A Study of Self-Concept at Two Grade Levels

Fifty-one junior high school students at two\ud grade levels (24 sixth-graders and 27 ninth-graders) in San\ud Leandro, California, were given the Piers-Harris Children's\ud Self-Concept Scale. Hypothesis I proposed no significant\ud difference between sixth- and ninth-grade students in a\ud general measure of self-concept. Hypothesis II proposed no\ud positive relationship between the Piers-Harris Self-Concept\ud Scale and grade point average. The total self-concept score\ud was compared between age groups using t tests, and the\ud students' academic self-concept was correlated with grade\ud point average using the Pearson r. No support for either\ud hypothesis was found. A positive significant relationship\ud between academic self-concept (Cluster II of the Piers-Harris)\ud and grade point average for the subgroup of sixth-graders\ud was observed. No significant sex differences were\ud observed. Limitations of the study included small sample\ud sizes obtained from preexisting classrooms, and restricted\ud range of academic achievement in the ninth-grade class.\ud Recommendations for future studies included longitudinal,\ud within-group designs and studies with a variety of grade\ud levels