THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HOME ENVIRONMENT AND INTRINSIC VERSUS EXTRINSIC ORIENTATION OF FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE PUERTO RICAN CHILDREN (ACHIEVEMENT, BI-LINGUAL CHILDREN, FAMILIES, ETHNIC HOMES)

The primary purpose of this investigation was to compare the home environment and the motivational orientation of a group of higher achieving and lower achieving Puerto Rican fifth and sixth graders in a southeastern urban Pennsylvania School District. More specifically, the present investigation was designed to examine (1) differences in the home environment between higher achieving and lower achieving Puerto Rican children, (2) differences in the motivational orientation of higher achieving and lower achieving Puerto Rican children, and (3) the relationships among the home environment and the motivational orientation variables used in this study. In order to further examine the relative weights of the variables measured in this investigation, and their ability to predict achievement, a post-hoc multiple regression analysis was conducted.;Statistical analyses revealed significant differences in the home environment between the higher achieving (N = 28) and lower achieving (N = 29) students; significant differences in motivational orientation between the higher achieving and lower achieving students; and significant correlations among the home environment and motivational orientation. Gender differences can also be reported for one of the variables of the home environment and one of the variables of motivational orientation. The post-hoc analysis revealed the home environment variable, Family Involvement, accounts for a significant amount of variance with regard to achievement.;The higher achieving and lower achieving children were chosen by their most recent standardized test scores, The Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Interviews were conducted in the home of the participants, in their dominant language, with the aid of the Marjoribanks Family Environment Schedule (parents) and the Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Orientation Scale (children). The instruments used in this investigation were translated into Puerto Rican Spanish via back translation and a committee approach.