Achievement
Adolescence is really all about achievement?
Adolescence involves the development of motives, capabilities, interests and behaviors that have to do
With performance in evaluative situations.
Definition of educational achievement
School performance: measure of achievement based on an individual’s grades in school (behavior,
Teacher’s thoughts). Academic achievement: formally, more standardized tests of scholastic ability
(ACT, SAT). Educational attainment: the number of years of schooling completed by an individual.
Determinants of achievement
Individual Motivation
Motivation: drive and capacity for self direction [GRIT: Angela Duckworth) Intrinsic Motivation:
Playing a sport because you enjoy it Extrinsic Motivation: Studying because you want good grades or
cleaning so parents don’t get mad
Individual Fears and Excuses
Fear of failure
Handcapping: poor behaviors, procrastination, partying
Individual Attributions
Explanations that individuals give for their success or failure (Carol Dweck); attribute failure to lack
Of effort: try harder. Attribute to factors that can’t be changed: try less. Learned helplessness:
Seligmant and Meirs dog experiment.
Individual Growth Mindset/Self-efficacy
Students who believe their intelligence could be developed (growth mindset) outperformed those
Who believed their intelligence was fixed (fixed mindset). Growth mindset: the point isn’t to get it all
right now; it’s to grow your brain. Fixed mindset: Not everybody’s good at math- just try your best.
Contextual
Parents increase achievement when they have high expectations of success and are involved w/
Child’s school; authoritative parenting style. Friends: you do well if your friends study, too (birds of a
feather flock together)
Drop in motivation between elementary and middle school (Eccles)- change in teaching style= more
focused on “performance”. Change in attributions-intelligence
Gender and ethnic differences in achievement
Gender
Concern over girls lack of representation in math and science (stereotype)-> gap is closing.
Ethnicity
“Acting white”- develop an oppositional identity that’s hostile to doing well in school (Ogbu)
Immigrant paradox- ethnic differences/beliefs: Asian students have greater mastery orientation; exert
more effort
SES
Children of higher social economic status enter school more ready to learn- early intervention (preschool
can help close this gap
Parents of low SES are less likely to be involved in school, children of lower SES are exposed to more
stress and attend schools with more negative climates/environments
Racial Gap or SES Gap
Ethnic Explanations
Comparative understanding of achievement
