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Measuring academic Self‐Concept in children: A comparison of two scales
Author(s) -
Burke Joy Patricia,
Ellison Geraldine Cain,
Hunt Jeanne P.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
psychology in the schools
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1520-6807
pISSN - 0033-3085
DOI - 10.1002/1520-6807(198507)22:3<260::aid-pits2310220305>3.0.co;2-h
Subject(s) - psychology , academic achievement , equivalence (formal languages) , scale (ratio) , reading (process) , developmental psychology , achievement test , self concept , test validity , test (biology) , psychometrics , mathematics education , standardized test , mathematics , paleontology , physics , discrete mathematics , quantum mechanics , political science , law , biology
While numerous studies attest to a relationship between academic self‐concept and achievement, a variety of measures of self‐concept have been used, and the equivalence of these instruments has received limited attention. In this investigation, the Self‐Concept of Ability Scale (SCAS) and the newer and less examined Self‐Perception of Attainment Scale (SPAS) were compared for their ability to predict achievement in reading as measured by the California Achievement Test (CAT). We predicted that: (a) both scales would be significant predictors of reading achievement, (b) when used as single predictors, the SCAS would have significantly greater weight than the SPAS, and (c) a linear combination of these scales would have greater weight than either scale alone. Using 187 eighth‐grade students, we confirmed that both scales were significant predictors of achievement in reading and that a linear combination of the two accounted for more variance than either scale alone. We did not find, however, that the SCAS was a significantly better predictor than the SPAS.