Robert Ayres

Self-Concept and Success-Failure Attributions of Nonhandicapped Students and Students with Learning Disabilities

Self-concept and attributions made about academic successes and failures were compared in 46 students with learning disabilities and 47 normally achieving students (mean age = 12.0 years). Results from the Piers-Harris Childrens Self-Concept Scale (Piers, 1984) suggested that lower overall self-concepts in the students with learning disabilities (p < .01) were primarily due to differences in self-concepts regarding intellectual and school status (p < .001). Attributions regarding internal versus external causes for successes and failures and stable (ability) versus unstable (effort) causes for failures did not differentiate the groups. Self-concept, particularly school related self-concept, was correlated with ability/effort attributions. Subjects with lower self-concepts were more likely to attribute failures to ability. Both the self-concept and attribution data have implications for academic and motivational interventions.

Self-Concept, Attribution, and Persistence in Learning-Disabled Students.

Differences in self-concept, attributions, and teacher-rated persistence were examined in students with learning disabilities (n=49) and in nonhandicapped students (n=57). Discriminant analysis revealed that students with learning disabilities reported lower self-concepts on items related to academic achievement, and were rated by their teachers as less persistent than their normally achieving peers. Students with learning disabilities also reported more stable attributions for failure situations. These findings are consistent with a conceptualization of students with learning disabilities as inactive, or learned-helpless, learners.

Scaling up research in teacher education : New demands on theory, measurement, and design

A recent report of the American Educational Research Association Panel on Research and Teacher Education confirms beyond question earlier findings exposing the limited utility of our research base in answering questions pertaining to policy or practice concerning preparation and licensing of teachers. Conditions accounting for this perplexing circumstance are described in detail by the panel, as are recommendations provided for overcoming them. A recent research project anticipating many of the recommendations led this article’s authors to the view that several of the recommendations need added detail to be immediately helpful to the research community and that further recommendations are needed for “scaled-up” research called for by the panel. Accordingly, suggested additions and refinements, with accompanying rationale and examples, are proposed. A central theme of this article is the need to add explanatory power to teacher education research, with the accompanying caution that doing so brings added complexity to theory, measurement, and design.

Sequential versus Simultaneous Processing on the K-ABC: Validity in Predicting Learning Success

The validity of the Mental Processing Scales of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) was examined by using two learning tasks as criteria. The learning tasks, which approximated reading instruction using unfamiliar symbols, were constructed and presented in a sequential or a simultaneous manner to 208 first-grade children. Correlations between the learning tasks established that they were distinctly different. Subjects who showed the largest differences between performance on the sequential and simultaneous learning tasks (N = 51) were then administered the Mental Processing Scales of the K-ABC. Correlational and analysis of variance (ANOVA) results indicated that the K-ABC Simultaneous Processing Scale was most strongly related to the sequential learning task. Several possible explanations for these paradoxical results are explored. There is an apparent discrepancy between the sequential and simultaneous measures of the K-ABC and the Kaufmans proposed remedial instruction strategies. A central determinant of these results may be that although the sequential learning task required rather complex cognitive involvement, the sequential scales of the K-ABC focus only on simple operations of short-term encoding and recall.

A model and treatment for autism at the convergence of Chinese medicine and Western science: First 130 cases

ObjectiveTo present a model for autism showing that impairment of sensory and self-regulation is the core deficit that underlies delays in social/language skills and abnormal behavior in autism; and to demonstrate the efficacy of a treatment for autism based on Chinese medicine.MethodsChildren with autism under 6 years of age were assigned to treatment or wait-list conditions. A total of 130 children were treated and the results compared with 45 wait-list controls. Treatment is a tuina methodology directed at sensory impairment—Kai Qiao Tuina. The treatment was a five-month protocol that was implemented daily by trained parents via trained support staff. The effects of treatment on the main symptoms, autistic behavior, social/language delay, sensory and self-regulatory impairment, as well as on parenting stress, were observed and compared.ResultsThe treatment had a large effect size (P<0.0001) on measures of sensory and self-regulation. The evaluations done by pre-school teachers demonstrated improvement in the measures of autism (P<0.003), and were confirmed by evaluations done by parents (P<0.0001). There was a large decrease (P<0.0001) in parenting stress.ConclusionsSensory and self-regulatory impairment is a main factor in the development and severity of autism. Treatment of young children with autism with Kai Qiao Tuina resulted in a decrease in sensory and self-regulatory impairment and a reduction in severity of measures of autism.

Convergent and Discriminant Validity of the Mental Processing Scales of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children.

Convergent and discriminant validity of the Mental Processing Scales of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) were examined using 51 first-grade children. Convergent validity was assessed using the Reading Recognition and Comprehension subtests of the Peabody Individual Achievement Test. Discriminant validity was assessed using a measure of anxiety/self-esteem, the Child Anxiety Scale, and a measure of hyperactive behavior, the Hyperactivity scale of the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. Results supported the convergent validity of the K-ABC; correlations with reading achievement were fairly large. The discriminant validity received only partial support. The K-ABC did not correlate with the Child Anxiety Scale, but did show rather large correlations with the measure of hyperactive behavior. Implications for understanding what the K-ABC Mental Processing Scales are measuring are discussed.

Cluster Scores for the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale: Reliability and Independence

The six cluster scales of the Piers-Harris Childrens Self-Concept Scale were examined for reliability and independence. Half of the 155 sixth to eighth graders completing the scale were receiving some special education services. Results suggested the cluster scales showed adequate reliabilities with alphas ranging from .74 to .83, but the scales were quite highly intercorrelated with a mean r of .54. Removal of all overlapping items from the cluster scales reduced the interscale correlation mean to .44, with only a small drop in internal consistencies. Removal of overlapping items seems to be a favorable procedure if relative independence between self-concept dimensions is desired.

Academic persistence and attributional style in fifth graders

Students attributional styles regarding academic successes and failures were hypothesized to be moderators of persistence in academic tasks. Attributional style was assessed in 72 fifth graders using the Sydney Attribution Scale (SAS). Persistence was assessed using two behavioral measures and teacher ratings. The behavioral persistence measures involved the number of tasks attempted and time spent working on a difficult reading task and a problem-solving task. The behavioral measures were highly correlated (r = .74) but were unrelated to teacher-rated persistence. Attributional style predicted teacher-rated persistence, R2 = .42, F(12, 59) = 3.6, p<.001, but did not predict any of the behavioral persistence measures. Results suggest that students self-reported attributional styles are related to teacher judgments of persistence. The lack of agreement between teacher ratings and behavioral measures of persistence may have implications for the generalization of research findings relying on either behavioral or teacher-rated persistence measures.