Showing papers on "Academic achievement published in 1975"

Affective and Ability Factors in Second-Language Acquisition.

Abstract: Although past research studies have failed to yield consistently positive correlations between motivation and achievement in second-language classes, teacher experience clearly indicates that student attitudes and opinions do have a decided effect on learning. The question confronting both teachers and researchers is what student affective characteristics influence learning and what influence each has. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of three affective student characteristics, in comparison with selected student ability characteristics, on course grade in elementary language courses. In this study there were as many positive correlations between the affective characteristics and course grade as there were between ability factors and course grade. The implication was that affective characteristics have at least as much influence on learning as do ability factors.

The measurement and structure of psychosocial maturity

Abstract: The educational community lacks tools for assessing the nonacademic growth of students - their growth as persons and as social beings. This paper describes the development of an attitude inventory based on an interdisciplinary model of psychosocial maturity. The Psychosocial Maturity Inventory, a self-report instrument, is comprised of nine subscales and is suited for the assessment of youngsters in the approximate age range 11-18. Among the studies reviewed are ones which (1) specify at various age levels the internal consistency of the subscales, (2) report the association between the subscales and various measures of academic achievement, and (3) describe the relationship of the subscales to other measures of personality such as "faking good," anxiety, and self-esteem. Factor analyses of the Inventory provide an empirical base for testing the proposed theoretical structure of psychosocial maturity.

School District Organization and Student Achievement.

Abstract: Using data from 104 school districts in Colorado, this study examines determinants of organizational effectiveness. Five environmental conditions of these districts, three components of district structure and one of staff composition are linked in a causal model to the median reading and mathematics achievement test scores of the districts' high school students. The environmental conditions are size, fiscal resources, percent non-white in the population of the district's community, and the education and income levels of the parental risk population. The measures of district structure are pupil-teacher ratio, administrative intensity and the ratio of supporting professional staff to teachers. The staff composition variable is qualification level of the professional staff. The results indicate that pupil-teacher ratio and administrative intensity depress median levels of achievement; whereas, staff qualifications foster student achievement. Of the environmental conditions, only percent non-white has consistently significant direct effects on median achievement levels. But other environmental conditions (resources especially) have important indirect effects on achievement via their direct effects on school district structure and staff qualifications.

The Dr. Fox effect: a study of lecturer effectiveness and ratings of instruction.

Abstract: Students viewed one of six lectures which varied only in substantive teaching points (content) covered and seductiveness. These 207 students then rated the effectiveness of the presentation (satisfaction ratings) and completed a 26-item achievement test. Students who viewed high seduction lectures performed better on the achievement test than did students who viewed low seduction lectures. Similarly, students who viewed lectures high in content performed better on the cognitive test than did students who viewed low-content lectures. The relationship between staisfaction ratings and student achievement was not perfect. Students gave higher ratings to seductive lectures. However, ratings reflected differences in content-coverage only under low seduction conditions. The ratings were not sensitive to variations in content-coverage when lectures were highly seductive. The "Doctor Fox Effect" appears to be more than an illusion. Seductiveness affects both student ratings of instruction and achievement.

Student Ratings of Instruction: Validation Research

Abstract: Correlations between instructional ratings and exam performance at three universities indicated that three rating factors (student accomplishment, presentation clarity, and organization-planning) correlated highly with educational achievement. These rating factors were derived by a factor analysis of a 21-item questionnaire. Separate analyses of the relationship between instructional ratings and student characteristics indicated that the student’s grade point average and math aptitude score (SAT) did not systematically vary with his ratings. However, more senior students (number of terms in college) rated instructors more favorably than their less experienced classmates.

Relationships between Academic Achievement and Personality Characteristics: A Quasi-Longitudinal Study

Abstract: A conceptual model which relates patterns of academic achievement to the personality characteristics of learners was tested by a quasi-longitudinal study. The results of the study provide strong evidence for a model which emphasizes the influence of histories of successful academic achievement on personality characteristics. The findings suggest, additionally, that rewards for academic achievement provided by the home are related to both high achievement and positive personality characteristics. Instructional models such as Mastery Learning and the manipulation of time variables are discussed in terms of their potential for providing students the means both to achieve well and develop positive personality characteristics.

Methods and Results in the IEA Studies of Effects of School on Learning

Abstract: In this paper, I will first examine the methods used in analysis of school and home effects in three recently-published IEA studies-in science education (Comber & Keeves, 1973), in reading comprehension (Thorndike, 1973), and in literature (Purves, 1973). The results of this examination lead to measures of effects different from those used in these studies, or in other studies of school and home effects. Using these measures, I come to somewhat different conclusions than the authors do about the effects on achievement of variations in home and variations in schools. One's first response to the IEA publications must be one of amazement and respect: amazement that such a massive set of studies of cross-national achievement of children could be successfully carried out, and respect for those who have done so. It is important to record this first impression, because the studies constitute the best models in existence for cross-national research on social institutions and social behavior. This fact should not be lost in detailed comparisons, secondary analyses, and critiques of the three studies. With their publication, the comparative study of the functioning of different societies has made an important advance.

The Relationship of Selected Visual- Perceptual Abilities to School Learning

Abstract: DONALD D. HAMMILL, Ed.D. Austin, Texas The relationship between certain visualperceptual abilities and school learning has long been a source of interest to educators, many of whom have speculated that deficits in visual perception may cause or, at least, contribute to academic failure. Historically, this assumption has been based upon the clinical experience of various members of the educational community as well as upon some basic research (Barrett, 1965; Bryan, 1964; Frostig & Maslow, 1969; Goins, 1958; Kephart, 1971; Pitcher-Baker, 1973; Rosen, 1966; Wepman, 1964). While visual perception and, in particular, its relationship to school learning have received much attention in professional journals, the educational usefulness of this important theoretical construct has never been fully substantiated. In fact, recent opinion and research have seriously questioned its relevance as a practical correlate of learning failure (Cohen, 1969; Hammill, 1972; Mann, 1970). It is important to note, however, that many school systems throughout the country are still committing large numbers of man hours

Esteem Construct Generality and Academic Performance

Abstract: Measures of global, specific, and task-specific self-esteem were administered to 78 male and 81 female college students and related to predicted and actual performance on a midterm examination. Significant correlations were found between global and specific measures and between specific and task measures, but not between global and task measures. The relationship between the esteem measures and actual performance was strongest for the task measures, next strongest for the specific measures, and nonsignificant for the global measures. Specific measures were also significantly related to predicted performance, but global measures were not. The findings were discussed in terms of four criticisms of global measures, and it was suggested that more specific self-esteem measures be developed.

The Coleman Report: Using Inappropriately Designed Achievement Tests

Abstract: The data in the Coleman Report have been interpreted by some as indicating that differences between schools have little impact on achievement. This interpretation is derived from the fact that only about 10% of the variance in the test scores was associated with differences between schools, while about 90% was associated with differences between individuals within schools. If the variance associated with school differences is appropriately compared to the variance associated with attending school one year, then school differences are quite large. It is not appropriate to draw conclusions about achievement when the conclusions are based on results of tests that were designed to maximize individual differences. The Coleman results make a great deal more sense when the test score results are interpreted as reflecting aptitude instead of achievement.

The Affective and Cognitive Consequences of an Open Education Elementary School

Abstract: One hundred fifth grade children, enrolled in one of two suburban elementary schools (one traditionally organzed and the other with an open orientation), were used to compare various pupil outcome dimensions in two dif educational environments. Subjects used in this expost facto study were balanced with respect to several dimensions of socioeconomic status, ability, and previous achievement prior to assignment to one of the two groups. Differences in school environments were quantified using two instruments. After two and one half years, overall differences were found between the two on several achievement variables. No differences were noted with respect to three measures of personality and three measures of cognition.