Non-cognitive Outcomes Research Articles

Self-reported biliteracy and self-esteem: A study of Mexican American 8th graders

ABSTRACTThe concept of proficient bilingualism or biliteracy (proficiency in reading and writing in both Spanish and English) has.been used in research on linguistic and academic processes among Mexican American children, but rarely has it been used to examine noncognitive outcomes in this population. Biliteracy – a quality that strengthens cultural identity and facilitates adaptation to the mainstream society – hypothetically contributes to the growth of self-esteem among Mexican Americans. Biliteracy is arguably more relevant to the development of self-concept among Mexican American children than Spanish proficiency or a general notion of bilingualism. Drawing on data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Survey (NELS 88), this article compares self-deprecation, self-confidence, and fatalistic belief among Mexican American 8th graders who reported themselves as biliterate, English monoliterate, Spanish monoliterate, or oral bilingual. Controlling for the effects of sociodemographic background and school experience, ordinary least-square regression analysis generated supportive results. Mexican American children who identified themselves as biliterate had higher self-confidence than other groups (English or Spanish monoliterates and oral bilinguals). Logistic regression analysis found a strong interaction effect between self-identity and birthplace (United States or foreign) and parents' education. Among students born in the United States, parents' education was negatively related to biliterate identity. In contrast, parents' education was positively associated with biliterate identity among those who were foreign-born.

Effect of the use of formative evaluation on some cognitive and non-cognitive student learning outcomes in secondary mathematics

Effect of the use of formative evaluation on some cognitive and non-cognitive student learning outcomes in secondary mathematics

Use of noncognitive measures in assessment

AbstractStating specific educational objectives reduces the complexity of deciding which of a bewildering array of potential noncognitive outcomes are worth the risks and costs associated with their administration.

Self-Concept: Validation of Construct Interpretations

Historically, education goals have tended to fluctuate from emphasis solely on cognitive outcomes to major concern with social and affective ones. The emphasis on achievement and the cult of efficiency (Callahan, 1962) early in this century was followed by a shift in the 1930's to the comprehensive high school with its social and affective concerns (cf. the Eight Year Study, Aikin, 1942). Then Sputnik initiated a rapid and dramatic reemphasis on cognitive outcomes (Bruner, 1960) from which the current trend seems to be moving in its emphasis on humanistic aspects of education. The sharp increase in the number of studies on self-concept is one reflection of the reemphasis on noncognitive outcomes of education. (For references to current educational studies, see reviews by Coller, 1971; Purkey, 1970; Yamamoto, 1972; Zirkel, 1971.) Another symptom of this shift has taken the form of increased concern with enhancing the child's self-concept, espe-

On the Interaction between the Quantity and Quality of Children

Students of human fertility have been aware for a long time that there may be some special relation between the number (quantity) of children ever born to a family and the "quality" of their children as perceived by others if not by the parents. One need only cite the negative correlation between quantity and quality of children per family so often observed in both cross-section and time-series data. One of us (Becker 1960) more than a decade ago stressed the importance for understanding fertility (quantity) of the interaction between quantity and quality, and we are pleased to note that this interaction is emphasized in most of the papers in this Supplement, especially those by De Tray and Willis. Some economists have argued that the negative relation between quantity and quality often observed is a consequence of a low substitution elasticity in a family's utility function between parents' consumption or level of living and that of their children (see, e.g., Duesenberry 1960; Willis 1969). The approach followed by De Tray in this volume is different, but it makes equally special assumptions about the substitution between quantity and quality in the utility function and in household production.

Capital Formation by Education

Capital Formation by Education