Speeches/Conference Papers 1503

Ways in which parents influence children's developing perceptions of their academic competence were examined in a study of 81 academically competent third-graders and their parents. The study was designed to (1) determine whether the illusion of incompetence documented for fifth-graders appears in younger children, (2) examine whether parents ' competence-related perceptions--or children's beliefs about these perceptionssignificantly distinguish children with varying levels of perceived competence, and (3) develop a predictive model ci the association between parent and child competence beliefs. A significant minority of the third-graders were found to severely underestimate their academic competence. Mothers' and fathers ' perceptions of their children's abilities varied significantly with the perceived competence status of the child, as did the children's perceptions of their parents ' appraisals. Path analyses further revealed that children's perceived academic competence was influenced more by their parents ' ability appraisals and the children's percepsAons of these appraisals than by their actual achievement records. Results suggest that parents exert a powerful influence as socializers of their children's perceived academic competence. (RH) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. _OIL DEPART/0DM OF EDUCATION 0 Minor changes have been made to improv