Results
We begin our reporting by noting changes and consistencies in self-esteem responses from 1991 through 2008; based on those findings, we chose to combine data across all years for subsequent analyses. Next we examine self-esteem response distributions, comparing the four racial/ethnic subgroups for males and females at each of the three grades. We then present multivariate analyses showing how subgroup differences in self-esteem are affected by adjustments for differences in parental education, grade point averages, and college plans. Finally, we examine subgroup differences in proportions with the highest possible self-esteem scores, and consider the extent to which subgroup differences change when the response scale is truncated to reduce the effects of extreme response tendencies.