Browsing by Author "Phillips, Alison"

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    Adolescents' Achievement Beliefs and Behaviors in Sport, Music, and Reading Domains
    (2013-05) Phillips, Alison
    Based on expectancy-value theory, youths' competence and value beliefs are significant correlates of achievement behaviors in multiple domains. Gender and activity stereotypes and parental influence represent social-contextual factors. The purposes of this study were to examine gender and activity group differences in adolescents' achievement beliefs and behaviors, and those of their parents, in reading, sport, and music. Adolescents (N = 313) completed measures assessing domain-specific expectancy-value constructs. First, gender by domain RM ANOVAs revealed no gender differences on sport variables, boys reported higher music participation and parental influence, and girls scored higher on reading constructs. Second, group by domain RM ANOVAs revealed that sport-only participants reported higher sport and lower music beliefs and behaviors, and music-only participants reported the opposite pattern. Results indicate that domain-specific gender stereotypes may not emerge with a selective sample and activity group should be considered in studies of adolescents' achievement motivation in multiple domains.
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    Conceptions of Adolescent Friendship Quality in Sport and Music Domains
    (2015-08) Phillips, Alison
    Based on theory (Harter, 1978; Sullivan, 1953), the purposes of the present study were to (a) compare context-specific conceptions of friendship quality in youth sport and music, and (b) determine how friendship quality is related to motivational beliefs in sport and music. Adolescents (N = 366; Mage = 12.9, SD = 1.0) who were involved in both organized sport and music completed measures of domain-specific friendship quality, perceived competence, enjoyment, anxiety, and motivational orientation. For purpose one, a repeated-measures MANOVA revealed that (a) boys and girls rated their best sport friends higher in self-esteem enhancement and supportiveness than their best music friends, (b) boys rated their best sport friends higher in loyalty and intimacy, things in common, companionship and pleasant play, and conflict resolution than their best music friends, (c) girls rated positive friendship quality dimensions higher than boys, and (d) there were no domain or gender differences in perceived friendship conflict. For purpose two, structural equation modeling revealed that (a) for sport, positive friendship quality dimensions were directly associated with perceived competence and indirectly associated with enjoyment, anxiety, and motivational orientation, and (b) for music, positive friendship quality and conflict were related to competence motivation variables. Gender moderator analyses revealed slight differences between boys and girls in the pattern of relationships between friendship quality and competence motivation variables in sport and music. Collectively, findings extend the knowledge base by (a) using theoretical frameworks to compare conceptions of friendship quality in two popular extracurricular activities for youth, and (b) demonstrating the significance of friendship quality in motivational beliefs and orientations in sport and music.
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    Quantifying Quality: The Effects of Score Transformation Method and School Demographics on School Rankings Under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
    (2015-07) Phillips, Alison
    Reasons for quantifying and ordering relative school achievements as a measure of school quality are numerous. They range from informing parents about where to enroll their children to complying with federal reporting and accountability requirements. Even after accepting the premise that results on state tests designed to measure student mastery of subject standards can serve as a proxy for the measure of a school's quality, questions remain about how individual student results should be transformed into a school-level measure in a way that is more reflective of how a school is serving its students than of what type of students a school serves. This study examines the effects of using different score transformations from the same test results to rank schools by investigating three questions: (1) What effect does the method of transforming student scores on Minnesota state exams have on relative Minnesota school performance rankings over time?; (2) What effect do school demographics have on relative Minnesota school performance rankings over time?; and (3) What effect do the interactions of method of transforming student scores on Minnesota state exams and school demographics have on relative Minnesota school performance rankings over time? A unique opportunity for robust analysis of a complete set of statewide individual level testing and enrollment records was available though a special agreement with the Minnesota Deaprtment of Education. Comparison of multilevel models shows that simpler score transformations lead to quantification of quality and relative school rankings that are the least related to the demographic characteristics of the students a school serves.