Measuring Educational Outcomes for At-Risk Children and Youth: Issues with the Validity of Self-Reported Data

Youth programs often rely on self-reported data without clear evidence as to the accuracy of these reports. Although the validity of self-reporting has been confirmed among some high school and college age students, one area that is absent from extant literature is a serious investigation among younger children. Moreover, there is theoretical evidence suggesting limited generalizability in extending findings on older students to younger populations. The purpose of this study is to examine the validity of academic and attendance self-reporting among children and youth. This study relies on original data collected from 288 children and youth using Big Brothers Big Sisters enrollment and assessment data, paired with school-records from two local school divisions. Initially, we utilized percent agreement, validity coefficients, and average measures ICC scores to assess the response validity of self-reported academic and attendance measures. We then estimated the affects of several moderating factors on reporting agreement (using standardized difference scores). We also accounted for cross-informant associations with child reported GPA using a moderated multiple regression model. Findings indicate that children and youth report their individual grades and attendance poorly. Particularly, younger and lower performing children are more likely to report falsely. However, there is some evidence that a mean construct measure of major subjects GPA is a slightly more valid indicator of academic achievement. Findings suggest that researchers and practitioners should exercise caution in using self-reported grades and attendance indicators from young and low-performing students.