INVESTIGATING THE INFLUENCE OF ACHIEVEMENT ON SELF-CONCEPT USING AN INTRA-CLASS DESIGN AND A COMPARISON OF THE PASS AND SDQ-1 SELF-CONCEPT TESTS

Background. The formation and measurement of self-concept were the foc i of this research. Aims. The study aimed to investigate the influence of achievement on academic self-concept and to compare the Perception of Ability Scale for Students (PASS, Boersma & Chapman, 1992) with th e Self-Description Questionnaire-1 (SDQ-1, Marsh, 1988). Sample. The p articipants were 479 grade 5 (mean age 126.6 months) coeducational Aus tralian students, located in 18 schools. Method. An intra-class resear ch design was used to investigate the influence of frame-of-reference on self-concept development. Results. As students' academic scores ros e above their class mean their self-concepts increased and as students ' academic scores fell below their class mean their self-concepts decr eased. Students' difference from class mean predicted their self-conce pt scores. This finding was consistently shown across the reading, spe lling, and mathematics domains using test and teaching rating data. A comparison between the PASS and the SDQ-1 demonstrated concurrent vali dity across self-concept domains. Conclusion. The findings support the notions that the social environment is a significant agent that influ ences self-concept, and that teacher ratings and standardised tests of achievement and the PASS and the SDQ-1 are valid measures for self-co ncept research.