Parent perceptions and attributions for children's math achievement

From junior high school on, girls report lower estimations of their math ability and express more negative attitudes about math than do boys, despite equivalent performance in grades. Parents show this same sex-typed bias. This paper examines the role that attributions may play in explaining these sex differences in parents' perceptions of their children's math ability. Mothers and fathers of 48 junior high school boys and girls of high, average, and low math ability completed questionnaires about their perceptions of their child's ability and effort in math, and their causal attributions for their child's successful and unsuccessful math performances. Parents' math-related perceptions and attributions varied with their child's level of math ability and gender. Parents credited daughters with more effort than sons, and sons with more talent than daughters for successful math performances. These attributional patterns predicted sex-linked variations in parents' ratings of their child's effort and talent. No sex of child effects emerged for failure attributions; instead, lack of effort was seen as the most important, and lack of ability as the least important, cause of unsuccessful math performances for both boys and girls. Implications of these attributions for parents' influence on children's developing self-concept of math ability, future expectancies, and subsequent achievement behaviors are discussed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45585/1/11199_2004_Article_BF00289840.pd

In the Mind of the Actor: The Structure of Adolescents' Achievement Task Values and Expectancy-Related Beliefs

The authors assessed the dimensionality of and relations between adolescents' achievement-related beliefs and self perceptions, focusing on subjective valuing of achievement. Beliefs derived from expectancy-value theory (adolescents' valuing of achievement activities, expectancies for success and ability perceptions, and perceptions of task difficulty) were assessed. Adolescents completed questionnaires once a year for 2 years. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that achievement-related beliefs separate into three task values factors (interest, perceived importance, and perceived utility), one expectancy/ability factor (comprising beliefs about one's competence, expectancies for success, and performance perceptions), and two task difficulty factors (perceptions of difficulty and perceptions of effort required to do well). Task values and ability perceptions factors were positively related to each other and negatively correlated to perceptions of task difficulty.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69045/2/10.1177_0146167295213003.pd

The Accuracy and Power of Sex, Social Class, and Ethnic Stereotypes: A Naturalistic Study in Person Perception

This research examined the accuracy and power of sex, social class, and ethnic stereotypes in person perception. Participants included 49 to 56 teachers and nearly 2,000 students in seventh-grade public school math classes. Results indicated that teacher perceptions regarding achievement and motivation differences between girls and boys, lower- and upper-class students, and African American and White students were mostly accurate. Results also showed that although teachers generally relied on students' personal characteristics to form their perceptions, they occasionally relied on stereotypes. We discuss these results in terms of the classic view that stereotypes are inaccurate, rigid, exaggerated, and exert powerful effects on person perception.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68982/2/10.1177_01461672982412005.pd

Surviving the Junior High School Transition Family Processes and Self-Perceptions as Protective and Risk Factors

This study used a longitudinal design to investigate the association offamily processes and self-perceptions with adjustment and self-esteem following the transition to junior high school. Students'positive self-concepts in academic and social domains emerged as facilitative of positive adjustment across the transition, while self-consciousness in these domains proved detrimental to adjustment. In addition, adolescents'perceptions of their parents as being developmentally attuned to them and supportive of autonomy in decision-making situations were positively associated with adjustment and gains in self-esteem across the transition. The results are discussed in light of the salient developmental tasks confronting the early adolescent and the role offamily and school contexts in facilitating the successful negotiation of these tasks.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67358/2/10.1177_027243169401400205.pd

Student, Teacher, and Observer Perceptions of the Classroom Environment Before and after the Transition to Junior High School

Student and teacher perceptions of the classroom environment were assessed during mathematics instruction in 117 sixth grade elementary school classrooms and the following year in 138 seventh grade junior high school classrooms. Observer perceptions were collected in a subset of these classrooms. As hypothesized, after the transition students were given fewer opportunities for input, interaction and cooperation; whole class task organization and the use of social comparison increased; and student/teacher relationships deteriorated. Contrary to predictions, competition was more prevalent before than after the transition and the frequency of grading did not change. It is suggested that a "developmental mismatch" may exist between maturing children and the classroom environments they experience before and after the transition to junior high school.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67243/2/10.1177_0272431688082003.pd