Locus of Control Childrens Performance in Schools Jennifer

Locus of Control & Children’s Performance in Schools Jennifer Elias, Don Ghrist, Negar Zivari California State University, Northridge

Previous Research • Adalbjarnardottir (1995) states older children exhibit more internal locus of control than younger children. • Anderson, et al. (1976) state that intrinsic motivation will decrease with the addition of external awards which alone are supposed to be reason enough for a child’s performance.

Previous Research • Grolnick (1987) Looked at the impact of environmental conditions and children’s motivational orientations on learning outcomes. • Day (1999) examined the predictive ability of locus of control and academic success among college students.

Purpose • To further investigate changes in locus of control in elementary school children. • Study looked at locus of control and Stanford-9 scores, grades, and grade level.

Method • 36 students ranging in grades from 3 to 6 from a suburban elementary school in Ventura County, CA. • Male to female ratio was approximately equal. • Grades tested separately. • Majority Caucasian of primarily low-middle to upper-middle class.

Measures • Norwicki and Strickland Locus of Control Scale for Children. • Paper pencil test of nineteen questions with a yes/no response mode. • Reviewed student Cum files for most current Language Arts, Mathematics, and Social Science grades. • Reviewed student Stanford-9 Total Reading, Total Math, and Total Language scores.

Results • Wilkes’ Lambda multi-linear regression model. • Overall p=. 047 that internally motivated students score higher across the board. • Mathematics grades p=. 004. • Language Arts grades p=. 008. • Social Studies was not significant p=. 217.

Stanford-9 scores • Stanford-9 Total Reading was not significant p=. 113 • Approached Stanford-9 Total Language p=. 052 • Stanford-9 Total Mathematics p=. 005

Correlation Matrix • Relationship between dependent variables (Grades and Stanford-9 scores) • Positive for all factors at 0. 01 level (2 -tailed) except Social Studies grades which did not correlate with Stanford-9 Total Math or Total Reading.

Discussion • Schools do not change locus of control as children progress through elementary grades. • Internal locus of control played a major factor in regards to achievement in Math and Language Arts grades. • Internal locus of control played a major factor in regards to Stanford-9 Total Math and approached Total Language.

Suggestions for Future Research • Investigate children’s perceived social status in regards to locus of control. • Teacher’s gender in relation to the gender of the child, and the child’s performance in the classroom and on standardized tests. • Looking at children of different ethnicities, and recent immigrants.