Through a Looking Glass or a Hall of Mirrors? Self-ratings and Teacher-ratings of Academic Competence over Development

Abstract

To determine the properties, functions, and developmental validities of self-ratings and teacher-ratings, evaluations of academic competence (i.e. ratings of spelling and math) were obtained in two longitudinal cohorts [i.e. 4th-12th grade (N = 220) across 9 annual test waves; 7th-12th grade (N = 475) across 6 annual test waves]. Logistic regressions and path analyses indicated that teacher-ratings consistently yielded more robust predictions of subsequent academic attainment than self-ratings. Moreover, there was an apparent self-enhancement, with mean self-ratings signi cantly higher than mean teacher-ratings at most age levels. Correlations between teacher-ratings of spelling and math were robust, whereas the correlations between selfratings in these domains were small and unreliable. These ndings-replicated across cohorts, gender, academic domains, and grades-were interpreted in terms of the functions served by self-and teacher-ratings.

Stability and Change in Rural Youths’ Educational Outcomes Through the Middle and High School Years

“…A primary limitation is monomethod bias with the use of only a single reporter, adolescents, which may introduce bias avoided with multiple informants or sources of information. Xie, Mahoney, & Cairns (1999) show that teacher ratings of student academic competence have greater predictive validity (i.e., were better predictors of later academic outcomes such as college matriculation and drop out) than students’ self ratings of future outcomes. Further, students’ reports of academic competence were found to be exaggerated.…”

Strength-Based Assessment of Rural African American Early Adolescents: Characteristics of Students in High and Low Groups on the Behavioral and Emotional Rating Scale

“…Both scales use a seven-point Likert scale, and composite scores are computed similarly. Although youth show a tendency toward self-enhancement on socially desirable characteristics, the psychometric properties of the ICS-S are comparable with those of the ICS-T (Xie, Mahoney, & Cairns, 1999), and ICS-S factors tend to correspond with parallel peer nomination items (Farmer, Rodkin, Pearl, & Van Acker, 1999). The factorial structure, testretest reliability, and concurrent and predictive validity for the ICS-S parallel the ICS-T (Cairns & Cairns, 1994;Cairns et al, 1995aCairns et al, , 1995bLeung, 1996).…”

Relational aggression in adolescents: A review of theoretical and empirical research

“…Previous research indicates that teacher ratings are highly reliable and informative (e.g., Xie, 1999) because teachers can base their ratings on observations across multiple contexts over a substantial period of time (Pakaslahti & Keltikangas-Jarvinen, 2000). Other advantages to teacher ratings include their practicality, and ease of use, efficiency, and strong psychometric properties (Doyle & DeFago, 2009;Merrell et al, 2006).…”