Effect of teacher support on students’ math attitudes: Measurement invariance and moderation of students' background characteristics

Abstract We examine the effect of students' perceptions of teacher support on attitudes towards math and whether the association varies between students from historically underrepresented groups in STEM. Participants included high school students enrolled in an AP Statistics course (N = 585, Mage = 16.75 years, SDage = 0.88). Measurement invariance conducted on the basis of student background characteristics (i.e., biological sex, underrepresented race/ethnicity status, and parental educational attainment) provided evidence of metric invariance or greater. Standardized regression coefficients suggested potential differences, such that for students who were female, from an underrepresented racial/ethnicity group in STEM, or had parents with lower levels of education, the effect of teacher support appeared not as strong compared to their counterparts. However, scaled chi-square difference tests comparing nested latent path models did not suggest a moderation effect of these three characteristics. These findings have implications for understanding barriers many students face in receiving the benefits of teacher support.