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For students placed into algebra, performance-avoidance goals increased while academic self-efficacy and task value decreased. These negative relations were weaker for students with high prior mathematics achievement, whereas all students declined in performance-approach goals but previously high-achieving students increased performance-approach and mastery goals. Findings suggest potential motivational benefits for high achievers and possible undermining effects for average and low performers.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/eighth-grade-algebra-course-placement-and-student-motivation-for-mathematics/590674/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/eighth-grade-algebra-course-placement-and-student-motivation-for-mathematics/590674.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Stanley","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-02","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":52},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How does algebra placement relate to students’ performance-avoidance goals and motivation outcomes?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Students placed in algebra reported increased performance-avoidance goals and decreases in academic self-efficacy and task value compared with peers in lower-level courses.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"Do the motivation effects of algebra placement differ for students with high prior achievement?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Yes. For students with high mathematics achievement before placement, the negative relations between placement and motivation outcomes were attenuated, and previously high-achieving students increased performance-approach and mastery goals.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"What is the study’s main comparison group for eighth-grade peers?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"The study compares students selected into eighth-grade algebra with eighth-grade peers enrolled in other lower-level mathematics courses, collectively referred to as general mathematics courses.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590674,1792116744,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":52,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},2336477405376,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","AERA Open  \nJanuary-March 2016, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 1–26 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858415625227  \n© The Author(s) 2016. [http://ero.sagepub.com](http://ero.sagepub.com)  \nEighth-Grade Algebra Course Placement and Student Motivation for Mathematics  \nRahila Simzar  \nThurston Domina  \nCathy Tran  \nUniversity of California, Irvine  \nThis study uses student panel data to examine the association between algebra placement and student motivation for mathematics. Changes in achievement goals, expectancy, and task value for students in eighth-grade algebra are compared with those of peers placed in lower-level mathematics courses (N = 3,306). In our sample, students placed in algebra reported an increase in performance-avoidance goals as well as decreases in academic self-efficacy and task value. These relations were attenuated for students who had high mathematics achievement prior to algebra placement. Whereas all students reported an overall decline in performance-approach goals over the course of eighth grade, previously high-achieving students reported an increase in these goals. Lastly, previously high-achieving students reported an increase in mastery goals. These findings suggest that while previously high-achieving students may benefit motivationally from eighth-grade algebra placement, placing previously average-and low-performing students in algebra can potentially undermine their motivation for mathematics.  \nKeywords: algebra policy, motivation, middle school mathematics, expectancy-value theory, achievement goal theory  \nDriven by concerns about workforce readiness, global competitiveness, and equity in access, the United States has participated in a decades-long push to accelerate mathematics instruction (see Balfanz, Legters, & Jordan, 2004; National Research Council, 2011; Oakes, 2005) . Much of the effort toward this has been through universal access to algebra during middle school—most commonly, by eighth grade (Simzar & Domina, 2014) . Students who fail to master algebra in eighth or ninth grade face a blocked pathway to advanced mathematics and participation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) career opportunities (Attewall & Domina, 2008; Long, Conger, & Iatarola, 2012) . Thus, progress toward the goals of reaching universal access to algebra has changed the math-taking experiences of many students.  \nThere is a need for greater retention in advanced mathematics despite efforts toward universal algebra placement. High school students typically opt out of advanced mathematics courses after fulfilling courses required to graduate highschool (Meece, 2006) . Thus, participation in advanced mathematics is ultimately a function of access and student choice. A strong predictor of choice is student motivation (Martin, Anderson, Bobis, Way, & Vellar, 2012), and research has yet to determine the relation between changing algebra policies (any policy that guides the placement of students into algebra courses) and students’ motivation for mathematics. Recent studies raise questions about the educational effectiveness of  \nenrolling larger proportions of students in algebra courses, suggesting that eighth-grade algebra enrollment may have unintended negative consequences such as lower mathematics test score growth for students who enter the course with relatively low mathematics skills (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2012; Domina, 2014; Loveless, 2008) . We hypothesize that declining student motivation in mathematics may help to explain these disappointing findings.  \nThis case study uses the increasing eighth-grade algebra enrollment trends in an urban California school district to examine the relation between eighth-grade algebra course placement and students’ motivation for mathematics. Specifically, we investigate motivational changes for students selected into eighth-grade algebra and for eighth-grade peers enrolled in other lower-level math courses, typically pre-algebra, hereafter collectively referenced as general","cbCaiovid9o46kMk","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiovid9o46kMk","pdf",556356,26,"English","# Eighth-Grade Algebra Placement and Motivation\n## Research Questions and Method Overview\n# Background: Universal Algebra Placement and Equity Concerns\n## Retention and Student Choice\n# Review of Changes in Algebra Policy\n## California Policy Shifts (1980s–2008)","[{\"question\":\"How does algebra placement relate to students’ performance-avoidance goals and motivation outcomes?\",\"answer\":\"Students placed in algebra reported increased performance-avoidance goals and decreases in academic self-efficacy and task value compared with peers in lower-level courses.\"},{\"question\":\"Do the motivation effects of algebra placement differ for students with high prior achievement?\",\"answer\":\"Yes. For students with high mathematics achievement before placement, the negative relations between placement and motivation outcomes were attenuated, and previously high-achieving students increased performance-approach and mastery goals.\"},{\"question\":\"What is the study’s main comparison group for eighth-grade peers?\",\"answer\":\"The study compares students selected into eighth-grade algebra with eighth-grade peers enrolled in other lower-level mathematics courses, collectively referred to as general mathematics courses.\"}]","Eighth-Grade Algebra Course Placement and Student Motivation for Mathematics | PDF",1792070179,66]