Abstract of

Developmental Dynamics of Achievement Strategies, Reading Performance, and Parental Beliefs

Kaisa Aunola

Jari-Erik Nurmi

Pekka Niemi

Marja-Kristiina Lerkkanen

Helena Rasku-Puttonen

This study investigates the developmental dynamics between children's achievement strategies, reading performance, and parental beliefs, by using longitudinal data. The reading performances of 111 six- to seven-year-old children were tested four times during their first year of primary school. In the same time, the children's use of a task-avoidant versus a task-focused achievement strategy in the classroom context was rated by their teachers. Parents filled in questionnaires measuring their general beliefs about their children's school performance and their reading-specific beliefs at the beginning and at the end of the school year. The results showed that parents' beliefs in their children's general school competence predicted their children's use of a task-focused strategy and a lack of task-avoidance, which further predicted the children's high level of reading performance. Moreover, children's use of a task-focused achievement strategy increased parents' high beliefs in their children's general competence, whereas the children's reading performance was reflected in their parents' skill-specific beliefs.

Abstract from Aunola, K., Nurmi, J., Niemi, P., Lerkkanen, M., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2002). Developmental Dynamics of Achievement Strategies, Reading Performance, and Parental Beliefs. Reading Research Quarterly, 37(3), 310–327. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.37.3.3