Date of Award

1980

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Abstract

This study was designed to answer the following questions as applied to (a) acceptance of responsibility at home, (b) acceptance of responsibility at school, and (c) academic achievement: (1) Is there a correlation between a child's acceptance of responsibility at home and acceptance of responsibility at school? (2) Is there a correlation between a child's acceptance of responsibility at home as perceived by his mother and his academic achievement? (3) Is there a correlation between a child's acceptance of responsibility at school as perceived by his teacher and his academic achievement? (4) Is there a correlation between a composite of the child's responsibility scores and his academic achievement? (5) Are there significant differences in the relationship between a child's acceptance of responsibility and his academic achievement in terms of sex? (6) Are there significant differences in the relationship between a child's acceptance of responsibility and his academic achievement in terms of grade level? (7) Is there a correlation between a child's acceptance of responsibility at home and at school in terms of the number of siblings? (8) Is there a correlation between a child's acceptance of responsibility at home and at school in terms of his order of birth? The standard score for the total reading subtest of the Metropolitan Achievement Test was used as the measure of academic achievement. Mothers and teachers completed researcher-designed rating scales indicating their perceptions of how their children accepted responsibilities at home and school respectively. The sample population of 193 third and fifth grade students was drawn from schools selected according to the following criteria: (a) one school that had 75 percent or more of its entire population on free lunch, (b) one school that had 25 percent or less of its entire student population on free lunch, and (c) one school that had between 40 and 60 percent of its entire school population on free lunch. Data were analyzed through the use of Pearson product-moment correlations and the t-test. Significance was tested at .05 level of confidence. In light of the data obtained from this study, the following conclusions were drawn? (1) There was a significant correlation between the acceptance of responsibility at home and at school. The relationship was significant for the younger student and decreased as he matured. (2) There was not a significant correlation between the student's acceptance of responsibility at home and academic achievement. In light of the significant relationship between accepting responsibility at home and at school, there seemed to be an indirect relationship between accepting responsibility at home and academic achievement. (3) The relationship between the acceptance of responsibility at school and academic achievement was not significant for the younger student but increased to a significant level as the student matured. (4) The data indicated a relationship between the acceptance of responsibility and academic achievement. A significant correlation was found between a composite of the responsibility scores and achievement. The correlations of both accepting responsibility at school and the composite responsibility score with academic achievement were significant for fifth grade students but not for third grade students. (5) In terms of sex, there were no significant differences in the relationship between a child's acceptance of responsibility and his academic achievement. (6) In terms of grade levels, there were no significant differences in the relationship between a child's acceptance of responsibility and his academic achievement. (7) The relationship between family size and the acceptance of responsibility was significant for the subgroup of "three siblings" only. (8) A significant correlation between birth order and the acceptance of responsibility was found for the "last born" child only.

Pages

131

DOI

10.31390/gradschool_disstheses.3549

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