A Video Tape Technique for Assessing Behavioral Correlates of Academic Performance.

The relation between videotape-based observer judgements of attention to task and paper-and-pencil measures of academic performance was investigated in this study. Forty-five Grade 4 pupils engaged in an arithmetic computation task and were video-taped for ten consecutive school days. The tapes were then independently viewed by three observers, and pupils were rated on their observable attention to task. Significant correlations on the order of .50 (p less than .01) were obtained between attention to task ratings and academic performance. An intraclass correlation of .93 was obtained as an estimate of inter-observer reliability. The data supported the use of indirect observational methods in assessing school performance. (Author/MC)