Working Hard or Hardly Working? : An Exploration of the Achievement Values of African American Youth / April Z. Taylor and Others.

This study investigated African American adolescents' achievement values. One hundred and forty-six male and 161 female African American sixth graders at a middle school in the Los Angeles (California) area nominated classmates according to 3 criteria: those whom they most admired, respected, and wanted to be like. These nominations were combined to create a "value" index. In addition, students nominated classmates who worked hard, "goofed off," followed school rules, and did not follow school rules. Teachers rated each participating student's academic achievement on a nine-point scale. There were gender differences. Girls "valued" high-achieving girls more than medium and low-achieving girls. Boys, on the other hand, valued low and medium achieving boys more than high-achieving boys. This study begins to address the lack of research on achievement values, particularly among African American adolescents. (Contains one table, three figures, and six references.) (Author/SLD)

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