, Ma Jenina N Nalipay3
1Department of Psychology, The Education University of Hong Kong, China.
Socioeconomic status (SES) impacts student reading achievement indirectly through motivation at the student level. At the school level, SES directly affects reading achievement, highlighting a motivational gap in educational inequality.
Area of Science:
- Educational Psychology
- Sociology of Education
- Comparative Education
Background:
- Socioeconomic status (SES) and student motivation are key predictors of academic achievement.
- Limited research exists on the combined influence of SES and motivation on reading achievement.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mediating role of student and school-level motivation (expectancy and value) in the relationship between SES and reading achievement.
- To examine these relationships across four regions in Greater China.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, involving 26,281 students.
- Employed multi-group multilevel path analysis to test mediation models, controlling for gender.
Main Results:
- At the student level, SES significantly predicted reading achievement indirectly via both expectancy and value.
- At the school level, the association between SES and reading achievement was predominantly direct.
Conclusions:
- The study identified a motivational gap as a significant pathway through which socioeconomic disparities contribute to reading achievement gaps.
- Findings underscore the importance of considering both individual and contextual factors in understanding educational inequalities.
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