(Page 1 of 2) - Exploring the relationship with academic self-efficacy and middle school students' performance on a high-stakes mathematics test authored by Blake, Sally., Lesser, Larry., Perez, Solanja., Fonseca, Carol., Jablonski, Carolyn. and Gallo, Marco.

EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ACADEMIC SELF-EFFICACY AND

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERFORMANCE ON A HIGH-STAKES

MATHEMATICS TEST

Sally Blake and Larry Lesser

University of Texas at El Paso

This study investigates the relationship between middle school students’ academic self-
efficacy and performance on the TAKS high- stakes mathematics test. The baseline
sample was (n=2,508) middle school students. Self-efficacy scores did not have a
significant interaction with gender, but were found to decrease significantly (as do TAKS
passing rates) as the grade level increased – a sobering trend. This study has major
implications for pedagogy and curricular approaches and interventions.

This study aimed to explore the possible relationship between middle school students’
academic self-efficacy and performance on a high stakes mathematics test. Researchers are
beginning to recognize that both the cognitive and affective aspects of learning are present when
students construct mathematical understandings. Affective influences are hard to measure, but
clearly influence students’ participation in mathematics study and careers. Research indicates
that self-efficacy influences academic motivation (Pajares 1996; Schunk 1995). Self-efficacy is
one’s self-judgments of personal capabilities to initiate and successfully perform specified tasks
at designated levels, expend greater effort and persevere in the face of adversity (Bandura 1988,
1986). Self-efficacy is grounded in a larger theoretical framework known as Social Cognitive
Theory which supports human achievement as dependent on interactions between one’s
behaviors, personal factors and environmental conditions (Bandura 1986, 1997).The work of
Bandura concerning self-efficacy indicates that students’ perceptions of their abilities to perform
tasks, greatly influences their success. Self-efficacy beliefs influence task choice, effort,
persistence, resilience, and achievement (Bandura 1997; Schunk 1995). Compared with other
students who doubt their learning capabilities, Pajares and Schunk find that those who feel
efficacious for learning or performing a task participate more readily, work harder, persist longer
when they encounter difficulties, and achieve at a higher level. The stronger the perceived self-
efficacy, the higher the goal challenges people set for themselves and the firmer is their
commitment to them (Bandura 1991). Ability is not a fixed attribute residing in one’s behavioral
repertoire. Rather it is a generative capability in which cognitive, social, motivational, and
behavioral skills must be organized and effectively orchestrated to serve numerous purposes
(Bandura 1993).
The measures used were the Middle School Self-Efficacy Scale (validated in Fouad, Smith,
Enochs 1997) and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). Regression and two-
way ANOVA were used for analysis.
Baseline data was collected from 1,148 students at Jackson Middle School and from 1,360
students at Waldo Middle School (names are pseudonyms for schools in El Paso County). Based
on TAKS passing rates in each subject for all students (and for each ethnic student subgroup
meeting minimum size), schools are monitored and classified as “academically unacceptable”,
“academically acceptable. One school is considered a “high performance” school and the other is
a “low performance” school. Scores were matched on ethnicity and grade levels. A subset of
students from Jackson Middle School was selected to match individual scores on both