Abstract:
Students’ perceptions of teaching quality and the importance of learning have been shown to
matter to performance. Likewise, self-efficacy and interest in a subject predict students’
academic performance. However, little is known about how student perceptions in the subject
English relate to performance in reading comprehension. The current study explores how
New Zealand Year 11-12 secondary students perceive the teaching they receive and how
those perceptions relate to their own reading attitudes and achievement. Data (N = 1260) was
drawn from the norming samples of the 2004 Assessment Tools of Teaching and Leaning
Version 4 database. After splitting the data into two separate files, factor analysis revealed
perceptions of teaching quality and the quality of teacher-family relations (n = 635) and the
importance of being taught reading and writing (n = 625). Partially mediated structural
equation modelling revealed that students’ perception of English teaching quality positively
influenced student self-efficacy, interest, and performance and that self-efficacy and interest
positively influenced performance. However, perceptions of teacher-family communication
negatively influenced student self-efficacy and performance and were not related to interest.
Student perceptions of the importance of learning to read and write did not have a statistically
significant direct relation with reading performance but indirectly influenced performance via
self-efficacy and interest. Invariance tests confirmed that the models were equivalent across
demographic variables, with medium-to-large latent mean differences for ethnicity and
school decile on total performance. These findings expand on the existing literature and have
practical implications for policymakers, education practitioners, and student families.
