Perceptions of Scholastic Competence in Relation to Middle-School Achievement

Abstract

This follow-up study examined the role of affective variables in predicting academic achievement among middle-school students. In a 1991 study, Sink, Barnett, and Hixon found moderate to strong correlations among self-perceived competence scores, teachers' ratings of students' competence, and Grade 6 achievement. To extend these findings, Grade 7 teachers' ratings, parents' ratings of students' academic competence, and seventh grade achievement test scores were collected from the same sample. Similar positive correlations were found between the students' academic self-concept and achievement in Grades 6 and 7. Parents' and teachers' ratings yielded moderate correlations with academic achievement. Step-wise multiple regression analyses showed teachers' perceptions and fathers' perceptions to be the strongest predictors of Grade 7 students' achievement in three of the four subject areas tested. These results underscore the stability and the importance of affective variables in understanding and predicting middle-school academic performance.