THE ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND JUNIOR-HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH BEHAVIOR DISORDERS AND THEIR NONHANDICAPPED PEERS AS A FUNCTION OF MOTIVATIONAL ORIENTATION

This study was designed to investigate the relationship of motivational orientation (intrinsic and extrinsic motivation) on the reading comprehension and mathematics achievement of elementary and junior students with behavior disorders and on their regular education peers (N = 309). A 2 (BD or Nonhandicapped Group) x 2 (IM or EM Motivational Orientation multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) with IQ, Age, and Sex as covariates was used with reading comprehension and mathematics achievement as dependent measures. The results showed a main effect for Group indicating both higher mathematics and reading achievement for the nonhandicapped students compared to the students with behavior disorders. There also was a main effect for Motivational Orientation indicating that IM students had higher reading comprehension than did EM students. More importantly there was an interaction between Group and Motivational Orientation indicating that BD students exhibit significantly greater academic performance differences due to motivational orientation compared to their nonhandicapped peers. IM BD students have both higher mathematics and reading achievement than do EM BD students, whereas there is no difference between the IM and EM nonhandicapped students' mathematics and reading achievement. Individual differences in motivational orientation appear to effect the academic performance of BD students to a greater extent compared to their nonhandicapped peers.