This proposal seeks to extend through middle school, an ongoing pilot study that explores social psychological variable s(e.g. children's perceptions of their academic competence, children's intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation in the classroom) as they related to actual academic achievement in reading and math as well as to psychological indicators of adjustment. By extending the data collection begun in the pilot study, the prospective longitudinal design will allow us to broaden our understanding of the course of normal and pathogenic developmental paths across a major transition in the life course. The study population consists of 200 3rd through 5th grade students and their parents recruited from 10 elementary school's in Prince George's County, Maryland. The sample represents as ethnically as well socioeconomically diverse population. Funding is requested to complete repeated annual assessment with the original study population for a period of three years. This research is guided by the life course/social field theory, which contends that individuals are expected to successfully master important developmental tasks in specific social domains over the life course (i.e. school, work, peer group, and intimate relationships). Successful accomplishment of important developmental tasks, such as learning to read, leads to healthy psychosocial adjustment while failure to master important academic tasks can lead to psychological distress and maladaptation. Based on this underlying framework, the goals of the proposed follow-up are four-fold. First, the longitudinal follow up will provide the statistical power to identify social cognitive predictors of developmental outcomes and to identify important mediators and moderators of developmental outcomes. Second, the research will address whether or not social-cognitive variables such as children's perceptions of their academic competence and children's intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation in the classroom are related to actual achievement in reading and math as well as to psychological indicators of adjustment across a major transition point in students lives, the transition from elementary school to middle school. Third, this longitudinal study will explore the complex interactions between classroom variables, child characteristics, and family variables as they contribute to academic achievement and psychological well-being. Finally, the longitudinal follow-up will allow to statistically model the evolving between psychological adaptation and academic competence across an important transition point in students' lives.
