Mediation of self‐concept and moderation of teacher support between SES and reading achievement: Evidence from China and the United States

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundSocioeconomic status (SES) is important in students' reading development. The mechanism of how they are linked, however, is underexplored.AimsThis research aimed to explore whether reading self‐concept mediates the link between SES and reading achievement and whether teacher support moderates the direct and indirect link between SES and reading achievement.SamplesUsing PISA 2018 database, we selected 17,346 15‐year‐olds from 537 schools in B‐S‐J‐Z (China) and the United States (U.S.).MethodsMultilevel linear models were calculated to explore the potential mediation of self‐concept and the potential moderation of teacher support between SES and reading achievement.ResultsResults reveal that reading self‐concept mediated the link between SES and reading achievement at student level both in China and the United States, and teacher support moderated the link between SES and reading self‐concept both at student level and school level only in China, but not in the United States.ConclusionOur research highlights the importance of self‐concept and teacher support in improving students' reading achievement, especially for students of low SES, which has important theoretical significance and practical enlightenment for reading instruction.