Attitudes of behaviorally disordered students toward tests.

In two studies, attitudes reported toward testing by behaviorally disordered students and their regular classroom counterparts were compared. In Study 1, 12 behaviorally disordered and 25 average fifth and sixth graders were given a survey regarding their attitude toward tests and the test-taking experience. Students classified behaviorally disordered reported less positive attitudes toward tests than their more average peers; these attitude differences were more pronounced on items which reflected subjective attitudes toward the test-taking situation and aspirations about performance and less pronounced on evaluation of the value of tests. In Study 2, which employed a sample of 25 behaviorally disordered and 25 regular classroom students matched on age and sex and used a longer attitude measure, differences were not found. Taken together, these studies suggest that attitudes toward tests are inconsistent in the two populations and that some behaviorally disordered students may not differ so much in this regard as supposed.