This 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.

This study uses data from an urban school district to examine the relation between students’ motivational beliefs about mathematics and high- versus low-stakes math test performance. We use ordinary least squares and quantile regression analyses and find that the association between students’ motivation and test performance differs based on the stakes of the exam. Students’ math self-efficacy and performance avoidance goal orientation were the strongest predictors for both exams; however, students’ math self-efficacy was more strongly related to achievement on the low-stakes exam. Students’ motivational beliefs had a stronger association at the low-stakes exam proficiency cutoff than they did at the high-stakes passing cutoff. Lastly, the negative association between performance avoidance goals and high-stakes performance showed a decreasing trend across the achievement distribution, suggesting that performance avoidance goals are more detrimental for lower achieving students. These findings help parse out the ways motivation influences achievement under different stakes.

The authors discuss the relationship between math course placement policy in the United States and education inequity. Recent efforts to enroll more students in early Algebra aim to increase equity, meet 21st century goals, and close international achievement gaps. Research assessing the effects of these movements indicates that progress towards these goals has not been met. To broaden opportunities to learn in mathematics, educators must critically attend to student motivation to accommodate classroom diversity and to increase students’ effort, persistence, and choice to pursue mathematical learning. The objectives of this chapter are to: (a) discuss how Algebra policy revisions have fallen short of reaching their intended goals, (b) argue that educators must attend to student motivation to aid progress towards these goals, (c) deliver tools for educators to engage in critical analysis of motivation, and (d) provide critical practices to cultivate student motivation for mathematics. Future research directions and policy and support recommendations conclude.

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