Examining the relationships between cognitive activation, self‐efficacy, socioeconomic status, and achievement in mathematics: A multi‐level analysis

Background Previous studies have suggested that teachers’ frequent use of cognitive activation strategies in mathematics lessons is positively associated with students’ mathematics achievement. Aims This study aims to investigate the possible mediating role of mathematics self‐efficacy in the association between cognitive activation and achievement in mathematics classrooms. Besides that, we explored the moderating role of students’ socioeconomic status (SES) in the relationships between cognitive activation, mathematics self‐efficacy, and mathematics achievement. Samples This study employed data from a project of the National Assessment Center for Education Quality (NACEQ) in China. A sample with 8707 fourth‐grade primary students and 129 mathematics teachers was analysed. Methods The multi‐level analysis was used in this study with students representing the level‐1 units and teachers representing the level‐2 units. Results Based on a large‐scale standard assessment and survey in China, this study showed that cognitive activation was positively related to mathematics performance overall. Mathematics self‐efficacy played a vital mediating role in the association between cognitive activation and mathematics achievement. The indirect relationship between cognitive activation and mathematics achievement via mathematics self‐efficacy was moderated by SES both at the student level and the teacher level. Conclusions Our study suggests the importance of cognitively activating instruction, especially for students with lower SES and classes with lower average SES.