Showing papers in "American Educational Research Journal in 1981"

Dropouts from Higher Education: Path Analysis of a National Sample

Abstract: Path analysis was used to test the Tinto model of college dropout using a sample drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972. Through path analysis, a more parsimonious causal model was derived. Pre-college characteristics predicted college integration, but did not directly affect the dropout decisions. Factors related to the integration of the student into the college's academic setting appeared to be far more important to subsequent dropout decisions than were factors related to integration into the social setting. The commitment of the student to the goal of college completion had the strongest positive effect on the decision to remain in school.

Reading Instruction and Its Effects

Abstract: Reading instruction and its effects were examined for 105 students in elementary classrooms for the learning-disabled. Extensive detailed observations of students, teachers, and instructional material were used to explore the plausibility of a causal model of the effects of reading behaviors and instruction on students' reading performance. The results indicate that 72 percent of the variance in posttest reading scores can be explained by a model that includes a pretest, three student reading behaviors, and instructional overlap; and that 59 percent of the variance in student time spent in reading can be explained by a model that includes pretest, teacher instructional behaviors, teacher affective behaviors, and instructional pacing. Using these results as a basis, mechanisms for increasing salient student reading activities in classrooms that serve students with reading problems are discussed.

Competitive Versus Cooperative Reward Structures: The Influence of Individual and Group Performance Factors on Achievement Attributions and Affect

Abstract: This study examined the effects of cooperative and competitive reward structures on children's attributions and affective reactions to success and failure. Eighty sixth-grade children performed at a high or low level at an achievement task under competitive or cooperative reward contingencies. The cooperative structure included both group success and group failure. Results showed that competitive contingencies accentuated the differences in self-other perceptions and cooperative contingencies minimized these differences. Within a cooperative structure, the success of the cooperative group was a major factor affecting self and interpersonal evaluations. The results are discussed within an attribution and self-worth theory of motivated behavior.

Teacher Race and Expectations for Student Achievement

Abstract: This study investigated whether the race of elementary school teachers in black schools was associated with teachers' expectations for student achievement and perceptions of effort. A factor analysis revealed four clusters of items dealing with teacher perceptions of elementary school students' achievement and effort, and teachers' expectations for future student success in high school and college. Controlling for teachers' sex, education and years of teaching experience, and average school achievement and SES, teacher race was associated only with expectations for college success. Black teachers expected more of their students to enter and complete college than white teachers. Additional evidence suggested that this teacher race difference was relatively independent of the student racial composition of the schools. The implications of teacher race as a determinant of differential expectations for the success of black students are discussed.

Election of High School Mathematics by Females and Males: Attributions and Attitudes

Abstract: Males, more than females, elect advanced mathematics courses. This differential in the number of mathematics courses elected has been cited as a major explanation of sex-related differences in adults' mathematics performance and in their participation in mathematics-related careers. Knowledge about some of the variables that enter into the decision to persist in the study of mathematics is essential for those who are interested in encouraging females, as well as males, to adequately prepare themselves in mathematics. This study identified some attitudinal and attributional variables that relate to the election of mathematics courses by females and males. A small set of variables was found to explain some of the variance in female and male mathematics plans. These results might help in understanding why females do not continue in as large a proportion as males to elect mathematics and/or to enter mathematics-related careers.

Measurement and Modeling Choices in Studies of Time and Learning

Abstract: The consequences of using alternative measures of time and achievement are examined in an observational study of 18 elementary school classes. Of the four measures of time used—scheduled time, actual instructional time, engaged time and engaged rate—the engagement measures produced the more consequential effects of time for learning. Nonetheless, measures of allocated time are still important because they provide the constraints within which the results for engagement time must be interpreted. Mathematics achievement, measured as standardized and as chapter specific tests, was not consistently related to the time measures. This paper examines the extent to which the choice of the same model linking time and learning for all students was implicated in these inconsistent results.

Ability x Treatment Interaction Effects on Children's Learning in Large-group and Small- group Approaches

Abstract: This study investigated ability × treatment interaction effects on students' learning in large-group and small-group teaching approaches. Each of two elementary teachers taught a 2-week geometry unit to two classes of fourth- and fifth-grade students. Each class received one teaching approach. Stratified random assignment was used to assign students to classes. Students completed aptitude measures at the beginning of the study and achievement, attitude, and retention measures at the end. Regression analyses showed a significant curvilinear aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) for ability that supported previous ATI findings. High- and low-ability students did better in the small-group approach than in the large-group approach. Medium-ability students did slightly better in the large-group approach than in the small-group approach. Analyses of observations of group processes indicated that high- and low-ability students benefited from peer tutoring processes that occurred in the small groups.

Use of Adaptive Information for Advisement in Learning Concepts and Rules Using Computer-assisted Instruction

Abstract: Findings from two experiments showed that students can effectively manage their learning needs in a computer-assisted instructional system when provided continuous, updated advisement information about their achievement (diagnosis) and instructional needs (prescription) in relation to the objective. In Experiment 1, high school students receiving instruction (learning four physics concepts) via a learner-adaptive-control management strategy that included advisement performed better on the posttest than students in a learner-control strategy (p > .001) and needed less instructional time than students in a program-managed, adaptive-control strategy (p > .001). Experiment 2 replicated the effectiveness of the learner-adaptive-control strategy by showing that students were able to make increasingly better self-assessments and management decisions during three separate instructional units (learning nine punctuation rules) than either a learner-partial-control strategy (p > .001) or a learner-control strategy (...

Reactions to Achievement Behavior From a Teacher and Student Perspective: A Developmental Analysis

Abstract: Participants from first grade through college (N = 168) evaluated the achievement behavior of hypothetical students differing in ability, effort expenditure, and test outcome, both from the perspective of student and teacher. Perceptions of teacher values were consistent over age: Effort and outcome were perceived as highly salient cues for determining degree of teacher rewards and punishment, with student ability level being of little relevance. In contrast, student perspectives indicated a high valuation of ability across all grade levels. Moreover, whereas effort was strongly valued in elementary school, inconsistencies appeared in junior high school such that by high school and college a devaluation of effort occurred. This progressive devaluation was associated with an evolving student belief that low-effort expenditure implies higher ability.

Building Friendships Between Handicapped and Nonhandicapped Students: Effects of Cooperative and Individualistic Instruction

Abstract: The effects of cooperative and individualistic learning experiences were compared on interpersonal attraction between handicapped and non-handicapped third-grade students Forty students were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for handicap, ability, sex, and peer popularity Students participated in an instructional math unit for 25 minutes a day for 16 instructional days Type of interaction within the instructional situation, interpersonal attraction, and frequency of interaction in a free-choice, postinstructional situation were measured Three attitude scales were also given The results indicate that cooperative learning experiences, compared with individualistic ones, promote more cross-handicapped interaction during instruction; promote interaction characterized by involving handicapped students in the learning activities, giving them assistance, and encouraging them to achieve; promote more cross-handicap friendships; and promote more cross-handicap interaction during

Grade Inflation and the Validity of the Scholastic Aptitude Test

Abstract: Grade inflation refers to an increase in grade point average without a concomitant increase in achievement. Therefore, to show that grade inflation exists it is important to demonstrate that achievement has not increased while grades have increased. One purpose of this study is to clarify this issue by examining the data base of the College Board's Validity Study Service. The second purpose of the study is to examine the effect of grade inflation on the validity of the Scholastic Aptitude Test across a period of 15 years.

The Classroom Ratio of High- and Low-aptitude Students and Its Effect on Achievement

Abstract: Classrooms with “more favorable” teaching situations were defined as those in which more than a third of the students were high aptitude and less than a third of the students were low aptitude. “Less favorable” classrooms were those in which less than a third of the students were high aptitude and more than a third of the students were low aptitude. The stated hypothesis was that the ratio of high-aptitude students to low-aptitude students in the classrooms would influence the mathematics achievement of students. Individual standardized aptitude and achievement data were available for 103 third- and fourth-grade classrooms. The sample was drawn from a large metropolitan school district that basically served a middle-class population in neighborhood schools. Analyses of variance tests indicated that both high- and low-aptitude students in more favorable classrooms had greater achievement gains than comparable students in less favorable classrooms.

The Relative Influence of Course Level, Course Type, and Instructor on Students' Evaluations of College Teaching:

Abstract: College students (N = 1,374) evaluated teaching effectiveness both at the end of each course (N = 100) and again 1 year after graduation. Mean end-of-term ratings were similar to those collected after graduation, and the two sets of ratings were highly correlated (median r = .83). The purpose of this study was to determine the relative contribution of course level (undergraduate vs. graduate), course type (accounting, economics, finance, etc.), and the specific instructor in determining evaluations of teaching. Results showed variance attributable to the specific instructor was much larger than that due either to course level or course type for both end-of-term and follow-up ratings, and the effects were stable. These findings indicate that both the type of course and the level at which it is taught are relatively less important in determining the outcome of student ratings than who teaches it.

Structural Characteristics and Citation Rates of Education Journals

Abstract: The frequency with which scientific papers are cited in the journal literature has been shown to be related to the quality and scholarly stature of individual scientists, academic departments, and scientific journals. This study demonstrates that nearly two-thirds of the variability in the citation frequency of 148 education journals can be explained by five structural characteristics of these journals. The relative importance of each structural characteristic and its relationship to qualitative considerations are discussed. The practical implications of these findings for those responsible for the administration of institutions of higher learning and their contribution to the study of the scientific communication process of the field of educational research are presented.

Effects of Class Heterogeneity in Junior High School

Abstract: Classroom process data from 27 junior high school English classes in a large metropolitan school district were analyzed to assess the learning environment, classroom managerial constraints, and general teacher effects associated with teaching in classes with wide ranges of student academic entering level. A series of regression models that accounted for differences in teachers' management skill levels and entering class mean achievement levels was used to evaluate relationships between class heterogeneity (standard deviations of students' entering achievement scores) and a variety of classroom process measures and teacher self-report variables. Results suggest that heterogeneity of students' entering achievement levels in a given class limits teachers' successful adaptation of instruction to individual student academic and affective needs. Higher heterogeneity was also associated with a lesser degree of student task engagement and cooperation. Effects of extreme heterogeneity were greater in classes taugh...

Continuing Motivation in Science for Early and Late Adolescents

Abstract: This study examined the classroom environment correlates of continuing motivation in science for national samples of early and late adolescents. Controlling for achievement in science and student background characteristics, measures of the quality of the classroom social environment, and the utility of science content and classes had significant positive regression weights in both samples with continuing student interest and participation in voluntary science activities. The extent to which teachers, rather than students, controlled the learning environment was negatively associated with continuing motivation. Significant interactions were found between level of achievement in science and two dimensions of the classroom environment. For early adolescents the utility of science content and classes had its strongest positive influence on continuing motivation in science for students at the relatively highest levels of science achievement. A similar interaction was found for the older adolescent sample betwe...

Probing a Model of Educational Productivity in Science with National Assessment Samples of Early Adolescents

Abstract: To test a psychological theory of educational productivity and to explore the usefulness of the National Assessment of Educational Progress data for secondary analysis for policy purposes, the science achievement scores of 2,346 13-year-old students were regressed on indexes of their Socio-economic Status, Motivation, Quality (of instruction), Class (social psychological environment), and Home conditions. All these productivity factors are significant in the ordinary multiple regressions when controlled for one another and Race and Gender, and the equation coefficients conform closely in sign and magnitude to theoretical values derived from the Cobb-Douglas theory of national economic productivity. Under a stringent probe, however, the Class social-psychological environment appears as the only unequivocal cause of science learning in the data.

Early Adolescent Sex Differences in Science Learning: Evidence from the National Assessment of Educational Progress

Abstract: Data from the 1976 NAEP Science Assessment were used to explore sex differences in science learning and its determinants with controls for ethnicity and parental socioeconomic status. The sample was composed of 2,349 13-year-olds. Scales measuring science learning and five related factors were related to sex, race, and SES in three-way analyses of variance and covariance. While no sex difference in science learning was found, a sex-specific trend in science motivation was detected. For males, increased motivation was found with higher levels of SES (parental education). A number of other differences among ethnic and SES groups are significant.

Testing the Simplex Assumption Underlying Bloom's Taxonomy

Abstract: In an attempt to resolve conflicting conclusions arising from previous analyses, the LISREL method of Joreskog was applied to the data of Kropp and Stoker. It was found that the simplex assumption underlying Bloom's taxonomy is supported when the knowledge category is deleted from the taxonomy.

Effects of Notetaking Pretraining and Test Mode Expectations on Learning from Lectures

Abstract: Effects of pretraining subjects to use a notetaking system while listening to a lecture were compared with those of giving subjects no pretraining. A second variable was test mode expectation: One-third of the subjects were told they would be given a multiple-choice test; another third of the subjects, an essay test; the final third were told only that they would be tested. A 35-item objective test was given immediately after the lecture and a free recall test was given one week after the lecture. The design was a 2 × 3 factorial with a total of 100 high school students serving as subjects. ANOVAs on performance scores for the objective and free recall tests and scores reflecting the efficiency of the notes themselves showed several significant interactions between the two independent variables. From this study and others, recommendations for educators who wish to improve the notetaking skills of students are included.

Cooperative Games as an Intervention to Promote Cross-racial Acceptance:

Abstract: A growing body of studies of social interaction among desegregated elementary school children reveals more cross-racial behavior among males than females (Rogers & Miller, 1980, 1981; Sagar & Schofield 1980; Schofield & Sagar 1977; Silverman & Shaw, 1973). Our own work reveals that at recess girls participate in physical games to a lesser extent than boys, and the games they do play (e.g., jump rope, hopscotch, tetherball) generally require interaction with only one or two other children. In contrast, the games boys play (e.g., basketball, softball) generally require more participants on a team than the number of same race classmates available. Thus, black and anglo boys need each other to form complete teams. There are three important things to note about this observation. First, the fact that girls play fewer physical games is consistent with the suggestion (Cohen, 1980) that they focus on physical attractiveness rather than physical abilities and that this in turn contributes to their continued racial encapsulation (by failing to discourage perceptions of unequal status). Second, the boys' playground activities force cross-racial interaction, whereas those of the girls do not. Third, the games the girls play do not encourage cross-racial cooperation, whereas the boys' games require it. In a game of basketball or softball each team member is expected to contribute his best effort to achieve a goal that all team members commonly share. Given the typical individual differences in athletic skill, when teams are "chosen up" they are normally mixed in their racial composition. In short, the boys' playground activity encourages increased contact between races and at the same time promotes cross-racial cooperative behavior and perceptions of equal status. These are thought to be the most crucial ingredients for increasing cross-racial social acceptance (Allport, 1954). Indeed, Slavin and Madden (1979) report that participation on a cross-racial sports team had a direct relationship with positive interracial behaviors and attitudes.

Teacher and Parent Causal Perceptions of School Problems

Abstract: Attribution interviews were conducted with 30 mothers who had recently disagreed with their child's teacher regarding the cause of a school-related problem and with 30 teachers who had similar disagreements with a parent. Parents tended to hold teachers primarily responsible for these problems and, to a lesser extent, characteristics of their children not under personal control By contrast, teachers assigned most responsibility to parent-home factors, next most to controllable child characteristics, and none to themselves. Teachers accurately predicted parents' attributions but parents were not aware how much they were held accountable by teachers.

Cumulative Achievement in a Mastery Instructional System: The Impact of Differences in Resultant Achievement Motivation and Persistence

Abstract: This study developed an approach to evaluating the appropriateness of student effort within a mastery instructional system and then investigated the interrelationship of achievement motivation, effort, and achievement in two college courses. Appropriate effort was strongly correlated with student achievement, even when differences in student aptitude were controlled. In several instances achievement motivation was also shown to be related to the variables assessing student effort and achievement. Path analysis indicated that the influence of achievement motivation on achievement was mostly determined by the relationship of achievement motivation and student errors in expending appropriate effort.

Aptitude-Treatment Interaction Effects of Variations in Direct Instruction

Abstract: Two teachers each taught a 2-week fractions unit to two classes of randomly assigned fourth- and fifth-grade students. Each teacher taught one class using direct instruction and the other using a small-group variation of direct instruction. Students completed aptitude measures before the study began and achievement and attitude measures at the end of the study. Regression analysis on achievement showed significant aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) and significant teacher effects. Students who had positive attitudes and an internal locus of control did better in the small-group variation, probably because they had some choice of activities and control over their learning. Teachers differed in effectiveness within direct instruction but did not differ within the small-group variation.

Fun and Games: Their Contribution to Basic Skills Instruction in Elementary School

Abstract: Indicators of instructional program effectiveness have been expanded to include both the range of instructional options and cognitive and affective performance measures. Within the context of a statewide evaluation of educational reform, this research studied the relationship of diverse instructional materials with student performance indicators. The study sampled 72 schools from a geographically, socioeconomically, and linguistically representative frame, and two classrooms each in second and third grades of each school provided data. Observation and teacher survey data were collected, and students were tested in reading, mathematics, and attitudinal areas. Our study reports significant performance decrements associated with the use of diverse instructional resources. Explanations are provided within a framework that includes time-on-task and motivational variables.

Sex Role Expectations of Classroom Teachers, Grades 1–12

Abstract: The effect of the variables of student sex, grade level, and student achievement on teacher sex role expectations was assessed. Two hundred responses from 70 classroom teachers on the Teacher Sex Role Perception inventory (an adaptation of the Bem Sex Role Inventory) were analyzed. Of the four variables considered, student achievement alone was a highly significant predictor. Teachers classified high-achieving students as androgynous and masculine. Low-achieving students were classified as feminine and undifferentiated. This negative relationship between the feminine sex role and high achievement may be a factor in declining female achievement over grade level.

Following Students' Suggestions for Rewriting a Computer Programming Textbook

Abstract: This paper discusses the results of two experiments in technical textbook design. In the first experiment, excerpts from two existing computer programming texts were given to a group of college students. Comprehension of both texts was found to be poor, and surprisingly, the subjects overwhelmingly preferred a verbose and poorly written text over a concise and well written one. It was concluded from the students' comments that they were looking for an easy-to-read text with lots of examples. A chapter was written in this style, and it was found that the students' comprehension improved substantially, and they also liked the new “text” much better than any of the others.

Triggering a Schema: The Role of Italics and Intonation in the Interpretation of Ambiguous Discourse

Abstract: Anderson and associates have demonstrated that the interpretation of ambiguous discourse is strongly influenced by general schemata determined by a reader's background and previous experience. In two experiments, we show that variations in paralinguistic stress cues, based upon Chafe's given-new and contrastiveness notions, can also influence which frameworks subjects use in comprehending Anderson's two ambiguous passages. This schematic triggering was demonstrated consistently when tests were presented visually with focal stress indicated by italics, and less consistently when the passages were presented aurally with increased intensity and pitch conveying stress. Differential stress patterns appear to evoke a particular message interpretation by influencing the accessibility of the available interpretive schemata. Educational implications of such schematic-triggering phenomena are discussed.

Acquisition of Lecturing Skills by University Teaching Assistants: Some Effects of Interest, Topic Relevance, and Viewing a Model Videotape

Abstract: Thirty-seven graduate teaching assistants participating in an instructional improvement program were randomly assigned to treatment and control (modeling, no modeling) groups for this study. The use of a model videotape, the subjects' interest in the instructural topic, and their assessment of the relevance of that topic were measured to determine possible effects of those variables on subsequent acquisition of the modeled behaviors. Results of a stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated: (a) modeling did produce a significant effect on the acquisition of modeled behaviors, and (b) observers need not perceive the modeled topic as interesting or relevant in order for a model videotape to be effective.

The Influence of Direct Instruction on Student Self-appraisals: A Hierarchical Analysis of Treatment and Aptitude-Treatment Interaction Effects

Abstract: The study analyzed student self-appraisal data from an instructional experiment in the third grade. Treatment and aptitude-treatment interaction (ATI) effects were assessed on self-esteem, attitude, anxiety, and locus of control Analyses were performed at the student and class levels to accommodate the hierarchical character of the data. Results showed the instruction favorably influenced self-esteem, attitude, and anxiety. In particular, parent instruction in learning skills resulted in significantly higher average scores on self-esteem and attitude and lower scores on anxiety. Class-level ATI's were also evidenced among the parent instruction and selected student aptitudes. Second-order ATI's are illustrated with a new technique developed by Hedges.