Date of Award
Spring 2019
Degree Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
School
Education
Committee Chair
Thomas Lipscomb
Committee Chair School
Education
Committee Member 2
Kyna Shelley
Committee Member 2 School
Education
Committee Member 3
Richard Mohn
Committee Member 3 School
Education
Committee Member 4
David Lee
Committee Member 4 School
Education
Abstract
The primary purpose of this study was to determine principals’, teachers’, and parents’ attributions of their own and the other groups’ relative influence on student academic outcomes measured by standardized tests. The secondary purpose was to determine whether and how fundamental attribution error and self-serving bias predicts or explains the responses of each group. Descriptive analyses were conducted to compare responses from these three constituent groups. Additionally, repeated measures MANOVA was conducted in order to explain the effect the moderator variable, school performance level, had on the strength of the relationship between the independent (school rating and group) and dependent (influence on student academic outcomes) variables. Participants included principals and teachers who worked at and parents of children who attended public K-8 schools in the state of Mississippi. Results indicated that these groups place most of the influence for student academic outcomes on teachers, regardless of the outcome being negative or positive. In addition, only partial support was provided for fundamental attribution error’s ability to explain or aid in understanding principals’ teachers’, and parents’ attributions of influence on student academic outcomes. The results for selfserving bias results were parallel.
Copyright
2019, Sonja Rayner
Recommended Citation
Rayner, Sonja, "Fundamental Attribution Error: Perspectives of Principal, Teacher, and Parent Influence on Student Growth" (2019). Dissertations. 1627.
https://aquila.usm.edu/dissertations/1627