The Long-Term Comparative Predictive Validities of Standardized Measures of Achievement and Academic Self-Concept for a Sample of Secondary School Students

Abstract

For a sample of 147 secondary school students (73 females and 74 males) who persisted for seven semesters within the same school district, comparative predictive validities were examined for six subtests of the SRA Assessment Survey and for five subscales of the Dimensions of Self-Concept relative to overall GPA earned and to GPA achieved in English and in mathematics courses. For every criterion measure the subtest in the SRA Assessment Survey dealing with mathematics and the subscale from the Dimensions of Self-Concept pertaining to the aspiration level held by students were the most valid predictor variables. With respect to overall GPA, a multiple correlation coefficient of .698 was obtained for an optimally weighted composite of these two measures (as compared with zero-order validity coefficients of .52 and .56, respectively, for the mathematics and level of aspiration predictors).

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References

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