Relationship between Perceived Teacher Expectations and Cognitive Engagement: Mediating Role of Academic Self-Efficacy in Students with Learning Disorders

The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between perceived teacher expectations and cognitive engagement, with a focus on the mediating role of academic self-efficacy among students with learning disorders.

The research design employed in this study was descriptive and correlational. The target population consisted of all fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students with learning disorders in Birjand city, Iran, in the year 2023, totaling 140 individuals. Utilizing Morgan's table, a random sample of 103 students was selected. The research instruments used in this study included the Teacher's perceived expectations questionnaire (Bulach, 2002), Academic Engagement Questionnaire (Zerang, 2012) and Academic Self-efficacy Scale (Midgley et al. (2000) . Structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the proposed model.

The findings of this study indicated that the proposed model exhibited favorable fit indices. Specifically, the analyzed model revealed a significant and direct relationship between perceived teacher expectations and both cognitive engagement and academic self-efficacy among students with learning disabilities (P<0.01). Additionally, a significant and direct relationship was observed between academic self-efficacy and cognitive engagement among these students (P<0.01). Moreover, academic self-efficacy was found to play a significant mediating role in the association between perceived teacher expectations and cognitive engagement among students with learning disabilities (P<0.01).

Overall, the results of this study provide support for the influence of teacher expectations on cognitive engagement and academic achievement among students with learning disorders, while also affirming the mediating role of academic self-efficacy.