The present study explores the sources of validity evidence of the mathematics self-concept construct in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 with a focus on concurrent, discriminant, and predictive evidence. Mathematics self-concept was provided with a single index variable in PISA 2022. Using only the U.S. students who…

International assessments of mathematics have shown persistent and widely intensified socioeconomic inequalities in achievement worldwide over the last decades. Such achievement gaps may partly be due to the differences in students' personal and family characteristics. They may also be attributed to the schooling itself if school systems provide…

Background: Low-stakes assessments do not have consequences for the test-takers. Currently, motivational research indicates that a lack of test-taking motivation can decrease students' performance in low-stakes assessments. However, little research has explored the domain-specific and situation-specific aspects of motivation simultaneously.…

Learning strategies and affective factors could have a profound impact on student standardized mathematics performance. This study investigated gender differences in affective factors, learning strategies, and preferred learning situations, and how these variables affect math achievement of 15 year olds in the United States and Hong Kong on the…

Attending academically selective schools is intended to have positive effects, but a growing body of theoretical and empirical research demonstrates that the effects are negative for academic self-concept. The big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE), based on social comparison theory, posits that equally able students will have lower academic…