Relation of Teacher-Child Congruities to Achievement.

This study used the Value Inventory for Children (VIC), a 60-item pictorial instrument designed to measure seven hypothesized dimensions of value. These seven orthogonal factors are (1) me first, (2) masculinity, (3) asocial, (4) academic, (5) adult closeness, (6) sociability, and (7) social conformity. The primary question to which the symposium addressed itself was: "What is a value?" Subjects of the study were 611 children from grades one through three. They were tested in the fall of 1970 and retested in the spring of 1971. Two categories of criteria were employed in an attempt to validate factor scores derived from the VIC. Results were reported in terms of (1) sex comparisons, (2) grade comparisons, (3) ethnic comparisons, (4) predictor criterion relationships and, (5) interclass comparisons with respect to teacher-class congruities. The overall conclusions was that values do play a part in the adjustment of the child to school and in his achievement, although it is impossible to determine exactly to what extent they contribute over and above the child's ability since no precise measure of ability is available. (BW/Author)