From Structure to Process: Do Students’ Own Construction of Their Classroom Drive Their Learning?

Student perceptions of their classroom interactions play an important role in understanding how students learn. This paper tests whether student perceptions of the quality of classroom interactions explained the association between observed instructional practices and two outcomes: mathematics achievement and effort. The sample included 2986 students in 176 middle school math classrooms and 3269 students in 322 elementary school math classrooms from the Measures of Effective Teaching dataset. Observations measured emotional support, instructional support, and classroom management, and students were surveyed on their perceptions of the quality of classroom interactions and their effort. Multilevel structural equation models showed: (1) classroom rated higher on classroom organization (controlling for other dimensions) were associated with higher student achievement, and (2) observations of emotional support were associated with student perceptions of the quality of classroom interactions. Findings suggest that students’ subjective experiences of classroom interactions influence their learning and behavior.