Goal Setting: Enhancing Academic Attitudes and Achievement in High School Gifted Underachievers

156 Pages·2012·0.75 MB·English

UCLA
UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Title
Goal Setting: Enhancing Academic Attitudes and Achievement in High School Gifted
Underachievers
Permalink
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5vc6d79c
Author
Sivaraman, Rhonda Czapla
Publication Date
2012

Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation
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University of California
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles

Goal Setting: Enhancing Academic Attitudes and Achievement
in High School Gifted Underachievers

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the
requirements for the degree Doctor of Education

by

Rhonda Czapla Sivaraman

2012
© Copyright by
Rhonda Czapla Sivaraman
2012
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION

Goal Setting: Enhancing Academic Attitudes and Achievement
in High School Gifted Underachievers

by

Rhonda Czapla Sivaraman
Doctor of Education
University of California, Los Angeles, 2012
Professor Sandra H. Graham, Co-Chair
Professor Diane Durkin, Co-Chair

The underachievement of gifted students is a well-documented problem in educational research.
This study employed an experimental design to determine whether an existing personal goal
setting intervention could successfully improve academic attitudes and achievement in a sample
of 44 high school gifted underachievers, as well as determine if any patterns existed in students’
goal writing exercises. The goal setting intervention included two after-school goal setting
sessions for a duration of approximately three hours, whereby students individually reflected on
and wrote about personal and academic goals. Students completed three measures of academic
attitudes pre-intervention, one-day post-intervention, and three-months post-intervention: the
School Attitude Assessment Survey – Revised, the Future Orientation Scale, and the Theory of
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Intelligence Survey. Achievement data in the form of grade point average was additionally
collected for the semester pre-intervention as well as the semester immediately following the
intervention. ANOVA results indicated that treatment students experienced significantly higher
academic self-perceptions on the School Attitude Assessment Survey and significantly higher
gains in grade point averages over the control group. Examination of students’ writing revealed
that students cited time management as their largest impediment to improving their academic
performance. Surprisingly, analysis of student writing indicated that participants in this sample
identified themselves as underachievers, but not as gifted. Recommendations from the findings
include implementing goal setting curriculum during the regular school day to allow students to
monitor their goal progress under the guidance of a teacher or counselor over a longer duration to
assist them in goal pursuit.
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The dissertation of Rhonda Czapla Sivaraman is approved.
Jeffrey J. Wood
James W. Stigler
Sandra H. Graham, Committee Co-Chair
Diane Durkin, Committee Co-Chair

University of California, Los Angeles
2012
iv
DEDICATION PAGE
I dedicate this work to my parents, Ronald and Rebecca Czapla. Your love and support
throughout the years have motivated me to pursue excellence, and in truth, I’ve completed this
undertaking for you. Thank you for everything. I love you both.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract of the Dissertation……………………………………………………………………. ...ii
Dedication Page………………………………………………………………………………... ...v
List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………………. ...vii
List of Figures…………………………………………………………………………………....ix
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………. ...x
Vita……………………………………………………………………………………………. ...xi
Chapter One: The Problem Statement………………………………………………………....1
Chapter Two: A Review of the Literature…………………………………………………. ...10
Chapter Three: Methodology………………………………………………………………......41
Chapter Four: Results……………………………………………………………………… ...66
Chapter Five: Discussion…………………………………………………………………....110
Appendix A: Three-Month Post-Intervention Goal Writing Task………………………. ...125
Appendix B: School Attitude Assessment Survey – Revised…………………………… ...126
Appendix C: Future Orientation Scale…………………………………………………... ...128
Appendix D: Theory of Intelligence Survey…………………………………………….. ...130
Appendix E: Exit Questionnaire………………………………………………………… ...131
Appendix F: Goal Scoring Rubric………………………………………………….……...132
References……………………………………………………………………………….….....133
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Student Sample Demographics (N=44)………………………………………… ...49
Table 2: SAAS-R Example Items by Factor……………………………………………......57
Table 3: Mean Group Scores for Repeated Measures of SAAS-R Scales (N=44)………. ...67
Table 4: Mean Group Scores for Repeated Measures of Future Orientation……………. ...68
Scales (N=44)
Table 5: Mean Group Scores for Repeated Measures of Theory of Intelligence…………...69
Scale (N=44)
Table 6: Summary of ANOVA Results for Main Effects of Time and Group for………. ...70
Academic Attitude Surveys (N=44)
Table 7: Summary of ANOVA Results for Interaction Effects for Each Dependent……. ...72
Variable Scale (N=44)
Table 8: Bonferroni Comparisons for Academic Self-Perception (N=44)………………. ...73
Table 9: Mean Group Scores for Grade Point Average (N=44)…………………………. ...74
Table 10: Main Effects and Interaction Effects for Grade Point Average (N=44)………... ...75
Table 11: Paired t-Tests for Group GPAs (N=44)………………………………………… ...76
Table 12: Mean Scores on Individual Exit Questionnaire Items (N=22)…………………. ...77
Table 13: Correlation Between Exit Survey Scale and GPA Change for Treatment……... ...78
Group (N=22)
Table 14: Inter-rater Reliabilities for Scoring Personal Goal Writing (N=22)…………….. ..81
Table 15: Means and Standard Deviations for Personal Goal Scores Along SMART……....82
Rubric
Table 16: Treatment Students’ Personal Goal Categories………………………………… ...83
Table 17: Inter-rater Reliabilities for Scoring Academic Goal Writing (N=22)………….. ...87
Table 18: Means and Standard Deviations for Academic Goal Scores Along SMART….. ...88
Rubric (N=22)
Table 19: Inter-rater Reliabilities for Scoring Post-Intervention Goal Writing (N=44)……...93
vii
Table 20: Mean Differences for Treatment and Control Participants on SMART………......94
Goal Rubric (N=44)
Table 21: T-tests for Differences Between Groups on SMART Goal Rubric (N=44)……. ...94
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