What a Difference a Measure Makes

Abstract

On the basis of empirical evidence that non-ability factors are more important determinants of school grades than of academic achievement test results, it is assumed that a student's social environment will affect grades more than scores on achievement tests. That assumption is a part of the basis for the hypothesis that parental separation will have a stronger negative effect on school grades than on academic achievement scores. The hypothesis is tested in a data set in which Smith (1990) found no significant effect of parental separa- tion on academic achievement when parental occupation and educa- tion were controlled. The hypothesis n supported in data from 1,688 seventh- and ninth-grade students, showing the importance of the choice of indicators of complex concepts, such as school success, and suggesting that research which concentrates on academic achieve- ment, to the exclusion of grades, may underestimate Ule effect of parental separation on academic success.