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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
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The relationship between student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, aptitude and English achievement among Asian American high school students
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The relationship between student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, aptitude and English achievement among Asian American high school students
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Content
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STUDENT PERCEPTIONS OF
PARENTAL EXPECTATIONS, UTILITY VALUE, APTITUDE AND ENGLISH
ACHIEVEMENT AMONG ASIAN AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
by
Youn Joo Oh
________________________________________________________________________
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF EDUCATION
August 2008
Copyright 2008 Youn Joo Oh
ii
DEDICATION
For my parents, Hyeonseon Oh and Jaeboon Lee
who everyday pray to God for His guidance of me,
my grandfathers, Younjoon Oh and Yangsoon Lee
and my grandmothers, Soonee Moon and Rebekah Kim
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I express my endless gratitude from my heart to
my chairperson, Dr. Myron Dembo,
my committee members, Dr. Tim Stowe and Dr. Charles Espalin,
my peers at University of Southern California, and
the students, the principal, and the teachers at the research site.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Dedication ii
Acknowledgements iii
List of Tables vi
List of Figures vii
Abstract viii
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Purpose of the Study 12
Significance of the Study 13
Definitions of Terms 14
Chapter 2: Review of the Literature 16
Utility Value 16
Parental Expectations 24
Low Achieving Asian American students 28
Influence of Utility Value on Asian American Academic Achievement 31
Influence of Parental Expectations on Asian American Academic 34
Achievement
The relationship between Perceived Parental Expectations, Utility Value 40
and Asian American Academic Achievement
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program 44
and Student Achievement
Conclusion 46
Chapter 3: Methodology 49
Overview
Population and Sample 50
Instruments 50
Procedures 54
Data Analysis 55
Chapter 4: Results 57
Intercorrelations 57
Research Question 60
Summary 62
Chapter 5: Discussions 64
Relationship between Student Perceptions of Parental Expectations 64
and English Achievement
v
Mediating Factors and Student Perceptions of Parental expectations 68
The Measures for Student Perceptions of Parental Expectations 69
Relationship between Utility Value and English Achievement 71
Aptitude and English Achievement 74
Implications for Future Research 74
Implications for Educational Practice 77
Limitations 78
Conclusion 79
References 81
Appendices 86
A. Research Site Permission Letter 86
B. Recruitment Speech 87
C. Cover Letter to Parent or Guardian 89
D. Parental Consent to Participate in Research 90
E. Youth Consent to Participate in Research 94
F. Consent to Participate in Research 97
G. Motivation Survey 100
vi
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Means, Standard Deviations, Pearson Product Correlation 58
for Measured Variables
Table 2: Multiple Regression Results Predicting English Achievement 61
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Proposed relations between utility value, perceived 13
parental expectations, aptitudes, and student English achievement
Figure 2: Proposed relations between family and school context, 41
students’ perceived motivations and competence, and achievement
viii
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine if the student perceptions of parental
expectations, utility value and aptitude accounted for a significant part of the variance in
determining academic achievement in English. This study investigated the degree to
which these variables predicted the English achievement of Asian American high school
students. A sample of 123 Asian American high school students enrolled in regular
English classes participated in surveying their perceived parental expectations, utility
value, and demographical data. The majority of the participants were from second-
generation. The results of the analysis of correlations found a significant relationship
between the student perceptions of parental expectations and utility value. This study
found that the younger students held stronger utility value of English than their older
peers. According to the results of the multiple regression analysis, aptitude measured
with California Standardized Tests (CST) was a significant predictor of the English
achievement of this population. The student perceptions of parental expectations and
utility were not a significantly related to the English achievement of Asian American
high school students.
1
CHAPTER I
Introduction
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between student
perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, aptitude and the academic achievement
of Asian American high school students. The study investigated the relationship of the
variables that affected low achievement of Asian American students that have not been
previously studied.
Since the 1980’s the research literature has highlighted Asian American students’
academic success in standardized tests and the maintenance of high grade point average
(Bennett & Debarros, 1998; Fischer, 2007). For example, according to the California
Standards Test Results of the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program,
Asian American students have been in the highest achieving group in English and
Language Arts and mathematics from 2003 to 2006 (CDE, 2006). For this study, Asian
American students are herein defined as American students of Asian ancestry, having
either immigrated to the United States or those who were born in the United States. The
percentage of Asian American students who meet or exceed the California standards has
steadily increased from 60% to 67% in mathematics, and from 55 % to 64 % in English
and Language Arts from 2003 to 2006 (CDE, 2006). In addition, the 2006 Adequate
Yearly Progress (AYP) Report of the Torrance Unified School District in California
indicates that the high percentage of Asian American students is at or above the
California Standards Tests (CST) in English and Language Arts and mathematics (TUSD,
2007). The report indicates that the percentage of Asian American students meeting or
exceeding CST in English and Language Arts is 73.7 and that in Mathematics is 81.3
2
(TUSD, 2007). As indicated in the CST results, the majority of Asian American students
are successful in the aptitude test.
While most Asian American students have attained academic success, some
students in this population are academically at risk and lack academic motivation.
Teachers, administrators, and researchers have identified recurring factors which they
associate with poor academic achievement in Asian American students. Asian American
students’ poor achievement is closely related to motivation, familial and cultural
influences, institutional barriers and the community environment (Yeh, 2002).
Motivational Factors
Motivation directly impacts students’ underachievement (Carr, Borkowski, &
Maxwell, 1991). Researchers have found the following motivational constructs as
affecting the low achievement of Asian American students: attainment value and utility
value (Chen & Stevenson, 1995; Lee, 1994; Lew, 2006; Sue & Okazaki, 1990), intrinsic
interest in education (Lee, 1994; Lew, 2006), internalization of educational values
(Asakawa & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Asakawa, 2001;), lack of help seeking behavior
(Lee, 1994; Wong & Halgin, 2006), student resistance to parental expectations (Lew,
2006), and peer network in low-achieving students (Lew, 2006).
The achievement of Asian American student population is closely linked to
attainment value and utility value of studying. Southeast Asian refugees, referred to as
Asian New Wave students, value peer networks and peer acceptance, and seek blue collar
jobs rather than attach importance to attainment value and utility value in education
(Lee, 1994). Attainment value is a person’s attributed importance to his or her
performing well on a particular task (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002). Utility value is defined
3
as extrinsic motivation which indicates a person’s belief in the usefulness of a task to
meet his or her career or future goals (Ormrod, 2006). Often times Asian New Wave
students do not put an importance in academic success, but desire to develop a peer circle
with strong connections. These students often put less importance in pursuing higher
education than in finding alternative ways for living such as learning mechanical skills or
joining the army (Lee, 1994). Thus, Southeast Asian refugee students have been lower
achievers than Chinese, Japanese, and Korean American students who put importance in
attaining higher education, find interest and enjoyment in school work and value
education as a means of social mobility and career development.
In contrast to Southeast Asian refugee students, low-achieving Korean American
students from a low socioeconomic status (SES) admit that education is important and a
college degree will provide them with opportunities in their careers (Lew, 2006). Some
Korean American students from a low SES background find attainment value in
education, but they do not find utility value and intrinsic interest sufficient to pursue
academic success in high school. They place a higher value on making money for a
living rather than investing in it to go to college. They do not find the utility value of
schooling and financial and time investment of education for their future. When low-
achieving Asian American students with lack of utility value from a low SES miss
classes, they make less effort to study and are less able to catch up with their studies.
They finally become disengaged and lose their intrinsic interest in learning in high school
and pursuing higher education.
Another motivational factor is the internalization of value of education. Asakawa
(2001) found that the internalization of educational values in Asian American secondary
4
students is significantly affected by parental involvement. The Asian American students
include Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, South Asians, and Southeast Asians.
The internalization of value means that students value a task as a result of familial, social,
or environmental influences. When Asian American parents let students have autonomy
to control their study, the autonomy helps the student internalize parental values of
educational attainment and value education. The types of autonomy that the students
play are making a decision with respect to course enrollment, doing homework and
discussing with parents about school courses, activities, and grades. Parents’ autonomy
support promotes the students’ internalization of the value of education and the
internalized value which in turn eventually supports the psychological conditions that
enhance student achievement.
An important motivational factor related to Asian American students’ low
achievement is insufficient help seeking behaviors. Some low-achieving Asian
American students including Chinese and Koreans feel ashamed to show their academic
struggles in public (Lee, 1994). They consider their low achievement as a dishonor to
their family. Their negative attitudes toward help seeking behavior are closely related to
parental aspirations toward children’s educational success, family norms, parent-children
relationship and cultural experiences. Students are reluctant to seek help because getting
academic support means the acceptance of their own failures in learning. The
psychological connection between help seeking behavior and academic failure aggravates
the academic difficulties of low-achieving Asian American students. Help seeking
behavior of Asian American students is also associated with the model minority image
(Lee, 1994). Their peers, teachers, and administrators expect that Asian American
5
students perform well academically. In turn, their expectations limit the students’
opportunities and attempts to seek help from their peers, teachers, and counselors.
Finally, another motivational factor in the low achievement among Asian
American students is resistance to parental expectations. Although most of the
low-achieving Korean American students value the importance of education, they refuse
to accept their parental expectations as a way to protect their self-worth and adjust to lack
of parents’ quality involvement (Lew, 2006). Some low-achieving Korean American
high school students who do not receive financial and educational support from their
parents do not make an effort to achieve in school. They consider that their parents’
educational expectations too high and unrealistic.
When low-achieving Asian American students can not meet their parents’
educational expectations under the limited parental involvement and resources, they seek
information and help from their peers who are mostly low achievers (Lew, 2006; Yeh,
2002). Sometimes, peer networks and suggestions weaken the low-achieving Korean
American students’ academic motivation and eventually influence their decision to drop
out of high schools (Lew, 2006). In addition, Korean American parents’ high
expectations toward low-achieving students give the students psychological pressure and
ultimately, affect their dropout decision. The students protect their self-worth by
dropping out of school rather than making efforts to manage their challenging
circumstances in their academy.
6
Familial and Cultural Factors
Familial and cultural context is another significant influence to low achievement
of Asian American students. Family and cultural factors include parental involvement
such as parents’ values and expectations toward education and participation in school
activities (Aldous, 2006; Asakawa, 2001; Lee, 1994; Lew, 2006; Yan & Lin, 2005),
provision of learning structure and autonomy support (Asakawa, 2001), parental social
capital (Lew 2006; Yan & Lin, 2005), poor English language proficiency of parents
(Lew, 2006), and low socioeconomic status (Lew, 2006; Rumberger & Larson, 1998).
It is necessary to notice the effect of parents’ high expectations and that of
different types of involvement of Asian American parents on Asian American high
school students’ performance. Asian parents’ expectations toward their children’s
education are higher than those of African American, Caucasian, and Hispanic parents
(Yan & Lin, 2005). Asian American parents’ educational expectations toward high
school students are significantly correlated to their children’s performance either
positively or negatively (Asakawa, 2001; Lew, 2006). Parental expectations and
autonomy supports are the strongest predictors of student achievement compared to other
types of parental involvement such as school participation, parental network, and
preparation of study structure. In addition, parental expectations and autonomic support
have more significant influence on student achievement than Asian American students’
own educational aspirations and perceived competence.
Another familial and cultural factor in low-achieving Asian American students is
social capital. Parents’ social capital consists of their educational backgrounds,
socioeconomic status, social connections, their understanding of the American school
7
system, their English language proficiency and years of living in the United States. Most
high school dropouts or low achievers have parents with low social capital (Lew, 2006).
The parents are not able to provide their children with quality discussion about school
problems, communicate with teachers and administrators, and direct their children’s
academic achievement with effective involvement (Lew, 2006). Insufficient and
inadequate social capital of Asian American parents prevents them from guiding their
children with quality educational support, and consequently this affects their children’s
performance negatively (Lew, 2006).
Institutional Barriers
The third key factor that affects Asian Americans’ low achievement is an array of
institutional barriers. The barriers comprise of: limited school resources, mistrust and
lack of care (Lew, 2006), and insufficient and ineffective academic preparation such as
poor teaching quality, lack of professional development and underdeveloped service
programs for disabled students and English Language Learners (Simmons, Foley, &
Ucelli, 2006;Yeh, 2002). Low-achieving students do not talk with counselors, teachers,
and tutors about an opportunity to get additional academic assistance. The students are
not comfortable to authority figures. The students are not sure how much the school
authorities care about helping them to solve academic problems. Therefore, institutional
barriers should be understood in the relation to their effects on low achievement of Asian
American students.
8
Community Factors
Finally, the fourth major influences on low achievement of Asian American
students are community factors. These factors include the image of Asian American as a
model minority (Wong & Halgin, 2006; Yeh, 2002) and the high frequency of Asian
American students transferring schools (Lew, 2006; Rumberger & Larson, 1998). The
image of Asian American students as a model minority inhibits academically struggling
students from getting access to academic support and service. Because of lack of
understanding of their need in academic service, supporting programs are not well
developed or available to those students. In addition, faculty and staff do not view them
as needing help and thus do not motivate them to seek academic help. The
misconceptions of faculty and staff and community members regarding Asian Americans
as a model minority tend to aggravate low achievement of low-achieving student
population. For example, stereotyping Asian American students as high achievers makes
low-achieving Asian American students feel shameful and reluctant to disclose their
academic problems and seek others’ help.
Transferring schools is another factor that challenges students to adjust to a new
school environment and community (Lew, 2006; Rumberger & Larson, 1998). Students
that have not changed schools at all between the eighth and twelfth grades are more likely
to complete high school than those who transfer schools (Rumberger & Larson). When
students transfer one school to another, they need time to understand school systems and
a new community and develop relationship with peers and teachers. Their experience in
difficult situations in academy and challenges in a new communal environment
negatively affect their academic achievement.
9
Influence of Motivation and Parental Involvement on Achievement
Although motivational, familial, institutional, and communal factors influence
Asian American student achievement, it is imperative to notice the critical effect of
motivational and parental influence on low achievement of Asian American students
more than institutional barriers and community environment. While it is not easy to
determine the exact contribution of each factor, there is some evidence that indicates that
community and society, and institutional barriers are not the most influential factors on
Asian American students’ achievement.
The first evidence is that in the same school, institutional barriers and community
and societal environment are the same for all Asian American students, but there are
different achievement outcomes among them. Within the same school, some Asian
American students are high achievers, but others are academically at risk. Another
evidence is that Asian American students have been performing well for over five
decades despite negative institutional and societal barriers such as racial prejudice and
discrimination, and lack of academic support in institution. Finally, their motivation and
familial values have significantly contributed to their academic success. Asian American
students value effort more than ability, place importance on education as the means for
social mobility, and respect parents’ educational value and expectations (Okazaki & Sue,
1990).
It is better to focus on studying motivational and parental influence because
parental involvement and motivation are less cost effective and easier to change than
institutions and communities. In order to change institutions, and community and
societal environments, it would take time, new policies aimed at such ends, adequate
10
financial resources, and perhaps new approaches for structural reform. In view of the
difficulty of implementing and researching such a broad and sweeping set of reforms, this
study focuses on the scope of motivation and parental involvement to study low
achievement of Asian American students.
This study will investigate utility value among the above motivational factors of
Asian American low achievers because utility value has been found to be the strongest
predictor in achievement (Chen & Stevenson, 1995; Lee, 1994; Lew, 2006; Randel, 2001;
Sue & Okazaki, 1990). For Asian American students education has utility value because
it is a means for social mobility (Chen & Stevenson, 1995; Sue & Okazaki, 1990). Asian
American students’ achievement motive is well understood in relative functionalism
(Sue & Okazaki, 1990). Asian American parents and Asian American community
consider education as an opportunity for a minority group to pursue upward social
mobility. They have experienced limited opportunities and mobility and challenges in
noneducational fields such as entertainment, sports, and politics. Education, however,
has been an important means to pursue higher education, gain better career opportunities,
and raise their socioeconomic status. For over five decades, Asian American parents
have emphasized that their children succeed in education, make efforts to study hard, be
academically successful and finally get better jobs. Therefore, this study will focus on
finding the effect of utility value on low-achieving Asian American students.
Compared to other types of familial and cultural influences and students’ own
educational aspirations, parents’ educational expectations are the strongest predictor of
Asian Americans’ academic success (Aldous, 2006; Asakawa, 2001; Sue & Okazaki,
1990; Trusty, 2000; Yan & Lin, 2005). Regardless of students’ academic achievement,
11
Asian American parents strongly value education, and have high expectations toward
children’s education (Aldous; Asakawa; Yan & Lin). Asian American parents’
expectations affect the values that their children place on education and their educational
attainment. Parental expectations have a stronger effect on Asian American adolescents’
achievement than their own educational aspirations, self-efficacy and other types of
parental involvement. Other types of parental involvement include participation in
school activities, provision of structure, parent information network, parent and student
relationship, help with homework, and discussion about school.
However, the relationship between parental expectations and value task constructs
such as attainment value, utility value, and intrinsic interest are not clear. Since utility
value has been identified as the best predictor of Asian American students’ achievement
(Chen & Stevenson, 1995; Lee, 1994; Lew, 2006; Randel, 2001; Sue & Okazaki, 1990),
this study focuses on examining the relationship between parental expectations and utility
value. In this circumstance, understanding low-achieving Asian American students’
utility value in relation to parental expectations will contribute to finding the direction of
effective parental support, provision of right types of involvement and intervention
strategies.
This study will include the effect of student aptitude on their achievement by
using Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) data. To examine whether or not
utility value and parental expectations are strong predictors in low-achieving Asian
American high school students, the effect of these two variables on achievement will be
compared with that of student aptitude on academic achievement. The data of aptitude
tests through the STAR program have been used to predict the future achievement of
12
students. Aptitudes tests measure students’ broad ranges of abilities in specific domains.
The California Standards Tests (CST) of the California STAR program are aptitude tests.
The CST measures student abilities in English in the five performance levels: Advanced
(exceeding the standards), Proficient (meeting the standards), Basic (approaching the
standards), Below Basic (below the standards), and Far Below Basic (well below the
standards). The CST raw data of low-achieving Asian American high school students
will be used to examine how much aptitude predicts student achievement. Consequently,
this study will focus on examining the relationship between parental expectations, utility
value, student aptitude (STAR data), and achievement.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between parental
expectations, utility value, aptitude and the academic achievement of Asian
American high school students. The following research question was used to investigate
parental and motivational factors:
Do student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, and aptitude
(STAR) data account for a significant part of the variance in determining
academic achievement in English?
Proposed Model of the Relationship between the Variables
The following model conceptualizes a possible relation between perceived
parental expectations, utility value, aptitude (STAR) data, and English achievement.
13
Utility
Figure 1. Proposed relations between utility value, perceived parental
expectations, aptitudes, and student English achievement
Significance of the Study
Asian American students have been stereotyped as a high-achieving model
minority. Stereotyping Asian American students as high achievers decreases
opportunities to develop and provide solid programs and guidance grounded on research
to lead them to academic success. Low-achieving Asian American high school students
who experience high parental expectations and are in the internalization process of utility
value in education, may face psychological pressure and fear, and lose their motivation to
study. For Asian American secondary students’ fear of academic failure has been found
to predict their academic performance (Eaton & Dembo, 1997). Their fear is associated
with their relationship with parents, standards and cultural values.
Value
Perceived
Achievement Parental
Expectations
In English
Aptitudes
(STAR Data)
14
However, a number of studies have highlighted the positive influences of parental
expectations as important motives to Asian American students’ internalization of
motivation and their effects on Asian American students’ academic success (Asakawa,
2001; Lew, 2006; Okazaki & Sue, 1990). A study on low-achieving Asian American
high school students in relation to parental expectations and utility value will provide
important and additional information on what relationship parental involvement and task
values have on low achievement, and why particular students fall into a low-achieving
group. Since utility value has been found to be the strongest predictor in Asian American
students’ achievement, finding out the relationship between utility value and low
achievement and both negative and positive influence of parental expectations on utility
value will enhance research on parental involvement type and on low-achieving students.
Finding out the utility value of low-achieving Asian American high school students in
relation to parental expectations will suggest any possible solutions to direct struggling
students to academic motivation and success. Finally, examining the effect of STAR data
on low-achieving Asian American high school students will indicate the relationship
between student aptitude, utility value, parental expectations, and academic achievement.
Definitions of Terms
This section will provide definition of important terms which are used throughout
the study.
Attainment value. Another term for attainment value is importance. It is a
person’s attributed value in doing a task because he or she considers the task to be
important. Importance is also defined as the extent to which a particular task influences
15
a person’s approval or disproval of significant aspects of self-schema (Pintrich & Schunk,
2002).
Intrinsic interest. Intrinsic interest comes from a person’s innate interest in a task.
He or she experiences satisfaction and enjoyment when he or she is doing a task. He or
she is involved in a task because of autonomy and psychological satisfaction, not because
of ends. When he or she enjoys a task, he or she persists despite difficulties, is engaged,
and is truly motivated. He or she chooses to do the task again (Deci & Ryan, 1985).
Parental expectations. The degree to which parents continue high beliefs of a
student’s capability to accomplish at high levels (Jeynes, 2007).
Perceived parental involvement types. Perceived parental involvement types are
children’s perception on parents’ involvement in education. The following are examples
of parental involvement types. Parental expectations are parents’ aspirations toward their
children’s academic achievement. Structure is an environmental setting, including the
limitation by parents of their children’s watching TV and game time, parental assignment
of household work, and guidance of pursuing higher education, and discussions between
parents and children about test preparations and scores. Parental involvement in school
activities is parents’ presence at school meetings and events and voluntary work.
Autonomy support is freedom which parents give to children in choosing classes, doing
homework, and discussing about classes, school activities, and grades (Asakawa, 2001).
Utility value. Utility value is the usefulness of a task because of its agreement
with a person’s future plan or career goal (Wigfiled & Eccles, 2000). It is similar to
extrinsic motivation to do a task to attain goals (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002).
16
CHAPTER 2
Review of the Literature
The following chapter will open with defining utility value and examining related
literature. A second section will review literature on parental expectations in general and
then focus on those of Asian American parents. In the third part, studies on low-
achieving Asian American students will be reviewed. The fourth section will analyze
literature on influence of parental expectations on Asian American academic
achievement. The fifth will investigate literature on the influence of utility value on
Asian American academic achievement. The next part will review research on the
relationship between parental expectations, utility value, and Asian American academic
achievement. The last part will examine the background of Standardized Testing and
Reporting (STAR) data and STAR as an aptitude measure.
This study aims to examine the relationship between perceived parental
expectations, utility value, aptitude (STAR) data and academic achievement in Asian
American high school students. The following research question will guide the
investigation of literature:
Do student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, and aptitude
(SATR) data account for a significant part of the variance in determining
academic achievement in English?
Utility Value
Utility value is one of the constructs described in expectancy and value theory; it
has been often defined as one of task value constructs (Eccles & Wigfield, 1995; Ormrod,
2006; Pintrich & Schunk, 2002; Wigfield, 1994; Zimmerman, 2000). Atkinson (1957)
17
first defined value in the relationships to motive and expectancy. He called value
incentive value. He viewed incentive value in relation to motive and expectancy to
predict achievement. Motive was identified as an individual intention to approach
success and avoid failure and the expectance as probability for success. Atkinson
proposed that an individual achievement formula be produced by multiplying motive,
expectancy, and incentive value. He assumed that when a task was difficult, the
incentive value would increase. He predicted that the probability of success would
negatively correlate with incentive value. Contrary to Atkinson’s achievement model
which emphasized the negative relationship between expectancy and incentive value,
Battle (1966) found that when an individual valued a task, expectancy would increase (as
cited in Pintrich & Schunk, 2002).
Researchers such as Parsons and Goff, Deci and Ryan (1985), and Eccles and
Wigfiled (1995) scrutinized value tasks and explained their effects on achievement in
details. Parsons and Goff defined value tasks in four categories and related each of them
to expectancy and achievement (as cited in Eccles & Wigfield, 1995). They first argued
that values were conceptualized with four constructs: attainment value, intrinsic value,
utility value, and cost. They defined attainment value as the importance of a task in a
person’s self-schema. They classified intrinsic value as a person’s enjoyment or
satisfaction which he or she would gain in doing a particular task. Utility value
emphasized an instrumental aspect of a task to accomplish a person’s short and long term
goals. Cost was labeled as lost opportunities and consequences of participating in a task.
According to Parsons and Goff, utility value was a positive value that an individual
would put to a particular task because it satisfied his or her goals and needs.
18
Deci and Ryan (1985) argued that utility value would develop through the
influences and expectations of caretakers such as parents and teachers. When caretakers
perceive that a child should do a certain task to function in an environment, they direct
him or her to do the task and influence his or her motivation. This process is called the
internalization of value on the part of the child. This extrinsic motivation affects an
individual’s formation of value and this value is internalized. Internalized utility value
influences a child’s choice to do a particular task. When an individual values a task and
is engaged in the task frequently, he or she achieves at a higher level. From two
different perspectives in the consequences of value internalization, choice and
achievement, Eccles and Wigfield (1995) also subdivided a task value.
Eccles and Wigfiled (1995) examined achievement task values in two major
scopes: subjective and objective task values. They defined a subjective task value as a
person’s beliefs and perceptions of his or her own values and interests in a particular task.
Thus, in subjective task value, utility value is an individual beliefs and perceptions of his
or her own usefulness and extrinsic interest in doing a certain task. An objective task
value for a certain task was identified and described at a societal scope. For example,
when a society puts an important emphasis on education, people value high performance
in school and educational attainment. From a constructivist and psychological
perspective, Eccles and Wigfiled pointed out that a subjective task value would have a
substantial effect to individual motivation and achievement. In motivational studies, task
values are often measured in a subjective level. This is also applied to analyze a person’s
utility value and interpret its effect on achievement.
19
The study of Eccles and Wigfiled (1995) is one of examples which assess an
individual’s perceived utility value in a subjective level. They measured the usefulness
of mathematics for adolescents in grades 5 through 12 to find out how useful learning
advanced high school math would be after their graduation. They also assessed how
useful advanced high school math was outside school context.
With time, researchers have found empirical evidences that various subjective
factors such as age, gender, and domains influenced utility value and objective
components including ethnicity and social and cultural barriers gave important effects to
the internalization of a person’s utility value. The number of researchers examined utility
value in relations to age (Eccles & Wigfield, 1995; Jacobs, Lanza, Osgood, Eccles, &
Wigfield, 2002; Lepper, Corpus, & Iyengar, 2005; Wigfield & Eccles, 2000), gender
(Durik, Vida and Eccles, 2006; Eccles & Wigfield, 1995; Jacobs, Lanza, Osgood, Eccles,
& Wigfield, 2002; Feather, 1988), domains (Eccles & Wigfield, 1995; Feather,
1988;Wigfield & Eccles, 2000), and ethnicity (Chen & Stevenson, 1995; Lepper, Corpus,
& Lyengar, 2005; Lew, 2006; Sue & Okazaki, 1990). Eccles and Wigfield have been
well renowned researchers in task values and they have studied various factors such as
age, gender, domains, attainment value, interest, and perceived cost which affect utility
value.
Eccles and Wigfiled (1995) sampled 742 White American students in grades 5
through 12 from a middle class and investigated their task values in mathematics. They
studied and analyzed relationships between perceptions of ability, utility value, interest,
attainment value, and achievement. They found that utility value, interest and attainment
value were all correlated to each other. Their perceptions of ability were correlated to
20
interest and attainment value more strongly than utility value. With this finding, Eccles
and Wigfield assumed that utility value might be closely related to other factors such as
cultural value and gender. Correspondingly, Chen and Stevenson (1995) showed that
cultural and familial values were significant influences in internalization of utility values.
They discovered a correlation between cultural value and utility value in a comparative
study with three different ethnic groups of students.
Chen and Stevenson (1995) found that depending on cultural and familial value,
Asian American, Caucasian American, and East Asian High school students had different
degrees of utility value in mathematics. They found that Asian American students
showed the highest utility value in mathematics. Asian American students believed that
good grades in mathematics would be useful to go to college. Their parents also held the
highest utility value in their children’s mathematics achievement compared to that of
Caucasian American and East Asian parents. Asian American parents valued
mathematics achievement because it was useful for their children to go to good college.
This finding showed that Asian American high school students’ utility value in
mathematics highly correlated to familial value.
As another factor influencing on utility value, Durik, Vida and Eccles (2006)
looked into gender differences in utility value in English. They examined gender
differences in choice of literacy activities in leisure time, frequency of English course
taking, and utility value of career preparation. Boys and girls in 4
th
and 10
th
grade were
participants. They did not find any gender difference in the choices of girls and boys to
take the number of English courses. Both of them believed that it was useful to study
English for careers. Utility value of boys and girls was positively correlated to their
21
choices of literacy activities such as taking English courses. Girls in 10th grade had a
little bit higher utility value and task beliefs of English than boys. Interest in reading also
predicted the choices of literacy activities of girls. Girls in 4
th
grade were found to be
intrinsically motivated and read more than boys. Girls performed a little better than boys
in English. Durik, Vida and Eccles (2006) concluded that gender differences were
generally small in task values except 4
th
grade girls’ interest in reading and frequency of
reading.
In contrast to the findings of Durik, Vida and Eccles (2006), Jacobs, Lanza,
Osgood, Eccles, and Wigfiled (2002) discovered distinctive gender differences in task
values in students with various ages. They examined task values of students in grades 1
through 12 in English mostly in European American school districts. They found that
girls’ task values in English rapidly decreased more than those of boys during elementary
school and then increased during high school. Boys’ task values in English continuously
decreased throughout all grades. However, in terms of task values in mathematics,
gender differences were not found. From grade 6, task values of boys and girls in
mathematics kept decreasing throughout high school. Gender differences in valuing
sports were distinctive. Different subjective task values in gender were related to their
ability beliefs and domains’ characteristics.
Findings on the relationship between age and utility value are debatable. Lepper,
Corpus, and Iyengar (2005) compared the extrinsic motivation of children in grade 3
through grade 8. They did not find any differences in the extrinsic motivation of those
children in various ages. They found that extrinsic motivation of 7
th
graders in academic
22
achievement began to increase slightly. But when 3
rd
graders’ extrinsic motivation
variable was excluded, extrinsic motivation was not significantly different across ages.
Contrary to the finding of Lepper, Corpus, and Iyengar, Durik, Vida and Eccles
(2006) found age difference in utility value and the choice of literacy activities. Students
in 10
th
grade took more English courses than those in 4
th
grade. This finding showed that
since high school students were in the process of preparing to go to college, they seemed
to have more utility value in taking English courses than those in 4
th
grade. High school
students’ utility value in English was a predictor of their choice in literacy activities. The
study of Durik, Vida, and Eccles (2006) supported that there was a distinctive age
difference in utility value of high school and elementary school students in English.
Wigfield and Eccles (1989) also found age differences in taking mathematics in future (as
cited in Eccles & Wigfield, 1995). Junior high school students took mathematics
according to their intrinsic value. However, both utility vale and intrinsic interest
predicted high school students’ enrollment in mathematics courses.
Findings on ethnicity and utility value are also controversy (Lepper, Corpus, &
Lyengar, 2005; Chen and Stevenson, 1995). Although ethnicity is found to be a factor
influencing utility value, types of extrinsic motivation are important in determining ethnic
differences (Lepper, Corpus, & Lyengar, 2005). Lepper, Corpus, and Lyengar (2005)
examined differences in extrinsic motivation between Asian American and Caucasian
American elementary and junior high school students. They used different types of
extrinsic motivation. A subscale including items such as pleasing teachers was positively
related to extrinsic motivation of Asian American students, but not for Caucasian
American students.
23
However, two other subscales did not show any ethnic differences. Those
subscales measured a student's preference for easy work and the dependence on the
teacher in school work. This finding of the measure revealed that Asian American
students valued interrelationships with teachers more than Caucasian American students.
Asian American students’ tendency to respect teachers was an important extrinsic
motivation and the students chose to work hard to have good relationships with teachers.
But when the subscale on pleasing teacher was excluded, there were few differences in
extrinsic motivation between Asian American and Caucasian American students.
In contrast, Chen and Stevenson (1995) found distinctive differences in the utility
value of academic achievement in Asian American, Caucasian American and East Asian
high school students. Asian American students valued the usefulness of academic
achievement as a means to pursue higher education. Their utility value of academic
achievement was the highest compared to that of Caucasian American and East Asian
students. For Caucasian American students, their perception of success affected
significantly their academic achievement and they valued their own perceptions and
beliefs to do a task well.
In summary, researchers have investigated utility value in relation to domains,
ethnicity, gender, age, culture, and academic achievement. Although there are
contradictory findings, utility value is sensitive to domains such as subjects, ethnicity,
gender, age, and culture. Utility value affects a person’s choice of a task and academic
achievement. Utility value is construed as a critical motivational construct in Asian
American student academic achievement because of the influence of their cultural and
familial values. Because most research has focused on European American students, the
24
review of the studies in utility value indicates a necessity to conduct research of
populations with different cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Parental Expectations
Parental expectations have been examined in parental involvement (Aldous, 2006;
Asakawa, 2001; Benner & Mistry, 2007; Chen, 2005; Lee, 1994; Lew, 2006; Jeynes,
2007; Yan & Lin, 2005). Parental involvement has been conceptualized as
comprehensive parental activities and aspirations: educational expectations, involvement
in school activities, autonomy support, support for structure, discussion with students
about school topics, parent information networks, parent and student relationship,
checking homework and so on. Jeynes (2007) analyzed 25 research studies to compare a
variety of parental involvement in association with grades 6 to 12 student achievement.
He defined parental expectations as the degree to which parents continue high beliefs of a
student’s capability to accomplish at high levels. The parental involvement variables
were parental expectations, general and specific parental involvement, attendance and
participation, communication, helping homework, and parental styles. Based on review
of the 25 studies, Jeynes (2007) concluded that parental expectations were a stronger
predictor in student achievement than parental styles, communication, and help with
homework. The review also suggested that parental expectations have impacted on
student achievement more than teachers’ expectations.
Benner and Mistry (2007) compared the effect of different degrees of mother and
teacher expectations on student achievement. They studied mother and teacher
expectations as proximal factors on student achievement. From the ecological point of
view, Bernner and Mistery compared different levels of mother and teacher expectations
25
regarding 9- and 16-year-old students’ achievement and their influences on the student
academic achievement. They found that both the expectations of mothers and teachers
influenced the students’ expectations, self-concept of ability, attainment values, and
expectations for success in an academic task. A mother’s expectations were stronger
predictors than those of a teacher. Student beliefs and values mediated parental
expectations and student achievement. The mediation means that parental expectations
first influence student beliefs and values. As a result, students internalize the importance
of study and develop personal beliefs in values of education. When students believe that
academic achievement is important, they achieve better. Academic achievement is the
product of student beliefs and values which are internalized through the influence of a
mother’s expectations. Students who internalize parental expectations and high
competency to a task produce high academic outcomes.
It is also important to notice that, depending on parents’ race and ethnicity,
parental involvement patterns are different (Asakawa 2001; Yan & Lin; 2005). Asakawa
(2001) found that Asian American and Caucasian American parents of 6
th
, 8
th
, 10
th
, and
12
th
grade students showed different types of parental involvement. Asian American
parents had high expectations regarding children’s education and let children practice
autonomy more than did Caucasian American parents. Parental expectations were found
in the levels of student educational attainment such as pursuing higher education. The
Asian American parents were engaged in planning and helping students to prepare for
standardized tests and decision making of whether or not students would pursue higher
education. They gave children freedom in making decision on class taking, doing and
checking homework, and discussing about school work, performance and activity
26
choices. In contrast, Caucasian American parents participated in school activities more
than did Asian American parents. They participated in school work and attended school
events and meetings frequently.
Yan and Lin (2005) also discovered distinctive differences in parental
involvement types in ethnicity. They compared parental involvement of Asian American,
African American, Caucasian American, and Hispanic American parents in 8
th
grade
students’ educational attainment. Yan and Lin categorized parental involvement into
family obligations, parent information networks, and family norms. Asian American
parents were found to have the highest educational expectations. African American
parents valued parent information network such as contact with school to find out
children’s performance. Caucasian American parents put importance in attending school
activities and events. Hispanic American parents were involved in educating their
children with family rules.
Differently from Asian American parents, African American, Caucasian
American, and Hispanic American parents did show negative educational expectations.
This finding was contradictory to that of Jeynes (2007) supporting that parental
expectations were the strongest variable to student achievement. The studies of
Asakawa (2001) and Yan and Lin (2005) revealed that parental ethnicity was an
important variable in determining the types of parental involvement. Especially, in the
study of Yan and Lin, it is important to notice that statistically, the means of Asian
American parents’ educational expectations was the highest compared to all means of
parental involvement activities of Asian American, African American, Caucasian
American, and Hispanic American parents. Sue and Okazaki (1990) and Lew (2006)
27
discussed social and cultural backgrounds of Asian American parents to explain why they
particularly held high expectations regarding education.
Sue and Okasaki (1990) pointed out that Asian cultural value on education and
effort to academic achievement and minority status were related to high parental
expectations. Asian culture has emphasized the importance of educational success and
this is a part of family and cultural values. Parents have promoted their children to study
hard and have expected them to be academically successful. In addition, Sue and
Okasaki argued that parents expected children to excel in education because they
perceived that success in other fields such as entertainment and politics as minorities was
restricted. Parents experienced that investing for the success in education was the avenue
to make upward social mobility rather than non-educational fields.
Lew (2006) also pointed out that Korean American parents’ high expectations
regarding children’s education was related to their minority status and limited
opportunities in career options. Regardless of their different socioeconomic status,
parents showed high expectations in student performance. Some parents immigrated to
the United States and could not be involved in mainstream careers even though they had
higher education in Korea. As a minority group, they experienced limited opportunities
to pursue their careers. Most of them had to choose to do small business to support their
family. Because of their experience in racial and social barriers, they considered that it
would be challenging to be successful in other fields, but education would be an effective
way for their children to live in the middle class and get mainstream careers. Parental
experiences in an American society influenced their high expectations regarding their
28
children’s education to handle with Asian Americans’ minority status and pursue upward
social mobility.
Asian American students have perceived their parents’ high educational
expectations and they considered that they had to make an effort to achieve academically
to meet their parent’s expectations to return for parental sacrifices (Lee, 1994). Asian
American students believed that they had to study well, go to college, and get good jobs.
They saw their parents’ hard working and knew that their parents came to the United
States because their parents wanted to provide them with opportunities of better
education, jobs, and living. Those students believed that one way to return their parents’
sacrifice was to study hard, go to good college, and find good jobs.
In summary, although there were contradictory findings on parental expectations
by ethnicity, the parental expectations of Asian Americans have a greater impact on
student values, motivation, the internalization process, and achievement. Depending on
ethnicity, culture, familial value, and experience and limitations in society, the effect of
parental expectations on student achievement varies. However, when parental
expectations influence student internalization of motivation, parental expectations
significantly impact on student development and achievement. This case is distinctive
for Asian American students with their experiences in parents’ lives and familial and
cultural values.
Low-achieving Asian American Students
Although Asian American students have been model minorities and their
academic success has been highlighted, some studies pointed out the academic struggles
of students in this population (Lee, 1994; Lew, 2006; Wong and Hong, 2006) and
29
identified patterns of underachievement compared to their counterparts (Wong & Halgin,
2006; Toupin & Son, 1991). Since 1960s, Asian Americans’ success and hard work in
education and economy have been stressed (Wong & Halgin, 2006). Generally, Asian
American students have been considered as performing well compared with other
minority students. However, according to the finding of Toupin and Son (1991), their
distinguishing academic success and the general perception of Asian Americans as model
minority by peers and educators were contrast to their findings with students in a college
ranked in the top 20
th
in the United States. They found that the grade point average of
Asian American students was lower than non-Asian American students and more number
of Asian American students than their counterparts could not graduate.
Similarly, Lee (1994) found that some Asian American students perceived as high
performing by peers were found to be academically at risk. He investigated Asian
American student perceptions on career opportunities and their academic achievement in
a high school in Philadelphia. He found two different types of low-achieving students in
Asian American population: students with East Asian cultural background and those with
Southeast Asian cultural background. The academic underachievement of students with
an East Asian cultural background was seldom noticed. Because of their model minority
image, their peers assumed that Asian American students performed well. In addition,
model minority stereotyping contributed to Asian American students’ reluctance to show
their academic problems to their peers and tutors at schools and to seek academic help
from them. Wong and Hong (2006) also pointed out that model minority stereotype was
associated with Asian American students’ reluctance and the feeling of shame to show
their academic weakness in public. Another barrier to solve academic difficulties of
30
Asian American students was family value. In the Lee’s study (1994), a low-achieving
Asian American said that he could not reveal his academic struggling because of his
family. He considered that his low achievement was shameful to his entire family. This
phenomenon made him less aggressive to solve his academic problems by seeking help
from his peers, tutors, and teachers.
Low-achieving students who immigrated from Southeast Asia showed somewhat
different attitudes toward education from low-achieving students with East Asian cultural
backgrounds (Lee, 1994). The students from Southeast Asian backgrounds were less
motivated in academic achievement, while they valued peer relationships. Thus, they did
not care that much about their low achievement and showed their low achievement in
public. In contrast, Dandy and Nettlebeck (2002) found that Asian Australian students
such as the Vietnamese performed well in mathematics and spent a lot much time
studying. They cared about academic success and their parental expectations influenced
their positive attitudes in study. There were contradictory findings with the same
population of students. This implies that it is important to investigate other related
factors and contexts of the examined population. Thorough investigations on academic
achievement of Asian Americans in relations to family, cultural values, and contexts will
illuminate unclear and contradictory data to understand and guide this particular type of
students.
In addition, by reviewing literature on Asian American stereotype as a model
minority, Wong and Hong (2006) concluded that Asian American students were not
outperforming their counterparts. They said that misperceptions on Asian American
31
students’ academic success would limit opportunities and services which those students
would need.
In summary, because of stereotyping Asian Americans as model minority,
research on concrete academic supports and services for underachievers in this
population has been less advanced. When their underachievement is associated with fear
of revealing their academic difficulties and high family value in education, their
opportunities to overcome academic struggle are limited and their academic problems can
be aggravated. It is important not to assume that Asian American students are doing fine
in school, but study significant familial variables and effective solutions affecting these
students’ achievement. Research based data and understanding of this population should
be used to direct low-achieving students and provide them with any necessary services
and assistances.
The Influence of Utility Value on Asian American Academic Achievement
A number of studies have found that utility value is the most influential factor on
Asian American high school students’ achievement. Chen and Stevenson (1995)
compared motivation and mathematics achievement of Asian American, Caucasian
American, and East Asian high school students. Asian American students had higher
mathematics scores than those of Caucasian American students, but lower than those of
East Asian students. Chen and Stevenson found that Asian American and East Asian
students believed that their success was the products of effort and showed positive
attitudes about academic achievement.
According to Chen and Stevenson (1995), important reasons for them to study
were to get good jobs, enter good colleges, and extend their knowledge. Their first choice
32
was to find a good job; 40% of the Asian American students answered that the most
important reason to study was to get better career opportunities. The percentage was
about twice higher than that of going to college and that of improving knowledge. High
achieving Asian American adolescents believed that their work would be rewarded when
they got good jobs (Lee, 1994).
Similarly, Randel (2001) found that utility value was a strong predictor of
academic achievement in Asian American high school students. The utility value of
education in Asian American high school students showed a stronger correlation to their
academic achievement than attainment value and intrinsic interest. Randel compared the
achievement values between Asian Americans and European American adolescents.
In mathematics achievement, Asian American high school students showed higher
attainment value, intrinsic interest, and utility value than those of European American
high school students. In English achievement, attainment value and utility value of Asian
American students were higher than those of European American students. Differently
from European American students, self-efficacy was a less important predictor of Asian
American student achievement than value constructs. In mathematics and English,
utility value was the most predictable variable on Asian American students’ academic
achievement compared to attainment value and intrinsic interest. Randel concluded that
Asian American students emphasized the practical side of education.
From the socio-cultural perspective, Sue and Okazaki (1990) claimed that the
positive effect of utility value of education on Asian American student achievement was
associated with their perceptions as minorities and experiences in restricted opportunities
in careers. Since 1950, Asian Americans’ success as minorities has been highlighted.
33
In social restrictions such as prejudice, discrimination and racism, Asian Americans have
been successful in their education and their educational attainment has improved their
socioeconomic status in this society. Sue and Okazaki (1990) explained that the motive
of the Asian Americans to use education as a means to attain social mobility was based
on “relative functionalism.” They experienced and perceived limited opportunities in
other careers such as entertainment, politics, sports, and leadership positions. Thus,
Asian Americans have chosen educational attainments to make their social upgrade and
have stressed “the relative value or function of education” to overcome unequal social
and career opportunities as minorities (p. 913).
Asakawa (2001) also argued that Asian American adolescents achieved well
because of the combination of their internalization of cultural values and utility value in
education. The internalized cultural values and utility value in education influenced their
engagement, effort, and self-competent in studying or work related activities. When
Asian American students studied and were involved in work activities, or activities
important for their future careers, their self-confidence in a particular task increased.
Asian American students internalized educational values, expended additional effort and
achieved well when they perceived a task as important for their goals and future careers.
Asian American students had high educational expectations for them and valued
education as the means of accomplishing their goals.
Even low-achieving Korean American high school students’ utility value of
education showed a negative relationship to achievement. Lew (2006) found that low-
achieving Korean American students from low SES families perceived that education
was not useful for their current financial situation. They doubted that their time and
34
financial investment in schooling would be worthwhile; instead they chose to enter the
workforce and perhaps gain a GED later.
In contrast, low-achieving Asian American students in the study of Lee (1994)
held high utility value of education, but showed low achievement. Low-achieving Asian
American students with poor language proficiency and without help seeking behaviors
valued education for their future careers. According to Lee’s interview with a recent
Chinese immigrant student, he did not read and write well and struggled academically.
However, he did not seek help from peers or tutors at school and was reluctant to reveal
his problems in study. His negative attitudes to academic support and help seeking
perpetuated his low achievement even though he had a high utility value of education.
In summary, utility value is an essential motivational factor in Asian American
student achievement. For high-achieving students, utility value shows positive
relationship to achievement. For low-achieving students, depending on students’
individual circumstances such as immigration generation, language proficiency, and SES,
the effects of utility value on academic achievement have been found to vary. It is
necessary to conduct more research on the relationship between utility value construct
and academic achievement in low-achieving Asian American students.
Influence of Parental Expectations on Asian American Academic Achievement
A number of studies have pointed out the important influence of parental
expectations on Asian American academic achievement (Aldous, 2006; Asakawa, 2001;
Lee, 1994; Lew 2006; Chen, 2006; Chen and Stevenson, 1995; Sue & Okazaki, 1990;
Yan & Lin, 2005). Sue and Okazaki (1990) indicated that Asian American parents
emphasized educational success because of Asian American culture that valued education
35
and their socialization experiences as a minority group. Because Asian culture strongly
values education, Asian American parents have high expectations regarding their
children’s academic achievement and demand their children to be successful in school.
In addition, Asian American parents have experienced limited opportunities in
careers and political power as a minority group (Sue & Okazaki, 1990). This experience
affected the beliefs of Asian American parents that education was the way to overcome
their minority status and accomplish social mobility. They expected their children to
study well and pursue higher education. Asian American culture of respecting elder
people and parents influenced the students’ values to accept their parents’ demand and
expectations regarding educational achievement and attainment.
Similarly, Chen and Stevenson (1995) found that the achievement of Asian
American high school students in mathematics was connected with parental expectations.
Asian American parents held strong beliefs on the value of academic effort, positive
attitudes about schooling, and high standards for academic achievement. Asian
American parents emphasized diligence and effort in educational success. According to
the finding of Chen and Stevenson, the expectations of Asian American parents and
students to get good grades were significantly correlated. Like their parents, Asian
American students had positive attitudes about mathematics and achieved at a high level.
Mau (1997) also pointed out that Asian American parents’ academic expectations
were a strong predictor of student achievement in mathematics and reading. Specifically,
when Asian American parents showed high expectations, but were less involved in
school activities, the students performed well academically. This phenomenon was
distinctive to Asian American high school students. Student effort and parental
36
expectations were strongly associated with student achievement. For White students,
parental involvement in school activities was important influence to their achievement.
For Asian American students, parental expectations seemed to mediate their achievement
and their effort. According to mediation effect, in the relationships between parental
expectations, student effort, and achievement, parental expectations first affected the
levels of student effort. Then, internalized student effort influenced the outcomes of
academic achievement.
Because Asian American parents had high educational expectations, they
demanded their children’s effort and dedication in academic achievement (Lee, 1994;
Lew, 2006). Korean American parents sent their children to “Hagwon,” an afternoon
school program and hired tutors (Lew, 2006). High-achieving Korean American students
spent extra time to study after school and less time in socializing. The parents’ cultural
beliefs in the importance of education increased their expectations regarding children’s
extra effort. They prepared additional contexts for their children to make an effort to
achieve well. Chen and Stevenson (1995) also pointed out how much effort Asian
American students invested in studying mathematics sacrificing time for social activities.
The time invested in mathematics was the highest in Chinese, Japanese, and Caucasian
students. The study of Chen and Stevenson revealed that parental expectations influenced
Asian American students’ amount of time to study and their achievement in mathematics.
In comparisons with other types of parental involvement, high parental
expectations were effective in student achievement. Yan and Lin (2005) examined
different types of parental involvement and their influences on 12
th
grade high school
students’ mathematics achievement. The different types of parental involvement in their
37
study were family norms, family obligations, and parent networks. Family norms include
educational expectations, family rules, and parent-student relationship. Family
obligations are categorized as parent involvements in school activities and programs, and
discussion with children about schooling. The components of parent information
networks consisted of communication with school, information of children’s schoolwork,
and knowledge of children’s friends and parents. The types of parental involvement
such as parent information networks, discussions about schools, and attendance at school
programs negatively affected Asian American students’ mathematics achievement (Yan
& Lin, 2005). While Asian American parental expectations showed the highest
correlation to mathematics achievement compared to other parental involvement
variables.
Corresponding to the finding of Yan and Lin (2005), Mau (1997) found that while
parental expectations were strongly related to Asian American student achievement,
parental involvement was not predictive of academic success. Parental involvement such
as helping, controlling, supporting, and participating was not effective in Asian American
students. Mau pointed out that some Asian American parents or Asian immigrant
parents might not be familiar with school systems and school work and lack English
proficiency. Thus, Asian American parents were less likely to participate in school
events and communicate with teachers and counselors. Thus, their involvement in
American schools was not strategic enough to affect student achievement.
Asakawa (2001) claimed that autonomy support was the greatest influence on
Asian American student achievement. He compared the effect of parental attitudes and
involvement on academic performance between Asian American and White American
38
junior high and high school students. The Asian American student population included
Chinese, Filipinos, Japanese, Koreans, South Asians, and Southeast Asians. Parental
attitudes and involvement variables comprised educational expectations, involvement in
school activities, autonomy support, and the provision of structure for study. He found
that Asian American students’ grades were strongly correlated to parental variables.
Autonomy support significantly influenced Asian American students’ grades. When
those students had freedom in their academic engagement, plan, and management, they
achieved well. Parental involvement in school activities was the second strongest and
parents’ educational expectations were the third. Autonomy support, involvement in
school activities, and educational expectations were more influential to the academic
performance of Asian American students than their own educational aspirations,
perceived competence, and locus of control (Asakawa, 2001). This study showed that
when Asian American parents gave their children autonomy and held high expectations
regarding children’s education, those students performed well.
However, Lew (2006) found that high parental expectations were effective for
high-achieving Korean American students, but they were negative influences on
low-achieving Korean American students. When low-achieving Korean American high
school students had parents with high educational aspirations, these students felt pressed
and psychologically frustrated. Those students considered that they did not have enough
financial support and guidance from their parents. Especially, when those parents came
from low socioeconomic status, low-achieving students could not gain any proper
direction in education and financial support from their parents. Those students felt that
they had different experiences from their immigrated parents, their parents did not
39
understand their school systems, and their parents had language barriers. In addition, the
students experienced cultural gaps existed between their parents and them. As a result,
even though their parents had high educational expectations, those students did not
respect their parents’ value and did not make an effort to achieve academically. They
chose to confront their parental expectations and achieved poorly as a means to refuse to
accept barriers in school and society (Lew, 2006). These students valued their peers’
cultural experiences and got reference from them. For low-achieving students who were
not provided with a means to achieve better, parents’ educational expectation did not
influence student motivation to make an effort and achieve successfully.
In summary, parental expectations are highly predictive of Asian American
student academic achievement. Findings on the effect of different parental involvement
on student achievement are not as consistent. The achievement outcome is related to
parents’ social capital including knowledge of American schooling, social class, language
proficiency and the quality of involvement. For low-achieving Asian American students,
parental expectations have been found to be negative when those students come from low
socioeconomic class with parents of low social capital. However, this relationship
between parental expectations and low achievement should not be generalized because
this area of study has not been developed enough to conclude this phenomenon. Most
studies have focused on finding relationships between Asian American parental
expectations and student achievement and positive aspects of parental expectations in
Asian American student achievement. This section of the review of literature shows that
studies have dealt less with relationships between parental expectations and low-
40
achieving Asian American student and any negative aspects of parental expectations in
student achievement.
The Relationship between Perceived Parental Expectations, Utility Value, and
Asian American Students’ Academic Achievement
Researchers have investigated mediation and internalization effects to analyze the
relationships between parental expectations, utility value, and student achievement.
Some studies discussed that utility value mediated relationships between Asian American
parental expectations and student achievement (Asakawa, 2001; Chen & Stevenson,
1995; Lee, 1994; Lew, 2006; Sue & Okazaki, 1990). The mediation effect of utility
value between parental expectations and student achievement could be explained by
interactions among three conceptual factors proposed by Marchant, Paulson, and
Rothlisberg (2001). Parental expectations can be categorized in family context, utility
value in perceived motivation, and Asian American student achievement in student
achievement.
Marchant, Paulson, and Rothlisberg (2001) studied the relationship between
family context, perceived motivation, and student achievement and proposed that
perceived motivation mediated the relationships between family context and student
achievement. The following figure shows the relationship of the three factors. The
figures also included another independent variable, school context which influences
student achievement.
41
Family Context
Parental Demandingness
Parental Responsiveness
Parental Values
Parental Involvement in
School Functions
School
Competence
Perceived
Motivations
Student
Achievement
School Contexts
Teacher Responsiveness
Teacher Control
School Responsiveness
Supportive Social
Environment
Figure 2. Proposed relations between family and school context, students’ perceived
motivations and competence, and achievement (p. 508)
Asakawa (2001) claimed that a student internalized cultural values in education as
a prelude to academic success. When Asian American adolescents perceived that study
or work related activities would be valuable for their future careers, their utility value
increased. Parents had high expectations regarding education because they wanted their
children to have good careers. Parental expectations affected students’ utility value of
education. When students internalized utility value of education, they achieved well.
The internalization of utility value could be explained in the mediation effect because
utility value was developed with the influence of parental expectations and internalized
utility value produced better achievement outcomes.
42
Similarly, Lew (2006) found the mediation effect of motivation, utility value.
Parental expectations influenced utility value of Korean American high school students
and internalized utility value eventually affected their academic achievement. Korean
American students put the importance to meet their parental expectations. Their parents
expected them to do successful in school because this was the way to go to elite college
and find good careers. With education and professions, their parents believed that the
students could make social and economic mobility. In order to meet parental
expectations, the students valued education as a means of upward mobility and this
affected their achievement positively.
Chen and Stevenson (1995) found Asian American parents’ educational
expectations were associated with high utility value of both parents and students in
education. Parental utility value and student utility value were highly correlated. Their
utility values affected high mathematics achievement in Asian American students. Sue
and Okazaki (1990) concluded that Asian American cultural value in education and social
experience as minority and limited opportunities predicted their high utility value in
education.
On the other hand, some studies did not find either positive relationships or
relationships between parental expectations, utility value, and academic achievement
when the influence of crucial factors functioned as a special circumstance to an
individual low achiever. When low-achieving Korean American students from low SES
did not respect their parental expectations, student utility value of education and
academic achievement were negatively related (Lew, 2006). They did not get proper
emotional, intellectual and financial support from their parents regarding education. They
43
perceived that their social and school experience were different from those of their
parents. For those low achievers, peer influence was more significant than parental
expectations in their setting value and academic achievement.
In the study of Lee (1994), low achievers perceived high parental expectations
and had high utility value in education for their better future. However, when they were
not proficient in English and had fear in failure as model minority, they could not
overcome their academic difficulties. Their negative attitude on help seeking behavior
was related to model minority image. Low achievers were hesitant to show their
struggling in study and ask others to help their study. Thus, it is important to consider
individual circumstances of low achievers and those influences on their academic
performance.
In summary, parental expectations are associated with their cultural values in
education and social success and beliefs in education to overcome limitations in careers
and minority status. Parental expectations function as critical in academic achievement
when Asian American students internalize utility value of education and utility value
mediates between parental expectations and student achievement. However, individual
circumstances such as language proficiency and SES should be investigated and
considered as factors influencing their low achievement. Most of studies have discussed
the relations between parental expectations, utility value, and Asian American student
achievement. Specifically, low achievers with low SES struggle to overcome their
academic problems. But a specific focus on the effect of value and familial influence on
Asian American low achievers has not been examined.
44
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program and Student Achievement
In order to understand whether or not parental expectations and utility value are
significant variables in predicting student achievement, it is necessary to compare their
effects with that of aptitude. Therefore, this section includes information of Standardized
Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program. First, this section examines the historical
background of Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program in a chronological
order. This review focuses on the development of the STAR program in California State
because the data of the 2006 California Standards Tests (CSTs) will be used as a variable
in this study.
By the law, the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program began to
test all second through eleventh graders in English-language arts and mathematics in
1997 (CDE, 2006). In addition, all students in grade two through eight were tested with
spelling and those in grades nine through eleven with science and history-social science.
In 1998, all students in grades two through eleven took a national norm-referenced test
(Stanford 9). In 1999, according to the California content standards, the Stanford 9
measured student achievement in English-language arts and mathematics. In 2003, the
STAR program separated the Stanford 9 from the California Standards Tests (CSTs) and
CSTs focused on testing students’ abilities to measure whether or not they meet the
California content standards. In 2006, the STAR programs included four types of
assessments: the California Standards Tests (CSTs), the California Alternate Performance
Assessment (CAPA), the California Achievement Tests/Six Edition Survey (CAT/6
Survey), and the Aprenda 3 (La prueba de logros en espanol, tercera edicion) From
45
spring 2006, grades 8 and 10 took two new science tests and the Aprenda 3 included the
Spanish Assessment of Basic Education.
Since 1999, data of STAR such as CSTs have been used to indicate student
performance according to the state content standards. CSTs include English-language
arts and mathematics for grades 2 through 11, science for grades 5, 9, 10, and 11, and
history-social science for grades 8, 10, and 11 (TUSD, 2007). Since 2005, a norm-
referenced test (NRT) has tested students in grades 3 to 7 in reading, language arts,
spelling, and mathematics. CSTs evaluate student performance in relation to the state
content standards for subjects. Student performance is analyzed in five performance
levels to indicate whether or not a student meets the California state standards: Advanced
(exceeding the standards), Proficient (meeting the standards), Basic (approaching the
standards), Below Basic (below the standards), and Far Below Basic (well below the
standards). The Advanced and Proficient levels are the ones denoting students’ meeting
the California state standards.
CSTs have become important aptitude assessments for students since legislation
passed No Child Left Behind Act in 2001. According to the Act, elementary and
secondary schools are accountable for testing students annually and improving their
achievement (Mulvenon, Stegman, & Ritter, 2005). States are allowed to develop their
own tests and compare the results from year to year segregating races, gender,
socioeconomic status, and English proficiency.
CSTs are aptitude tests and measure a board range of abilities in subjects. For
example, in English-language arts, 10
th
graders are tested in reading and writing (CDE,
2007). Reading has three groups of questions: word analysis, reading comprehension,
46
and literacy response and analysis. Writing has two groups of questions: writing
strategies and written conventions. Each group has subgroups to measure a broad
spectrum of abilities in English-language arts. The items are reviewed by committees
comprised of content experts, teachers and administrators. They evaluate items’
appropriateness to measure student abilities and fairness of the questions for all students
regardless of their race, language, and gender.
In summary, the California Standards Tests (CSTs) in Standardized Testing and
Reporting (STAR) Program is an aptitude test to measure students’ abilities in a broad
range. The result of CSTs is used to predict future achievement of students, measure
current student achievement and compare their progress from year to year according to
school, district, state, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and language ability.
Conclusion
Parental expectations and utility value are significant factors in Asian American
students’ academic achievement. Because of the cultural and familial values of respect
for parents and the experiences and perceptions of Asian Americans as minorities, utility
value of education is high in this population. As a means to meet career and future
goals, education is utilized and consequently utility value of education significantly
impacts student achievement. Most studies have focused on examining Asian American
student achievement in relation to utility value or parental expectations, or the
relationship between parental expectations, utility value, and academic achievement.
Because of a tendency of stereotyping Asian American students as model
minority in education, despite the important influence of parental expectations and utility
value on low achievers, few studies have focused on examining low-achieving Asian
47
American students in relation to parental expectations and utility value. It is important to
understand the effect of a motivational variable such as utility value and perceived
parental expectations on low-achieving students to help them to overcome negative
psychological process and academic difficulties.
Low-achieving students in this population experience fear in failure and pressure
from parental expectations. Some low achievers who resist parental expectations and
experience no or lack of educational support from parents and school systems choose
other ways to overcome their underachievement. The ways can be to strengthen peer
connections or start to work after dropping out schools. When low achievers come from
low SES without proper parental involvement and social capital, the academic problems
of this population are worse. In addition, since services and programs for low-achieving
Asian American students are underdeveloped and not enough, this lack of concrete
support and guidance aggravates those students’ academic problems. When it is
considered that some low-achieving Asian American students have negative attitudes to
get help from others to solve their academic problems, eventually, these students are
likely to be further behind in their performance.
The review of literature reveals that motivation such as utility value and parental
expectations predict achievement in Asian American students. Literature on their cultural
value of education and minority status indicates that utility value is a vital construct in
academic success of Asian American students. Because of the great emphasis on cultural
and familial values in this population, parents’ expectations are an important variable to
student achievement. However, no study has found whether utility value and parental
expectations also predict low achievement in Asian American students. To find and
48
examine a significant variable to low achievement, utility value and parental expectations
should be compared with aptitude (STAR) data which are often used to predict future
achievement.
In conclusion, it is necessary to study the relationship between perceived parental
expectations, utility value, aptitude (STAR) data, and student achievement to find which
variable predicts low achievement the most. Findings will provide significant empirical
data to prepare solid and practical support in home and school for those students’
academic improvement and success. The findings will also expand research on low-
achieving Asian American students in relation to familial context and student motivation.
49
CHAPTER 3
Methods
The purpose of this quantitative study was to investigate the relationship between
student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, aptitude and the academic
achievement in Asian American high school students. A study on the achievement of
Asian American high school students in relation to parental expectations and utility value
provided important information on what relationship parental involvement, task values,
and achievement had, and why particular students fell into a low-achieving group. The
following research question was used to examine perceived parental expectations of
Asian American students and motivational factors:
Do student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, and aptitude
(SATR) data account for a significant part of the variance in determining
academic achievement in English?
To answer this question, 123 Asian American high school students were surveyed
with 14 items regarding perceived parental expectations, utility value, and demographical
information. Potential participants were contacted through arrangement of the principal
and teachers at a high school in Southern California. With the consent of potential
participants and parents or guardians, the participants were surveyed. The survey was
administered for about 25 minutes at the research site. Each item was explained and
students’ questions were answered. This study followed a quantitative research design
with a scale of Family Orientation (Urdan, 2004) and Motivated Strategies for Learning
Questionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & Mckeachie, 1991), and used
50
quantitative data of student grades in English and raw data of Standardized Testing and
Reporting (STAR) program in 2007.
Population and Sample
The population of this study was Asian American high school students in grades 9
to 12 during the fall 2007 semester at a public school in Southern California. Data of the
students from English honor and AP classes were excluded and this study only included
participants from regular English classes. A total number of the participants were 123
comprised of Chinese students (n = 35) and Korean students (n = 88). More than two
third of the subjects were Korean, 71.5% and the rest were Chinese, 28.5%. Of the
subjects, 67.5 percent were male (n = 83) and 32.5 percent were female (n = 40). Grade
rank data were almost evenly distributed to freshman (n = 30, 24.4%), sophomore (n =
38, 30.9%), junior (n = 29, 23.6%), and senior (n = 26, 21.1%). The descriptive data of
generation showed that 79.7 % of the participants were born in America: first generation
(n = 25, 20.3%), second generation (n = 94, 76.4%), and third or higher (n = 4, 3.3%).
The mean grade of English was 2.96 when a grade F was coded as 0, a grade D 1, a grade
C 2, a grade B 3, and a grade A 4. The mean grade of Chinese subjects was 3.29 and
that of Korean subjects was 2.83. The mean aptitude of all participants measured by
California Standardized Tests (CST) in English was 52.17 with the means aptitude of
Chinese and Korean participants being 57.37 and 50.10, respectively.
Instruments
The quantitative type of data were collected and analyzed. Each item in the data
of perceptions of parental expectations and utility value were scored by using a 7-point
Likert rating scale (1 = not at all true of me to 7 = very true of me).
51
Demographical Data
Demographical information was collected, including gender, generational status,
grade rank, and ethnicity. Students were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding
their demographics (Appendix F). Demographical information was self-reported and
was not confirmed through official school documents.
Achievement Data in English
In this study, students’ grades in English were utilized as achievement data.
Grades of participants were obtained with the cooperation of school administrators after
students and parents or guardians signed a consent form to participate in this study. Their
grades during the fall 2007 semester were used. The participants’ grades, C, D or F in
English were considered as indicators of their low achievement in English. The
participants’ grades, A and B were also included in achievement data.
Perceived Parental Expectations
The students’ perceptions of parental expectations were measured rather than
parents’ academic expectations. Researchers have supported the validity of student
perceptions of parental involvement in various ages (Sessa, Avenevoli, Steinberg, &
Morris, 2001). Students’ academic achievement has been found to be associated with
their perceptions of parental expectations more closely than their parents’ reported
expectations (Gecas & Mortimer, 1987; Paulson, 1994). Thus, this study examines the
participants’ perceptions of parental expectations regarding academic achievement in
English.
The scale of family orientation by Urdan (2004) was used. This scale was
originally invented to measure how much desire high school students have in order to
52
please their family members through academic achievement in English. Sample
questions are, “An important reason that I try to do well in school is to please my parents-
siblings” and “It is important to me that my parents-guardians are proud of my
achievement in school” (Urdan, 2004, p. 263). The total items in the survey are
comprised of four questions (Appendix F). Both female and male students participated
in Urdan’s study (2004). Students used a 5-point Likert rating scale to report their
perceptions of family orientation: 1 (not very true of me) to 5 (very true of me). The
desires of two groups of participants were measured: the first group of participants in two
academic years from the 9
th
and 11
th
and the second group from the 10
th
and 12
th
. The
coefficients of internal consistency using alpha for the family orientation scale was .72
for the first group and .73 for the second group. In this study, subjects’ perceptions of
parental expectations were measured in English achievement. Cronbach’s alphas for
perceived parental expectations were .691.
Utility Value
Utility value was measured by using the Motivated Strategies for Learning
Questionnaire (MSLQ), self-reported and Likert-scaled instrument designed and
developed by the National Center for Research to improve Postsecondary Teaching and
Learning (NCRIPTAL) (Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, & Mckeachie, 1991). Six task value
items were used to measure a participant’s perceptions in the usefulness of English to
meet his or her careers or goals (Appendix F). Sample items included “I think I will be
able to use what I learn in this course in other courses” and “I think the course material in
this class is useful for me to learn.” Internal reliability coefficient alpha was found to be
.90.
53
Utility value was scored with a 7-point Likert rating scale. If a statement in an
item was not at all true of the participant, he/she checked a score 1. If a participant
thought that the statement was very true, he or she chose a score 7. If the participant
found that statement was somewhat true, according to degree, he or she selected a score
between 2 and 6. Since the six task value items were originally developed to assess
student perceptions of the course resources in utility, attainment, and intrinsic interest,
this current study also divided task value into the three components. Items 5 and 8 were
used to measure utility value: “I think I will be able to use what I learn in this course in
other courses” and “I think course material in this class is useful for me to learn.” Items
6 and 10 were utilized to assess attainment value: “Understanding the subject matter of
this course is very important to me” and “It is important for me to learn the course
material in this class.” Items 7 and 9 were employed to compute intrinsic interest: “I am
very interested in the content area of this course” and “I like the subject matter of this
course.” The Cronbach’s alphas for utility, attainment, and intrinsic interest in English
achievement were .80, .77, and .84, respectively.
Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Data
California Standardized Tests (CSTs) in the California STAR program annually
test students’ aptitudes in English-language arts. It has been widely used to examine
students’ aptitudes in grades 2 through 11. Their aptitudes are measured in five
performance levels: Advanced (exceeding standards), Proficient (meeting standards),
Basic (approaching standards), Below Basic (below standards), and Far Below Basic
(well below standards). In this study, the 2007 raw data of CST in English were used to
54
indicate the relationship between the participants’ aptitudes and their achievement in
English.
Procedures
The investigator and faculty advisor of this study met the principal at the high
school to find potential participants’ population size at the research site. The researcher
got a permission letter from the principal to research students at the high school
(Appendix A). The researcher sent the Information Sheet for Non-Medical Research
(Parental Permission) (Appendix D) and a cover letter (Appendix C) with general
descriptions and the purpose of the study to parents, or guardians of potential participants
under 18 years old. According to the suggestion of the principal, for the parents or
guardians of Chinese American students, Japanese American students, and Korean
American students, the Parental Permission form and the cover letter were translated in
their languages. The potential Asian American participants and their parents were
contacted in the fall semester of 2007. The author sent the Parental Permission form and
the cover letter to Chinese American, Japanese American, and Korean American parents
in both English and their languages. The author sent the Parental Permission form and
the cover letter in English only to the parents of the other Asian American students.
When parents or guardians agreed that their children participate in this study, they signed
the Information Sheet for Non-Medical Research (Parental Permission). Students
brought it back to school and put it into a box which the author collected. Participants
and parents, or guardians were notified that all data would be confidential and the
participants’ work would be voluntarily. After gathering the parental consent form, the
researcher talked to potential participants about the general purpose of this study and
55
information in the consent form for non-medical research (Appendix E) in her
recruitment speech (Appendix B). One student over 18 years old was provided with
Student Consent to Participate in Research (Appendix, F). When students agreed to
participate in the study, they were surveyed. A Youth Consent form and Student
Consent form were translated into Korean. Those who wanted to participate in this study
signed either Youth Consent Form for Research (Appendix E) or Student Consent Form
(Appendix, F).
Participants were provided with a 14-item survey. Although survey was available
in Korean for students who might lack language proficiency, nobody wanted the
translated version. The survey included demographical questions and the items of utility
value and perceived parental expectations. A direction for the survey was given to
participants (Appendix B). The researcher explained each item and answered their
questions before and during the survey. They were given about 25 minutes to complete
the survey. The researcher collected the participants’ grades in English and the 2007 raw
data of STAR in English from school administrator.
Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics, Pearson product correlations, multiple regression analysis,
and analysis of variance were used in this quantitative study. By using the SPSS-PC
program, all quantitative data except aptitude were coded, scored and computerized. For
aptitude measure, CST raw scores in 2007 were used. The following analyses were
conducted:
(a) Descriptive statistics were calculated in means and standard deviations of
demographical variables (gender, current grade, generation status, and ethnicity),
56
perceived parental expectations, utility value, attainment value, interest, raw data
of aptitude (CST) in 2007 and 2007 fall quarter grades in English.
(b) Pearson Product correlations were examined to determine inter-correlations
between biographical variables, perceived parental expectations, utility value,
attainment value, interest, aptitude, and English grades.
(c) Multiple regression analysis was utilized to find whether or not perceived
parental expectations, utility value, and aptitude predict grades in English.
(d) Analysis of Variance was used to compare group differences in ethnicity, current
grade rank, and generation status.
(e) A paired t-test was run to compare the means of utility value, attainment value,
and intrinsic interest.
(f) Internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s alpha) was measured for scores on
survey items using scales in perceived parental expectations and those in task
values.
57
CHAPTER 4
Results
This chapter presents the results of descriptive statistics and intercorrelations
between demographic variables, student perceptions of parental expectations, utility
value, attainment value (importance), intrinsic interest, aptitude and English achievement.
The outcomes of a multiple regression analysis are used to answer the previously
presented research question:
Do student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, and aptitude
(STAR) data account for a significant part of the variance in determining
academic achievement in English?
Intercorrelations
The means, standard deviations, and correlations of demographic variables, student
perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, attainment value (importance),
intrinsic interest, aptitude and English achievement are presented in Table 1. According
to the results of demographical variables, sex was negatively related to generation status,
(r = -.18, p < .05), suggesting that most female participants had higher generation status,
including second, third, and higher while most male participants were in first and second
generation status. Grade rank was significantly correlated to utility value, (r = -.18, p <
.05), indicating that freshmen hold stronger utility value for English achievement than
seniors. Generation status showed a strong correlation with aptitude, (r = .31, p < .001).
In other words, the participants’ length of time living in the United States importantly
influenced their achievement in English.
58
Table 1
Means, Standard Deviations, Pearson Product Correlation for Measured Variables________________
Variables M SD 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10___
1. Sex -- .12 -.18* .14 -.16 .06 .03 -.13 -.05 -.04
2. G-Rank 2.41 1.08 -- -.12 .01 -.13 -.18* -.06 -.05 -.14 -.05
3. G-Status 1.83 .456 -- .00 .09 .07 -.02 .13 .31** .02
4. Ethnicity 1.76 .45 -- -.09 -.13 -.09 -.03 -.27** -.20*
5. Par-Exp 19.76 4.74 -- .26** .23** .17 -.09 -.02
6. U-Value 9.94 2.93 -- .77** .59** .09 -.05
7. A-Value 10.10 2.82 -- .65** .05 -.03
8. Interest 8.07 3.05 -- -.09 -.09
9. Aptitude 52.17 12.12 -- .31**
10. Eng-Grad 2.96 1.04 --___
Note. All scores are scaled. Sex (1=Male, 0=Female); G-Rank = Current Grade; G-Status
(1 = First, 2 = Second, 3 = Third or Greater); Ethnicity (1= Chinese, 2 = Korean); Par-Exp = Student Perceptions of Parental
Expectations; U-Value = Utility Value; A-Value = Attainment or Importance; Interest; Aptitude = Student Competency in
English Measured by California Standardized Test; Eng-Grad = English Grade (A = 4, B = 3, C = 2, D = 1, F = 0)
* p < .05; ** p < .01
59
Ethnicity was negatively related to aptitude, (r = -.27, p < .001), indicating that
Chinese students had higher aptitude to achieve in English than Korean students.
Ethnicity was also related to English grade, r = -.20, p < .05. One-way analysis of
variance was conducted to examine if there was a difference between English
achievement of Chinese students and that of Korean students. A significant difference
was found (F (1,121) = 5.020, p < .05), Eta Squared = .040. Result of ethnicity analysis
revealed that 4% of variance in English achievement between Chinese and Korean
populations was attributed to the effect of ethnicity. Specifically, Chinese students
achieved better in English than Korean students.
Student perceptions of parental expectations were significantly related to utility
value, (r = .26, p < .001), indicating that students who perceived that parents had high
academic expectations valued usefulness of English. However, student perceptions of
parental expectations and utility value were not significantly correlated with English
achievement of the Asian American high school students. Student perceptions of
parental expectations also had a significant relationship to attainment value (importance),
(r = .23, p < .001). This result suggests that when students perceived that their parents
had high academic expectations, the students stressed the importance of achieving
English. Utility value and attainment value were highly correlated, (r = .77, p < .001),
which means that the students considered English achievement both important and useful.
Utility value and interest also had significant relationship, (r = .59, p < .001). In other
words, the students who considered English achievement useful were also interested in
learning it and vice versa. Interest and attainment value presented high correlation,
60
(r = .65, p < .001). This analysis indicated that students who were interested in learning
English valued the importance of the subject and those who regarded English to be
important were also interested in English achievement. According to the data analysis of
a paired t-test, there was no significant mean difference between utility value and
attainment value, t (122) = -.12, p= .359. However, the mean difference between utility
value and interest was significant, t (122) = -7.602, p = .000. The mean difference
between attainment value and interest was also significant, t (122) = -9.117, p = .000.
These results indicated that the Asian American students valued English achievement for
its usefulness and importance rather than for their intrinsic interest in this subject.
However, neither of utility value, attainment value, or interest had a significant
relationship to English achievement, while aptitude was positively related to English
grade, (r = .31, p < .001). This result of the correlation suggested that as the students had
more aptitude in English, they gained better English grades.
Research Question
Do student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, and aptitude
(STAR) data account for a significant part of the variance in determining academic
achievement in English? A multiple regression analysis was conducted to investigate
the above research question. Student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value,
attainment value, interest, and aptitude were entered as independent variables and English
grade was as dependent variable. Table 2 is a summary of a multiple regression analysis.
61
Table 2
Multiple Regression Results Predicting English Achievement__________________
_________________________β______ Beta ________t ________ p ______
1. Constant 1.705 2.742 0.007
2. Student Perceptions 0.007 .031 .334 .739
of Parental Expectations
3. Utility Value -.037 -.104 -.737 .463
4. Attainment Value .019 .051 .347 .729
5. Intrinsic Interest -.014 -.041 -.349 .728
6. Aptitude .027 .316 .352 .001
7. R Square .105_______________________________________
Note. Dependent Variable: English Achievement
Results of the multiple regression analysis designated that aptitude measured by
CST raw score, ( β = .32, p < .001) was a significant predictor of English achievement of
Asian American high school students. This indicated that as students had higher aptitude
in English, they obtained higher English grades. At the same time, student perceptions
of parental expectations were not a significant predictor of English grades, ( β = .03, p =
.74), suggesting that even though the students might perceive high academic parental
expectations as indicated by its mean, (M = 4.94) on a 7-point Likert rating scale, this
did not affect the students’ English achievement significantly.
Similarly, none of value constructs emerged as significant predictors of English
achievement: utility value, ( β = -.10, p = .46); attainment value, ( β = .05, p = .73);
intrinsic interest, ( β = -.04, p = .73). In other words, even though the students believed
that English was a subject to be used in other courses and had useful materials for them to
learn as indicated in the mean of utility value, (M = 4.97) in a 7-point Likert rating scale,
their English utility value did not predict achievement. In addition, although the students
considered that it was important to learn material and to understand the subject matter of
English course as revealed in the mean of attainment value (M = 5.05), they did not
62
achieve in English. Intrinsic interest in content area and subject matter also did not
influence the students’ achievement in English. The entire model with the R square
indicated that the all independent variables including student perceptions of parental
expectations, aptitude, utility value, attainment value, and intrinsic interest predicted 11%
of English achievement among Asian American students. This current study found that
freshman students had stronger utility value of English achievement than senior students.
Summary
Descriptive data showed that Asian American high school students considered
English achievement both important and useful but not intrinsically interesting. The
mean of attainment value (M = 5.05) was slightly higher than that of utility value (M =
4.97). However, the mean of intrinsic interest (M = 4.033) was lower than the means of
attainment value and utility value, which indicated that the Asian American high school
students had lower intrinsic interest than importance and utility value of English
Achievement. As the students moved through high school, their utility value of English
declined. The length of living in America was strongly correlated with aptitude.
Correlation between ethnicity and aptitude emerged to be stronger for the Chinese
American students than Korean American students.
Student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, and attainment value of
English achievement had significant correlations indicating that perceived parental
expectations toward academic success increased the students’ thoughts on usefulness and
importance of English achievement. However, there was no correlation between student
perceptions of parental expectations and intrinsic interest.
63
In terms of correlations between the value constructs, a relationship between
utility value and attainment value was the strongest. Correlation between utility value
and interest was the weakest. However, the value constructs did not present significant
relationships with English achievement, while aptitude showed a significant and positive
relationship to English achievement.
According to the result of a multiple regression analysis, aptitude was a
significant predictor of English achievement of Asian American high school students.
Neither student perceptions of parental expectations nor any of the value constructs
predicted English achievement.
64
CHAPTER 5
Discussion
This study investigated the relationships among the student perceptions of
parental expectations, utility value, aptitude and the English achievement of Asian
American high school students. The goal of the study was to determine whether these
variables accounted for a significant part of the variance in determining English
achievement in this population. This section discussed the student perceptions of
parental expectations, utility value, aptitude, and English achievement in relation to
ethnicity, cultural beliefs, social mobility, parent and student acculturation, mediating
factors, and learning materials.
Relationship between Student Perceptions of Parental Expectations
and English Achievement
Previous research has indicated that high parental expectations toward children’s
academic attainment in Asian American population are rooted from Asian culture and
family value (Aldous, 2006; Asakawa, 2001; Benner & Mistery, 2007; Blair & Qian,
1998; Yan & Lin, 2005). The current study also found that the Asian American high
school students experienced high parental expectations for their achievement in English.
To this extent, the results of the current study are in line with the findings of previous
studies. The current finding confirms the cultural value on academic success and
parents’ high expectations toward a child’s academic achievement in Asian American
high school students.
According to the correlation data between ethnicity and the student perceptions of
parental expectations, these two variables were not found to be significantly related. This
65
finding is consistent with a previous study (Blair& Qian, 1998) comparing the student
perceptions of the parental expectations of Asian ethnic groups, including Chinese
American and Korean American high school students. According to Blair and Qian
(1998), both Chinese and Korean parents have high educational expectations toward their
children’s education and consider their success as a whole family members’ honor. In
contrast, according to Locke’s study (1998), Chinese American students hold onto Asian
cultural values of education more strongly than students in any other Asian American
ethnic group because Chinese American parents with strong authority in family expect
their children to be successful in education. In the current study, the Chinese American
participants perceived a little bit higher parental expectations for their English
achievement than did Korean American participants, but that relationship was not
significant. Since most participants were from second-generation, there might be other
social and cultural factors influencing these two groups’ similar levels of perceived
parental expectations.
On the other hand, a significant correlation between the students’ perceptions of
parental expectations and utility value of academic achievement in the current study
confirms the findings of previous studies (Chen & Stevenson, 1995; Lee, 1994; Lew,
2006). Asian American students’ perception of high parental expectations and academic
standards are critical factors influencing the students’ considering English achievement as
useful. This finding in the current study verifies that Asian cultural values of education
play a critical role in utility value of English achievement in this population.
Another influence on Asian American parental expectation can be explained
through social mobility. According to the findings of Lew’s recent qualitative study
66
(2006), Korean parents and children value schooling and academic endeavor as future
investment to get professional jobs. Immigrated first generation Korean parents desire
that their children get into major universities, not to follow in their own low wage jobs,
and not to experience hardship to survive. Parents’ experience in this society might be
one factor affecting children’s perceptions of parental expectations and valuing education
for social mobility. Although this study did not examine factors affecting a significant
correlation between parental expectations and utility value, Sue and Okazaki (1990)
argue that the contexts of society influences Asian Americans’ value of education.
However, since Chinese Americans hold their own cultural beliefs on the importance of
education strongly (Kitano & Daniels, 2001; Locke, 1998), a critical factor on
achievement may be familial and cultural value rather then social mobility. The
influences of education as a means for social mobility and cultural value on achievement
may vary according to ethnicity in this population.
This study also discovered a significant correlation between student perceptions
of parental expectations and attainment value. Cultural experiences of the participants
should be considered to interpret the finding. In traditional Chinese culture, children
have strong obligations to obey parents’ expectations and respect the elders (Locke,
1998). In their culture influenced by Confucianism in some extent, the family is the
center of community and the relationships between members of family are hierarchical.
Chinese American children accept their parents’ value and beliefs with fewer conflicts
than those of other Asian American ethnic groups. If the parents of the participants
valued traditional Chinese culture, the Chinese participants might be exposed to the ideas
of the importance of education and effort. Korean Americans have also been found to
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keep their cultural beliefs of the importance of education. However, differently from
Chinese Americans, Korean Americans accept American values and culture in greater
extent than Chinese Americans. For example, the majority of Korean American
immigrants are Christians and second-generation Koreans have more accepting attitudes
toward American culture (Kitano & Daniels, 2001; Locke, 1998). Therefore, it needs to
be considered that Korean parents’ educational expectations result from their contextual
experience of American society as well as their own cultural value of the importance of
formal education. Asian American students, especially Korean American students may
perceive that their parents put importance in both Korean and American cultures and
experiences. This may in turn influence their accepting attitudes toward American
culture and value. In the end, this study confirms that the Korean American and Chinese
American students experience high parental educational expectations and this affects
their attainment value of education.
In addition, it is important to understand students’ own definition of success.
some Korean American children who experience American standards of family and
culture find disparity between their parents’ cultural expectations and reality in American
society and go through a conflict between Korean culture and Western culture (Kitano &
Daniels, 2001). In this study, the participants have been acculturated enough to consider
other factors influential to their meaning of success in this country. This observation
implies that in this study, even though Korean American students perceived high parental
expectations toward English achievement, as they have been acculturated in American
culture, they may consider other fields more useful for their success. For example, some
students may regard art, music, and sports as useful to accomplish success rather than
68
education as the only means for social achievement. It will be important to understand
what Asian American high school students define as success.
Finally, the teachers of the participants commented that the parents of the students
worked late and they did not communicate with their children frequently. This implies
that it might be a difference between actual parental expectations and student perceptions
of parental expectations. Especially, the second- and third- generations of the
participants might not have had enough opportunities to experience Asian cultural value
when their parents were busy with work, but have been exposed to American cultural
beliefs and value more frequently through peer interactions and schooling. In this sense,
it will be useful to examine the effect of peer influence and schooling on achievement.
Mediating Factors and Students Perceptions of Parental Expectations
The result of the relationship between the student perceptions of parental
academic expectations and English achievement in this study indicated that it would be
necessary to examine mediating factors between the independent variable and the
dependent variable. This current study found that the student perceptions of parental
expectations were not a significant predictor of English achievement of Asian American
high school students. This finding was the same as that of the study of Berner and
Mistery (2007). On their study, since expectations for success and attainment value were
not significant mediating factors between parental expectations and secondary students’
achievement in reading and math, the relationship between parental expectations and the
achievement of their children was found not to attain statistical significance. However,
parental expectations were a significant predictor in reading and math achievement with
the other mediating factors, youth expectations and self-concept of ability. Although this
69
study was conducted with mostly African American, Latino, and White high school
students, the finding implies that it will be useful to examine mediating factors between
student perceptions of parental expectations and achievement.
In addition, the findings of the current study between perceived parental
expectations and achievement are consistent with that of Urdan’s study (2007) examining
a relationship between family orientation and achievement. The difference between his
and this current study was the use of mediating factors between the independent and
dependent variables. Family orientation used in the study of Urdan (2007) was not a
significant predictor in English achievement when performance avoidance goals
mediated family orientation and achievement. While not exactly, but a close to significant
relationship ( β = -.07, p = .05) was found between family orientation and achievement in
English when performance approach goal was a mediating factor between family
orientation and English achievement. Therefore, a mediating effect is a critical factor
that needs to be examined for accurate information and understanding of relationship
between the student perceptions of parental expectations and English achievement in this
population.
The Measures for Student Perceptions of Parental Expectations
In contrast to the results of the current study on the relationship between perceived
parental expectations and achievement, some previous studies reported that parental
expectations were a strong predictor in academic achievement (Aldous, 2006; Asakawa,
2001; Berner & Mistery, 2007; Blair & Qian, 1998; Yan & Lin, 2005). It is necessary to
point out that the measures of the previous studies focused on finding parental
expectations toward a child’s academic attainment such as how far in school a child
70
thinks his or her parents want him or her to go. However, the current study items of
perceived parental expectations were those of family orientation which measured
students’ feeling of family orientation to please parents and support their family through
academic achievement (Urdan, 2004). To assess student perceptions of parental
expectations, the previous studies and the current study used different items focusing on
dissimilar aspects of parental expectations affecting academic achievement. The
different assessment foci on student perceptions of parental expectations should be
considered when interpreting the results of the current study. So far, many quantitative
studies have found a significant relationship between parental expectations and academic
achievement by measuring parents’ expectations on children’s academic attainment with
questions about whether their parents expected them to complete high school, technical
school, college or university, or graduate or profession school (Aldous, 2006; Asakawa,
2001; Berner & Mistery, 2007; Yan & Lin, 2005).
Differently from traditional measures of parental expectations, the items in this
study assessed student perceptions of parental expectations on students’ pleasing parents-
siblings, taking care of family in the future, honoring to my family, and valuing parents’
pride regarding children’s achievement in school. The results of the current study reveal
that student perceptions of parental expectations were not a predictor in English
achievement. In the case of Asian American high school students, especially, Korean
American students, as they live in the United States longer and go through acculturation,
parental expectations that they experience may not be influential enough to affect their
English achievement. More strategic, practical and physical support or parental
involvement in their education may affect their achievement in English. The current
71
study provides additional data examining different aspects of parental expectations
affecting achievement to literature.
Relationship between Utility Value and English Achievement
Although Asian American high school students hold high utility value in English,
this study found that it was not a significant predictor of achievement in English. Utility
value of academic achievement has been studied in relation to cultural value (Chen &
Stevenson, 1995; Lepper, Corpus, & Lyengar, 2005), and contexts of society (Sue &
Okazaki, 1990). Previous researchers found that utility value was a significant predictor
of Asian American student’s academic achievement. Asian cultural value on achieving
success through education and effort has been known as an important factor of why Asian
American students put an emphasis on utility value of academic domains. Another
interpretation on utility value of education has been explained through relative
functionalism. Sue and Okazaki (1990) argue that social context should be considered
more critically than cultural values because strong empirical evidence on the effect of
Asian culture on academic attainment of Asian American population lacks the support
that cultural values promote academic achievement in this population.
Differently from traditional studies examining utility value in relation to social
mobility and cultural value, this study looked into relationships between utility value of
course materials in English class and English achievement. The utility value items in this
study include “I think course material in this class is useful for me to learn.” and “I think
I will be able to use what I learn in this course in other courses.” This study found that
utility value of course materials did not predict their English achievement. This indicates
that the participants did not consider any relationship between usefulness of the course
72
materials in English classes and English achievement. Although it is important that they
were given useful learning materials and teacher guidance to achieve in English, they
might believe that course materials and instruction were not useful or effective to
enhance their learning and did not facilitate transferring knowledge from English class to
study in other courses. Although it is important for them to use culturally relevant
materials (Bennett, 2001) and carefully selected course materials to ensure learning, the
participants might not think that they were learning with useful materials enough to affect
their English achievement. As indicated from a significantly negative relationship
between utility value and grade ranks, students’ utility value in learning the course
materials in English class decreased as they went to higher grades. When Asian
American students are continuously exposed to culturally irrelevant, uninteresting, or less
effective learning materials and less effective instruction, they lose their utility value in a
particular subject and their value does not significantly affect their achievement.
In addition, because the first question, “I think course material in this class is
useful for me to learn,” focuses on task value of English, it can be interpreted in a variety
of ways in terms of its usefulness for learning English. For example, the usefulness of
achieving in English can be found in different purposes depending on the participants’
goals: to graduate high school, to go to college, to use it in profession, to communicate
with people effectively, please family, and so on. As found in the study of Chen and
Stevenson (1995), utility value of math to go to college was a predictor in achievement of
Asian American and East Asian high school students. Focus on measuring specific
purpose of utility value such as going to college may provide specific relations between
utility value and English achievement.
73
Finally, this study found that the younger students held stronger utility value of
English than their older peers. This finding is consistent with the findings of previous
studies (Jacobs, Lanza, Osgood, Eccles, & Wigfiled, 2002). According to the result of
the study of Jacobs, et al. (2002), White American students’ utility value in grades 1
through 12 in English, math, and sports declined. However, girls’ value in English
slightly increased during high school years, while that of boys continued to decrease.
These patterns of change were found to be the same as those of competence beliefs.
Previous research also found that task value and perceptions of competence are related
(Schiefele, 1991). As student get older, they become more realistic about their ability to
perform in a particular task and their competence beliefs decrease during high school
years. This relationship has not been examined in Asian American high school students.
However, it has been found that as Asian American high school students become
acculturated to American culture, their beliefs in their own ability increase, but those in
their own effort decrease (Randel, 2001). Therefore, it may be possible that Asian
American high school students’ ability beliefs and task value decline as do those of White
American students when they become acculturated to American culture and realistic
about their ability to achieve a task.
It has not been studied in this population why the lower grade high school
students hold higher utility value of English than upper graders. Higher grade students
might have more pressure to achieve highly in English to prepare for college application.
However, their usefulness of learning in English decreased as they became higher grades
according to the data of this study. Their psychological and social pressure may need to
be examined in relation to their task values including utility value, interest, and
74
importance of education. The negative correlation between age and utility value might
be related to their self-wroth protection, beliefs in ability, and acculturation.
Aptitude and English Achievement
Consistent with previous research findings that aptitude predicts English
achievement (Goldman &, Mitchell, 2008; Koenig, Frey, & Detterman, 2008), this study
also found that the attitude of participants appeared to be significantly related to measures
of English achievement. Aptitude was a significant predictor to Asian American
students’ achievement in English. In addition, the students who have lived in the United
States longer than others have higher English aptitude. As expected, this finding
indicates that when students are exposed to American culture and English language
longer than their counterparts, they have higher English competency to understand
English language and positive attitude to utilize it.
However, there is a significant negative relationship between ethnicity and
aptitude. Chinese American students in this study have higher aptitudes than Korean
American students in English achievement. The Chinese American students also
achieved higher than Korean American students. This finding confirms that when
students have high aptitude in a subject matter, they are likely to achieve better than their
counterparts.
Implications for Further Research
The findings of this study provide a number of important implication that
teachers, parents, administrators, and other educators should consider to better educate
Asian American student population and especially low-achieving students. MSLQ items
in this study measured the students’ perceptions of usefulness of English course materials
75
to learn in the course and to utilize in other courses. Therefore, the students’ utility
value of English could include usefulness of knowledge gained in English courses for a
variety of utility purposes. For future research, including qualitative data might be
beneficial in uncovering the students’ views regarding the specific usefulness of learning
English to meet students’ goals, how their different goals influence their usefulness of
English achievement and how parental expectations influence students’ goals which may
affect utility value. Including a number of utility items to meet different goals in a
quantitative study will provide information on what aspects of motivation affect student
achievement. Finding out meaning of success in this population may provide information
on the relationship between their setting goals and achievement.
In addition to cultural and familial values surrounding education, another
influential factor is the social context and influence of this society. The importance of
cultural values in this population may be more applicable to first-generation of Asian
Americans and this should not be so readily generalized to second- and third-generations,
especially for Korean Americans. Education as the means of social mobility may be
important for all generations, but this is not confirmed. In a future study, it will be
useful to examine social mobility in relation to usefulness and importance of education
and achievement in a comparative study with different generations. It is important to
understand and investigate social, cultural, and familial contexts influencing students’
motivation to accomplish social mobility in that this may influence their achievement.
Immigrated Chinese Americans maintain the traditions of Chinese culture (Locke,
1998). Although second and third Chinese American generations are acculturated in this
society, Chinese Americans tend to put value of their own culture more strongly than any
76
other Asian American group because of parents’ influence. Although Korean parents
also hold strong beliefs in educational success of children and high academic
expectations as well as value their cultural beliefs (Blair & Qian, 1998), they are more
flexible to accept American values and beliefs. Here, the roles of parents in acculturation
of Asian American students should be studied because there may be a relationship
between parental attitudes in American culture and children’s motivational changes in
this population. The levels of acculturation of parents may affect students’ value task,
goal setting, and efficacy beliefs. It will be useful to examine the levels of parents’
acculturation, how their ideas have changed in familial, cultural, social, and educational
values, what kinds of acculturation they have and its influence on student motivation and
their achievement.
Finding medicating factors between student perceptions of parental expectations
and achievement in Asian American high school students will add information on what
and how variables and mediating factors interact and influence achievement.
Student’s acculturation may be one mediating factor between parental expectations and
achievement. Student acculturation may be one between parents’ acculturation and
achievement. One group or a comparative study between Asian American ethnic groups
will be a better design to examine the context of acculturation, different motivational
variables affecting their achievement and what variables are related to their academic
achievement among different ethnic groups.
Another important indicator of the English achievement of utility value might be
ethnicity. Since each Asian American ethnic group shows different levels of
acculturations and of maintenance of their own cultural beliefs on education (Locke,
77
2000), if there are differences in utility value, examining different utility value across
Asian American ethnic groups will provide more accurate motivational data in relation to
achievement. Finally, conducting a qualitative study may provide information on factors
influencing utility value of English in relation to grade ranks and why as students go to
higher grades, their utility value decreases.
Implications for Educational Practice
As indicated from findings, course materials that the students were exposed to
may not have been practical and functional to influence their English achievement. As an
aspect of teaching, when knowledge in English class is presented, students should learn it
in meaningful ways and how to transfer it for other learning (Ormrod, 2006). It is
important that minorities are exposed to a variety of materials and instruction approaches
according to their different cultural experiences and funds of knowledge (Bennett, 2001).
In this sense, it will be urgent to look into course materials, instructional methods and
teachers’ use of diverse topics. Topics and instructional methods may affect students’
utility value of course materials and motivation to learn in English class in this
population. Since second- and third-generations might have been acculturated, they
might feel comfortable in using American culture based materials and topics. But in
some sense, since they have also lived with Korean or Chinese parents, they also have
Korean or Chinese cultural experience and funds of knowledge. Therefore, future studies
might profitably investigate the influence of diverse topics and instructional modes on
student motivation and achievement in Asian American population using acculturation as
a mediating factor.
78
Limitations
This study has a number of limitations that need to be considered. The first
limitation is that the family orientation scale might not accurately measure student
perceptions of parental expectations, but more comprehensive cultural and familial value
of Asian American high school students. For example, the measure includes items such
as taking care of family. These items might not be directly related to parental
expectations in English achievement. The items such as pleasing parents and parents’
being proud of student achievement are more related questions to measure perceived
parental expectations in English achievement. For utility value measure, more
comprehensive ranges of items should have been included such as educational attainment
value item to assess the relationship between English achievement and goals.
Although this study aimed to examine motivational factors influencing low
achievement, enough number of low-achieving students from the research site could not
be recruited in order to avoid the redundancy of using the same samples for different
studies conducted in the school. A further study can recruit only low-achieving Asian
American high school students from multiple schools. This can provide more accurate
information on low-achieving Asian American high school students in relation to parental
expectations and utility value. Although this study found useful information on Asia
American students’ English achievement in relation to perceived parental expectations
and utility value, it did not fully explain what relationship parental involvement and task
values have on low achievement, and why particular students fall into a low-achieving
group.
79
In the biographical data, for more accurate analysis, the number of the first
generation should be increased. In addition, since this study included only Chinese and
Korean students, findings should not be generalized to interpret other Asian ethnic
groups’ motivational effects on English achievement
Conclusion
An integration of the results of the current study in the context of other research
conducted about Asian American student achievement indicates that although Asian
American high school students perceive high parental expectation toward their academic
achievement and have utility value of education, their perceptions and usefulness of
education do not predict their academic achievement if their cultural beliefs on family
orientation become less important and if they are not sure about the usefulness of
materials in course for task achievement. In this study, the majority of the participants
were second generation. Although they perceived their parental expectations and put an
emphasis on their traditional cultural value of using education to bring honor to family,
take care of family, and please parents, as they experience American culture and social
context, they seem to be exposed to other influential motivational factors.
This study also indicates that it is necessary for teachers to use a variety of
learning materials, culturally relevant materials, and instructional modes to present
knowledge meaningful so that Asian American students can utilize prior knowledge to
learn new information. Using cultural experience and prior knowledge is very likely to
related to their task value, efficacy, and achievement in this subject matter. When
students are continuously exposed to less effective and unfamiliar materials to their
background knowledge, this may decrease their utility value in a subject matter.
80
Carefully prepared and selected materials can ensure students’ achievement. As they
learn from the materials, their utility value of a course will increase and this will exert
positive effects on English achievement.
81
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River, New Jersey: Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.
Paulson, S. E. (1994). Relations of parenting style and parental involvement with ninth-
grade students’ achievement. Journal of Early Adolescence, 14, 250-267.
Pintrich, P. R., & Schunk, D. H. (2002). Motivation in education: Theory, research, and
applications. Upper saddle River, New Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.
Randel, B. F. (2001). Achievement values: A comparison of Asian American and
European American adolescents. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. University
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Rumberger, R. W., & Larson, K. A. (1998). Student mobility and the increased risk of
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Schiefele, U. (1991). Interest, learning, and motivation. Educational Psychologist, 26,
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Wong, F., & Halgin, R. (2006). The “model minority”: Bane or blessing for Asian
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86
APPENDIX A
Research Site Permission Letter
87
APPENDIX B
Recruitment Speech
Good morning. My name is Youn Joo Oh and I am a student researcher at USC. I
am also a doctoral student at USC. Although West High is a good school, one
thing we are studying at USC is how to improve what happens here in your
classroom and what services you can take advantage of as a student. So I am
collecting some information about you as students and what your motivation
for doing well in school is.
You were previously given information and consent forms informing your
parents of this project a couple of weeks ago.
If your parents agree to allow you to participate by signing the document; if
you have the document and you want to participate, you will be asked to sign
your own consent form today. If you do not want to participate, or your parents
have not signed the consent form, you can do school related work such as
homework.
Your participation is voluntary.
Neither your teacher or anyone else at the school will see your survey This is
not a grades assignment, nor will your grades be affected whether or not you
participate. Even when I write a paper about what I discover, the data I collect
here will be presented as group findings, not with your name or any other
identifying information attached to it. You can be assured you will remain
completely confidential throughout this entire process. Do you have any
questions? If you have, please, do not hesitate to ask me. I have a Korean
American and a Chinese American interpreter. If you want, we will translate
information.
Once you have signed a consent form which I am passing right now, you will be
asked to participate in a survey. This confidential survey takes about 20
minutes to complete, and I will walk you through every question. Please read
the consent form which is very similar to the parental consent form that you
brought to home. If you do not understand, please, raise your hand. I have a
translated consent form in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. If you want it, raise
your hand, please. If you wish to participate in this study, once you have read
the consent form and fully understand it, please sign the form.
Now that you have given your consent to take the survey, let’s take a look at it
together. Read along silently as I read to you the opening bit of information:
“Dear Student:
88
When responding to the following survey items please think about your own motivation
in this class. When you are finished, please turn in your survey and signed consent
form in the box provided at the back of the room.”
Now look at that next line – “Provide your Student ID# (including all zeros):
Student ID #: __ __ __ __ __ __ __” So fill in your student ID number on those dashes.
Okay, now look at that first bubble that says, “O Please indicate if you are under 18
years of age by filling in the bubble to the left.” “If you are over 18, do not fill in the bubble.”
So if you are under 18 fill that in, please.
Okay this next section is a little unusual. Let me read it aloud as you read it
silently. “Below is a list of questions about you as a student in this class.
Please use a #2 pencil or black ink to fill in the answer bubbles. Fill in one
bubble for each line. Fill in the circle that best describes your opinion using
the following rating scale: 1 = Not at all true of me, 4 = somewhat true of me
and 7 =Very true of me.” That 1-7 ranking means you can use ANY number, not
just 1, 4 and 7 even though they are the only ones with words above them.
These numbers are like volume numbers on a stereo – 1 is very low and 7 is very
high volume. 1 is not true of you at all and 7 is very true of you. But you can
set the volume anywhere in between depending on how you feel on each
question.
Here’s a final reminder on how to bubble: “For each answer, please fill in
marks like this:
not like this:
Use a #2 pencil or dark ink.”
If you need a pencil, raise your hand and I’ll give you one.
Okay now let’s start on the survey itself – remember, since data collected are
confidential, I want you to try to be as honest as possible about each response
you give. Later when I finish writing up my work, I can send your classroom a
summary of what I discovered here today, if you ask me for one. You do not
have to answer any question that you don’t want to.
Okay, item #1… and item 14 completes the survey.
Now simply turn in both the consent form and the completed survey to the box
at the back of the room. Thank you very much for your time and your honesty.
I thank you for taking the time to complete the survey.
89
APPENDIX C
Cover Letter to Parent or Guardian
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall, Room 600, Suite C
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4036
Dear Parent or Guardian;
Your child is being asked to participate in a research study conducted by researchers at
USC working with the Torrance Unified School District and Torrance West High School.
The purpose of this study is to understand the student motivation and achievement. If you
agree to allow your child to participate, and he or she agrees; your child will be asked to
complete a 20 minute survey. A copy of his or her grades will also be requested.
Please read the attached Consent Form and if you allow your child to participate, please
sign and return the document to school with your child.
Your child’s participation is voluntary. The answers your child gives will be
confidential and teachers will not have access to the information your child provides
on this survey, and your child’s answers will not influence any grades he or she
receives in any course.
If you have any questions about this study, please contact Youn Joo Oh at
younoh@usc.edu or phone (617) 417-3225 or the faculty advisor, Dr. Myron H. Dembo
at WPH 600C, Los Angeles, CA 90089-4036; email at dembo@usc.edu; or phone at
(213) 740-2364.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Youn Joo Oh
90
APPENDIX D
Parental Consent to Participate in Research
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall, Room 600, Suite C
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4036
INFORMED CONSENT FORM FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH
PARENTAL PERMISSION
************************************************************************
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
Study on perceived parental expectations, motivation, aptitude, and
English achievement of Asian American high school students
Your child is asked to participate in a research study conducted by Dr. Myron Dembo,
Ph.D. and Youn Joo Oh from the Rossier School of Education at the University of
Southern California (USC) because he or she is a student at West High School. The
purpose of this study is to understand student motivation and achievement. The results
will contribute to Youn Joo Oh’s doctoral dissertation. A total of about 125 students will
be selected to participate. Your child’s participation is voluntary. You should read the
information below, and ask questions about anything you do not understand by
contacting the investigator whose name listed below, before deciding whether or not to
allow your child to participate. Your child has the final decision whether or not to
participate, even if you agree to your child’s participation, he or she doesn’t have to
participate if he or she doesn’t want to.
PROCEDURES
If your child volunteers to participate in this study, we would ask your child to do the
following things:
Your child will be asked to complete a survey in class, which asks questions about how
your child approaches learning. The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to
complete in class. For example, your child will be asked to rate their opinion on survey
items using the following scale: “Not true of me at all”, “Somewhat true of me”, and
“Very true of me”. Sample questions include, “I think the course material in this class is
useful for me to learn” and “I want to do well in school so that I can be better prepared to
take care of my family.”
91
This study will also be looking at grades, demographic data (gender), and test scores,
which require your permission to access. For the purpose of this study the information
collected and your child’s student ID number, grades, and test scores will only be viewed
by the people conducting the study.
If you wish to review all of the questionnaires, please contact Youn Joo Oh at
younoh@usc.edu or phone (617) 417-3225.
The answers your child gives will be confidential. Parents, teachers or other school
officials will not have access to the information your child provides on this survey and
your child’s answers will not influence the grade he or she receives in any course.
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
This study does not pose any known risks beyond minor discomfort. Your child may be
uncomfortable due to spending time away from their studies. You child may feel some
discomfort at having their grades and test scores being reviewed, or being concerned with
the confidentiality of their answers on the survey. Your child does not have to answer any
questions he or she doesn’t want to. If your child feels discomfort he or she may stop and
drop out from the study at any time. Confidentiality will be protected at all times during
data collection, data analysis, and presenting the written research report.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
There will be no direct benefit to you or your child for participating in this study.
However, the information from this study may be used to help improve instruction and
services for students.
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
Your child will not be paid for participating in this study.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified
with your child will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission
or as required by law.
Only members of the research team will have access to the data associated with this
study. The data will be stored in the investigator’s office in a locked file cabinet or a
password protected computer. The data will be stored for three years after the study has
been completed and then destroyed. When the results of the research are published or
discussed in conferences, no information will be included that would reveal your child’s
identity.
PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
Your child can choose whether to be in this study or not. If your child volunteers to be in
this study, your child may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. Your
child may also refuse to answer any questions he or she doesn’t want to answer and still
92
remain in the study. The investigator may withdraw your child from this research if
certain circumstances arise.
ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your child’s alternative is to not participate. If your child does not want to participate, he
or she will be asked to work on a school related assignment.
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
You or your child may withdraw consent at any time and discontinue participation in the
study without penalty. You or your child is not waiving any legal claims, rights or
remedies because of his or her participation in this research study. If you have questions
regarding your child’s rights as a research participant, contact the University Park IRB,
Office of the Vice Provost for Research Advancement, Stonier Hall, Room 224a, Los
Angeles, CA 90089-1695, (213) 821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu.
IDENTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact the
Principal Investigator, Youn Joo Oh by email; younoh@usc.edu or phone (617) 417-
3225. . You may also contact the Faculty Advisor Dr. Myron H. Dembo via mail at
WPH 600C, Los Angeles, CA 90089-4036; email at dembo@usc.edu; or phone at (213)
740-2364
SIGNATURE OF PARENT OR GUARDIAN
I have read (or someone has read to me) the information provided above. I have been
given an opportunity to ask questions. I agree to have my child to participate in this
study. I have been given a copy of this form.
□ I agree to have my child’s grade and test scores accessed for this study.
□ I do not agree to have my child’s grade and test scores accessed for this study.
Name of Student
Name of Parent
Signature of Parent Date
93
SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR
I have explained the research to the participant and his/her parent, and answered all of
their questions. I believe that the parent understand the information described in this
document and freely consents to participate.
Name of Investigator
Signature of Investigator Date (must be the same as
participant’s/parent’s)
94
APPENDIX E
Youth Consent to Participate in Research
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall, Room 600, Suite C
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4036
INFORMED CONSENT FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH
FOR YOUTH (AGES 12-17)
************************************************************************
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
Study on perceived parental expectations, motivation, aptitude, and
English achievement of Asian American high school students
You are asked to participate in a research study conducted by Dr. Myron H. Dembo, PhD
(Principal Investigator) and Youn Joo Oh, a doctoral candidate from the Rossier School
of Education at the University of Southern California because. The results of this study
will be contributed to a dissertation. You were selected as a possible participant in this
study because you are enrolled in an English course. A total of about 125 students will be
selected to participate. Your participation is voluntary. You should read the information
below, and ask questions about anything you do not understand, before deciding whether
or not to participate. Your parent’s permission has also been sought; however, you do
not have to participate – even if your parents say you can.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study is to better understand the relationship between student
motivation and achievement.
PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in this study, we would ask you to do the following things:
You will be asked to complete a survey in class, which asks questions about how you
approach learning. The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete in class.
For example, you will be asked to rate your opinion on survey items using the following
scale: “Not true of me at all”, “Somewhat true of me”, and “Very true of me”. Sample
questions include, “I think the course material in class is useful for me to learn and “I
want to do well in school so that I can be better prepared to take care of my family.”
95
This study will also be looking at your grades and your test scores, which require your
parents permission to access. This type of analysis is normal and is used to improve
instruction at the school. For the purpose of this study the information collected and your
student ID number will only be viewed by the people conducting the study.
The answers you give will be confidential. Your parents, teachers or anyone at the
school will not have access to the information you provide on this survey, and your
answers will not influence the grade you receive in any course.
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
This study does not pose any known risks beyond minor discomfort. You may be
uncomfortable due to spending time away from your studies. You may be a little
uncomfortable having your grades and test scores reviewed, or being concerned with the
confidentiality of your answers on the survey. If you feel discomfort you may stop and
drop out from the study at any time. You do not need to answer any questions you don’t
want to. Your confidentiality will be protected at all times during data collection, data
analysis, and presenting the written research report.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
There will be no direct benefit to you for participating in this study. However, the
information from this study may be used to help improve instruction and services for
students.
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will not be paid for participating in this study.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified
with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as
required by law.
Only members of the research team will have access to the data associated with this
study. The data will be stored in the investigator’s office in a locked file cabinet or a
password protected computer. The data will be stored for three years after the study has
been completed and then destroyed. When the results of the research are published or
discussed in conferences, no information will be included that would reveal your identity.
PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
You can choose whether to be in this study or not. If you volunteer to be in this study,
you may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may also refuse to
answer any questions you don’t want to answer and still remain in the study. The
investigator may withdraw your information from this research if certain circumstances
arise.
96
ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate. If you, or your parents, do not want you to
participate, you will be asked to complete another assignment in class.
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
You may withdraw your consent at any time and discontinue participation without
penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your
participation in this research study. If you have questions regarding your rights as a
research participant, contact the University Park IRB, Office of the Vice Provost for
Research Advancement, Stonier Hall, Room 224a, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1146, (213)
821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu.
IDENTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact the
Principal Investigator, Youn Joo Oh by emailing at younoh@usc.edu or calling at (617)
417-3225 or the Faculty Advisor, Dr. Myron H. Dembo via mail at WPH 600C, Los
Angeles, CA 90089-4036; email at dembo@usc.edu; or phone at (213) 740-2364. You
may also contact the Co-Principal.
SIGNATURE OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANT
I have read (or someone has read to me) the information provided above. I have been
given a chance to ask questions. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction,
and I agree to participate in this study. I have been given a copy of this form.
Name of Participant
Signature of Participant Date
SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR
I have explained the research to the participant and answered all of his/her questions. I
believe that he/she understands the information described in this document and freely
consents to participate.
Name of Investigator
Signature of Investigator Date (must be the same as
participant’s)
97
APPENDIX F
Consent to Participate in Research
University of Southern California
Rossier School of Education
Waite Phillips Hall, Room 600, Suite C
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA 90089-4036
INFORMED CONSENT FORM FOR NON-MEDICAL RESEARCH
************************************************************************
CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE IN RESEARCH
Study on perceived parental expectations, motivation, aptitude, and
English achievement of Asian American high school students
Student Consent
You are asked to participate in a research study conducted by Dr. Myron Dembo, Ph.D.
and Youn Joo Oh from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern
California (USC) because you are a student at West High School and enrolled in an
English course. The purpose of this study is to understand student motivation and
achievement. The results will contribute to Youn Joo Oh’s doctoral dissertation. A total
of about 125 students will be selected. Your participation is voluntary. You should read
the information below, and ask questions about anything you do not understand by
contacting the investigator whose name listed below, before deciding whether or not you
participate.
PROCEDURES
If you volunteer to participate in this study, we would ask you to do the following things:
You will be asked to complete a survey in class, which asks questions about how you
approach learning. The survey will take approximately 20 minutes to complete in class.
For example, you will be asked to rate your opinion on survey items using the following
scale: “Not true of me at all”, “Somewhat true of me”, and “Very true of me”. Sample
questions include, “I think the course material in this class is useful for me to learn” and
“I want to do well in school so that I can be better prepared to take care of my family.”
This study will also be looking at grades, demographic data (gender), and test scores,
which require your permission to access. For the purpose of this study the information
collected and your student ID number, grades, and test scores will only be viewed by the
people conducting the study.
98
If you wish to review all of the questionnaires, please contact Youn Joo Oh at
younoh@usc.edu or phone (617) 417-3225.
The answers you give will be confidential. Teachers or other school officials will not
have access to the information you provide on this survey and your answers will not
influence the grade you receive in any course.
POTENTIAL RISKS AND DISCOMFORTS
This study does not pose any known risks beyond minor discomfort. You may be
uncomfortable due to spending time away from your studies. You may feel some
discomfort at having your grades and test scores being reviewed, or being concerned with
the confidentiality of your answers on the survey. You do not have to answer any
questions you don’t want to. If you feel discomfort you may stop and drop out from the
study at any time. Your identity will be protected at all times during data collection, data
analysis, and presenting the written research report.
POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO PARTICIPANTS AND/OR TO SOCIETY
There will be no direct benefit to you for participating in this study. However, the
information from this study may be used to help improve instruction and services for
students.
PAYMENT/COMPENSATION FOR PARTICIPATION
You will not be paid for participating in this study.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Any information that is obtained in connection with this study and that can be identified
with you will remain confidential and will be disclosed only with your permission or as
required by law.
Only members of the research team will have access to the data associated with this
study. The data will be stored in the investigator’s office in a locked file cabinet or a
password protected computer. The data will be stored for three years after the study has
been completed and then destroyed. When the results of the research are published or
discussed in conferences, no information will be included that would reveal your
identity.
PARTICIPATION AND WITHDRAWAL
You can choose whether to be in this study or not. If you volunteer to be in this study,
you may withdraw at any time without consequences of any kind. You may also refuse to
answer any questions you don’t want to answer and still remain in the study. The
investigator may withdraw you from this research if certain circumstances arise.
ALTERNATIVES TO PARTICIPATION
Your alternative is to not participate. If you do not want to participate, you will be asked
to complete your homework assignment.
99
RIGHTS OF RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS
You may withdraw consent at any time and discontinue participation in the study without
penalty. You are not waiving any legal claims, rights or remedies because of your
participation in this research study. If you have questions regarding your rights as a
research participant, contact the University Park IRB, Office of the Vice Provost for
Research Advancement, Stonier Hall, Room 224a, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1695, (213)
821-5272 or upirb@usc.edu.
IDENTIFICATION OF INVESTIGATORS
If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact the
Principal Investigator, Youn Joo Oh by email; younoh@usc.edu or phone (617) 417-
3225. You may also contact the Faculty Advisor Dr. Myron H. Dembo via mail at WPH
600C, Los Angeles, CA 90089-4036; email at dembo@usc.edu; or phone at (213) 740-
2364.
SIGNATURE OF PARENT OR GUARDIAN
I have read (or someone has read to me) the information provided above. I have been
given an opportunity to ask questions. I agree to participate in this study. I have been
given a copy of this form.
□ I agree to have my grade and test scores accessed for this study.
□ I do not agree to have my grade and test scores accessed for this study.
Name of Subject
Signature of Subject Date
SIGNATURE OF INVESTIGATOR
I have explained the research to the participant and answered all of their questions. I
believe that the participant understands the information described in this document and
freely consents to participate.
Name of Investigator
Signature of Investigator Date (must be the same as
participant’s)
100
APPENDIX G
Motivation Survey
Dear Student:
Your input is very valuable to this study. When responding to the following survey items
please think about your own motivation in this class. When you are finished, please turn
in your survey and signed consent form in the box provided at the back of the room.
Provide your Student ID# (including all zeros): Student ID #: __ __ __ __ __ __ __
O Please indicate if you are under 18 years of age by filling in the bubble to the left.
Below is a list of questions about you as a student in this class. Please use a #2 pencil or black
ink to fill in the answer bubbles. Fill in one bubble for each line. Fill in the circle that best
describes your opinion using the following rating scale: 1 = Not at all true of me, 4 = Somewhat
true of me, and 7 =Very true of me
For each answer, please fill in marks like this: not like this:
Not at All
True of
Me
1
2
3
Somewh
at True
of Me
4
5
6
Very
True
of
Me
7
1. An important
reason that I try to do
well in school is to
please my parents-
siblings.
O O O O O O O
2. I want to do well
in school so that I
can be better
prepared to take care
of my family.
O O O O O O O
3. The main reason I
try to do well in
school is to bring
honor to my family.
O O O O O O O
4. It is important to
me that my parents-
guardians are proud
of my achievement
in school.
O O O O O O O
5. I think I will be
able to use what I
learn in this course in
other courses.
O O O O O O O
101
Not at All
True of
Me
1
2
3
Somewh
at True
of Me
4
5
6
Very
True
of
Me
7
6. It is important for
me to learn the
course material in
this class.
O O O O O O O
7. I am very
interested in the
content area of this
course.
O O O O O O O
8. I think course
material in this class
is useful for me to
learn.
O O O O O O O
9. I like the subject
matter of this course.
O O O O O O O
10. Understanding
the subject matter of
this course is very
important to me.
O O O O O O O
Male Female
11.My gender is:
O O O O O O
Freshman Sophomore Junior
Senior
12.My current
grade rank is: O O O O O O
First Second Third or
Greater
13.Generation
Status O O O O O O
Asian
Indian
Chinese Japanese
Korean Vietnamese Other
14. My ethnicity
O O O O O O
Please remember - no one from West High School will see your answers. Thank you for your time and
attention to this important survey. Please place your completed survey and signed consent form in the box
located at the back of the room. If you have any questions regarding the questions and/ or content of this
survey, please contact Youn Joo Oh at (617) 417-3225 or Dr. Myron Dembo at (213) 740-2364.
102
*All questions used in this survey other than basic demographics in items 11-14 are used with
Family Orientation Scale and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ).
Abstract (if available)
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Oh, Youn Joo
(author)
Core Title
The relationship between student perceptions of parental expectations, utility value, aptitude and English achievement among Asian American high school students
School
Rossier School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education
Degree Program
Education (Psychology)
Publication Date
06/17/2008
Defense Date
04/29/2008
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
aptitude,Asian Americans,English achievement,OAI-PMH Harvest,parental expectations,task value
Place Name
USA
(countries)
Language
English
Advisor
Dembo, Myron H. (
committee chair
), Espalin, Charles A. (
committee member
), Stowe, Timothy (
committee member
)
Creator Email
younoh@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-m1274
Unique identifier
UC1227399
Identifier
etd-Oh-20080617 (filename),usctheses-m40 (legacy collection record id),usctheses-c127-70396 (legacy record id),usctheses-m1274 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-Oh-20080617.pdf
Dmrecord
70396
Document Type
Dissertation
Rights
Oh, Youn Joo
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Repository Name
Libraries, University of Southern California
Repository Location
Los Angeles, California
Repository Email
cisadmin@lib.usc.edu
Tags
aptitude
English achievement
parental expectations
task value