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Abstract

How children are thought to perform in the school setting often varies as much on account of actual individual differences as who judges them. Differences in reported ratings of children�s academic performance are well documented in the literature, and rater assessment of academic competencies is important because competency beliefs impact children�s academic achievements. The current study aimed to examine similarities and differences in child, mother, father, and teacher reports of children�s (age 10) academic competencies in math, reading, music, and sports (N = 267 families). This study extends analyses beyond the bivariate level to compare inter-rater and inter-domain correlation coefficients and matrices. Raters showed some systematic mean differences, but high levels of order agreement, perhaps reflecting the observable nature of children�s school-based competencies. Little interdomain agreement was observed except among teachers, which may be attributable to teachers� unique perspectives on children�s competencies. The educational, developmental, and methodological implications of these findings are discussed in the context of children�s school performance.

Biography

Marc H Bornstein is a Senior Investigator and Head of Child and Family Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He holds a BA from Columbia College, MS and PhD degrees from Yale University, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Padua. He has held faculty positions at Princeton University and New York University as well as academic appointments in Munich, London, Paris, New York, Tokyo, Bamenda, Seoul, Trento, Santiago, Bristol, and Oxford. He is the President of the SRCD and a past member of the SRCD Governing Council Executive Committee of the ICIS. He was named to the top 20 authors for productivity in developmental science by the AERA