Timothy Z. Keith

Home Influence on School Learning: Direct and Indirect Effects of Parental Involvement on High School Grades

AbstractCurrent concern with improving student academic progress within American education underscores the need to understand those manipulable influences that can affect academic learning. Parental involvement is considered an important influence on academic progress. Time spent on homework and in leisure TV viewing has an important effect on academic learning. Such time is potentially manipulable through parental effort. Using the massive High School and Beyond data set, the present study examines the direct effects of perceived parental involvement on grades. It also examines the indirect effect of such involvement on grades through TV time and time spent on homework. Parental involvement has an important direct, positive effect on grades. Additionally, parental involvement also leads to increased time spent on homework, which in turn has a positive effect on grades. The effect of parental involvement on grades through TV time appears negligible. In the current push for means to improve student academi...

Longitudinal Effects of Parent Involvement on High School Grades: Similarities and Differences Across Gender and Ethnic Groups

Abstract The purposes of this research were to determine (a) the longitudinal effects of parent involvement on tenth grade students’ learning, as measured by their grade point average, (b) whether the same pattern of influences exist for boys and girls, and (c) whether the same pattern of influences exist for students from different ethnic groups. A series of structural equation models were derived from theory and previous research and were tested on a national sample of students. Results suggest that parent involvement has a large and significant effect on students’ grade point average in tenth grade. The pattern of influences of the variables in the model were indistinguishable for boys and girls, suggesting that the same model of influences holds across gender. There were differences in the constructs in the model and in their effects across ethnic groups, however. Nevertheless, parent involvement continued to have important effects for all groups. Thus interventions designed to increase involvement, if successful, should result in increases in learning for all groups.

The Three-Stratum Theory of Cognitive Abilities: Test of the Structure of Intelligence across the Life Span.

Abstract Recently a three-stratum theory of intelligence that combines the major aspects of Spearmans (1927) theory of general intelligence (g) and Horn and Cattells (1966) theory of crystallized and fluid intelligence (Gf-Gc) has been proposed (Carroll, 1993a). The purpose of this study was to test the three-stratum theory using hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis with the LISREL computer program. Developmental changes in the structure of intelligence were also investigated. Results provided support for the three-stratum theory and suggested the possibility of intermediate factors between the second and third strata but did not support developmental changes in the organization of cognitive abilities over the life span.

Effects of General and Broad Cognitive Abilities on Mathematics Achievement.

This study investigated the direct and indirect effects of general intelligence and 7 broad cognitive abilities on mathematics achievement. Structural equation modeling was used to investigate the simultaneous effects of both general and broad cognitive abilities on students’ mathematics achievement. A hierarchical model of intelligence derived from the Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) taxonomy of intelligence was used for all analyses. The participants consisted of 4 age-differentiated subsamples (ranging from ages 5 to 19) from the standardization sample of the Woodcock–Johnson III (WJ III; Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001). Data from each of the 4 age-differentiated subsamples were divided into 2 data sets. At each age level, one data set was used for model testing and modification, and a second data set was used for model validation. The following CHC broad cognitive ability factors demonstrated statistically significant direct effects on the mathematics achievement variables: Fluid Reasoning, Crystallized Intelligence, and Processing Speed. In contrast, across all age levels, the general intelligence factor demonstrated indirect effects on the mathematics achievement variable.

Is There a Causal Relation between Self-Concept and Academic Achievement?

AbstractThe relation between self-concept and achievement has often been studied, but the causal relation between these two constructs is still unclear. The purpose of this study was to define better the causal relation between self-concept and academic achievement. Longitudinal data from a large, representative sample of high school students were analyzed using a cross-lagged panel correlation (CLPC) design. CLPC attempts to rule out plausible alternative explanations of a causal effect. The results suggest that there may not be a causal relation between self-concept and achievement, but that a third variable may be causally predominant over both self-concept and achievement.

WAIS-IV and Clinical Validation of the Four- and Five-Factor Interpretative Approaches:

The fourth edition of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-IV) is a revised and substantially updated version of its predecessor. The purposes of this research were to determine the constructs measured by the test and the consistency of measurement across large normative and clinical samples. Competing higher order WAIS-IV four- and five-factor models were analyzed using the WAIS-IV’s sample of 1,800 normative adults and 411 clinical adults. When all 15 WAIS-IV subtests were considered, both four- and five-factor models were suitable, but the five-factor model provided a better fit. The WAIS-IV PRI differentiated into two composites as follows: POI(Gv) consisting of Block Design, Visual Puzzles and Picture Completion; and FRI(Gf) consisting Matrix Reasoning, Arithmetic and Figure Weights. The five-factor solution included Quantitative Reasoning (RQ), consisting of Arithmetic and Figure Weights, as a narrow ability subsumed under FRI(Gf). Arithmetic, Vocabulary, and Figure Weights subtests had the highest g loadings. Cancellation had the lowest g loading. The WAIS-IV generally demonstrated full factor invariance between clinical and nonclinical samples.

Cattell-Horn-Carroll Cognitive Abilities and Their Effects on Reading Decoding Skills: g Has Indirect Effects, More Specific Abilities Have Direct Effects.

This study employed structural equation modeling to examine the effects of Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) abilities on reading decoding skills using five age-differentiated subsamples from the standardization sample of the Woodcock–Johnson III (Woodcock, McGrew, & Mather, 2001). Using the Spearman Model including only g, strong direct effects of g on reading decoding skills were demonstrated at all ages. Using the Two-Stratum Model including g and broad abilities, direct effects of the broad abilities Long-Term Storage and Retrieval, Processing Speed, Crystallized Intelligence, Short-Term Memory, and Auditory Processing on reading decoding skills were demonstrated at select ages. Using the Three-Stratum Model including g, broad abilities, and narrow abilities, direct effects of the broad ability Processing Speed and the narrow abilities Associative Memory, Listening Ability, General Information, Memory Span, and Phonetic Coding were demonstrated at select ages. Across both the Two-Stratum Model and the Three-Stratum Model at all ages, g had very large but indirect effects. The findings suggest that school psychologists should interpret measures of some specific cognitive abilities when conducting psychoeducational assessments designed to explain reading decoding skills.

The contribution of general and specific cognitive abilities to reading achievement

Since the development of the Weschler scales, significant advances have been made in intelligence theory and testing technology that have the potential to provide a more comprehensive understanding of cognitive abilities than currently exists. For this study, the standardization sample of the Woodcock–Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Revised (WJ-R)—an empirically supported measure of several constructs within the Cattell–Horn–Carroll (CHC) theory of cognitive abilities—was used to analyze the contribution of specific cognitive abilities to reading achievement at five developmental levels. Structural equation modeling (SEM), with calibration and cross-validation samples, of four different models of the hypothesized relations among the variables was conducted to determine if specific abilities can provide relevant information regarding the development of reading skills. The results of this study clearly indicate that Gc (comprehension knowledge or crystallized intelligence) and Ga (auditory processing) play an important role in the development of reading skills.

Confirmatory Factor Structure of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition: Consistency with Cattell-Horn-Carroll Theory.

The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (KABC-II) is a departure from the original KABC in that it allows for interpretation via two theoretical models of intelligence. This study had two purposes: to determine whether the KABC-II measures the same constructs across ages and to investigate whether those constructs are consistent with Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) theory. Multiple-sample analyses were used to test for equality of the variancecovariance matrices across the 3- to 18-year-old sample. Higher-order confirmatory factor analyses were used to compare the KABC-II model with rival CHC models for children ages 6 to 18. Results show that the KABC-II measures the same constructs across all ages. The KABC-II factor structure for school-age children is aligned closely with five broad abilities from CHC theory, although some inconsistencies were found. Models without time bonuses fit better than those with time bonuses. The results provide support for the construct validity of the KABC-II. Additional research is needed to more completely understand the measurement of fluid reasoning and the role of time bonuses on some tasks.

Child and Adolescent Multidimensional Self-Concept: A Five-Instrument Factor Analysis.

The factor structure of five self-concept scales from a hierarchical, multidimensional theoretical model was investigated. The Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, Multidimensional Self Concept Scale, Piers-Harris Self-Concept Scale, Self-Esteem Index, and the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale were administered to 221 students in Grades 5 through 8 in a counter-balanced administration format. The five scales each yielded strong general factors and six dominant factors that coincide with the proposed theoretical model, which reflects social, affect, competence, academic, family, and physical self-concepts.