In addition to enabling students to gain knowledge, education aims to make them competent, confident, and enthusiastic learners. Using TIMSS 2019 data from eighth graders in mathematics classrooms in Hong Kong (N = 1146) and England (N = 1981), this study explored the relevance of classroom management and instructional clarity to students' mathematics self-concept and value, academic emotions (i.e., enjoyment and boredom) and mathematics achievement by using a latent multi-group SEM analysis. The findings corroborated the controlvalue theory and indicated that classroom management was not always beneficial to the increase of students' enjoyment and achievement in Hong Kong, but the favorable effects of classroom management on academic emotions and achievement were observed in England. Additionally, instructional clarity has been demonstrated to improve students' enjoyment and achievement in mathematics while reducing boredom in both groups, with the advantage being greater in Hong Kong classrooms. The limitations and implications are then discussed. Copyright © 2022 Elsevier.

This study investigated the status of equity in mathematics education in Hong Kong based on data from TIMSS 2011 to 2019 and the changes in education equity across the three cycles. The effects of various student-, family-, and school-level variables on students’ mathematics achievement were examined and compared using multilevel modeling. Results showed that there were significant variances between schools in mathematics achievement in Hong Kong, especially for eighth grade students. Overall, boys performed better in mathematics than girls in these three TIMSS cycles in Hong Kong, except for eighth grade boys in the cycles of 2011 and 2019. The family and school socio-economic status (SES) related to the possession of traditional materials (e.g., desks and books) and parents’ highest education level had positive and significant effects on students’ mathematics achievement, and the effects of the predictors increased from the 2011 cycle to the 2019 cycle. SES related to the possession of home digital devices (e.g., computers and internet connection) also had positive but much less substantial effects. School location and resource availability did not have significant effects. In general, the mean levels of SES and school resource availability in Hong Kong is improving. However, the effects of some important student- and school-level factors on mathematics achievement increased. Suggestions for improving education equity in Hong Kong are discussed. Copyright © 2022 Springer.