The purpose of this study was to investigate the academic achievement discrepancy observed between Asian and non-Asian students by examining self-efficacy and several motivational factors. Original and revised versions of A. Bandura's Scale of Self-Efficacy for Self-Regulated Learning and measures of study effort, effort attribution, and academic goals were given to a sample of 87 fifth-grade students in southern California. Findings reveal that Asian students estimated their self-efficacy higher than did their non-Asian counterparts, and that female fifth graders who valued study and exerted higher effort tended to outperform male peers. (Contains 6 tables and 30 references.) (Author/SLD)