The mothers and fathers (n?=?43) of third- and sixth-grade children were asked to assess their child's academic potential in comparison with the child's earlier competence and with that of her/his peers. In the interpersonal domain, the mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their child's academic potential were related to each other, especially in…

This study set out to examine parents' perceptions of the malleability of their child's academic competencies. A total of 97 mothers and fathers were asked to rate their child's potential for improving her/his competencies in mathematics and Finnish, using both intrapersonal and interpersonal criteria in their ratings. These two criteria were…

The study examined children's and their parents' and teachers' perceptions of the malleability of the child's academic competencies. A total of 103 third- and sixth-graders and their parents and teachers were asked to rate how much the child could improve her/his competencies in mathematics and Finnish. The participants were asked to use…

Purpose: This study set out to investigate pupils' evaluations of their academic abilities in different school subjects and their ratings of their potential for improving their performance in those school subjects. Sample: Twenty-eight pupils from the third grade (approximately age nine) and 30 pupils from the sixth grade (approximately age 12) in…

This study set out to examine children's notions of the malleability of their academic competencies and the relations of these notions to the child's grade-level and gender and the parent's educational level. In interviews of a total of 103 boys and girls of the third and the sixth grade, children of academically and vocationally educated parents…

The class test is one of the important school practices which construct and convey to the pupils the predominant conception of ability and the related psychometric notion of individuality represented by the school. The aim of this study was to examine how the class test is actually "taught" to children--what sorts of elements the teacher…

Investigated Finnish parents' explanations of their young children's reading and mathematics achievement, noting whether child gender influenced parent assessment. Parent surveys indicated that parents of boys assessed their children's mathematical competence to be higher than did parents of girls. The opposite was true for reading. For boys, the…

The ways boys and girls (N = 119) at different grade levels rated and explained their potential for improvement in mathematics and the mother tongue were compared in order to examine their subject-specific notions of the malleability of their academic ability. The findings indicate that children perceive their potential to improve their…

The development of conceptions of academic ability was examined by comparing peer assessments made by preschoolers and children in grades 1-4. Findings from a team selection task showed that by fourth grade, children have acquired a clear conception of ability. Findings from a free classification task showed that academic skills did not factor…