A Repeated Measures Investigation of the Relation of the School Motivation Analysis Test to Academic Achievement

Abstract

Standardized tests of social studies, science, mathematics and reading achievement, along with questionnaire measures of intelligence and motivation, were administered three times, at 6-mo. intervals, to 109 girls and 149 boys enrolled in a central Illinois junior high school. With sex, intelligence and motivation treated as independent variables, 40 repeated-measures analyses of variance were computed to determine if these factors were associated with differential rate of gain in any of the four achievement tests. Significant main effects for intelligence, motivation, and occasions were found in each analysis. In comparison, interaction terms, suggesting differential change in level of achievement, were sparse and highly specific. With one exception, it was concluded that little differential growth occurred in the sample over the 12-mo. period.