A recent study by Pamela Davis-Kean and colleagues found that children’s beliefs about their math and reading abilities explain some of the variance in their later math and reading achievement, after controlling for children’s characteristics and backgrounds, including birth weight, race/ethnicity, gender, age, and their mother’s education, as well as prior academic achievement. The findings apply to students of all levels of achievement. Davis-Kean says these results suggest the importance of looking beyond skill acquisition for under-performing students – to their *perceptions* of their abilities.

More about Davis-Kean et al. link children’s self-perceptions to their math and reading achievement >