Educational Attitudes and Perceptions of School and Home Environments That Differentiate Laboratory School Gifted Students From Public School Gifted Students and Gifted Students From Average Students (Achievement, Motivation, Learning)

This research study was conducted in an effort to gain a greater understanding of the affective domain of gifted students in relation to their achievement. There were a total of 347 high school juniors and seniors who participated in this study which included 239 gifted students and a control group of 108 average students. The instrument used in this study was the High School Students' Perceptions of Education Scale. Students were asked to respond to items in this scale which concerned their educational attitudes, perceptions of their school and home environments as well as perceptions of themselves. The analysis included a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) with subsequent Scheffe comparisons and several one-way ANOVA statistics. The independent variable was the educational grouping of students and the dependent variables consisted of the educational attitudes and self-perceptions of students. There were significant differences found in all three group comparisons: gifted and average students; laboratory and public school gifted students; male and female students. It was indicated in this study that gifted students have more positive attitudes towards high school, are intrinsically motivated in their academic endeavors and are more academically competitive than average students. Gifted students reported more pressure from their parents and from themselves to attend college, indicated more pressure from themselves for high academic achievement and were more likely to perceive their parents to highly value academic achievement. Significant differences were also found between the laboratory and public school gifted students and between male and female students. Laboratory school gifted students were more likely to experience parental pressure to attend college and to perceive their parents to highly value academic achievement in comparison to the public school gifted students. Overall, male students indicated more positive attitudes towards school than female students. It can be concluded from this study that there is a relationship between achievement and the educational, environmental and self-perceptions of students. This study corroborates the contention that intelligence is necessary but not sufficient for high achievement.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Osgood, Judy Kay

• Education, Educational Psychology

Identifier

(UMI)AAI8521852

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/69001