The study of coping may lead to a better understanding of how children develop adaptive or maladaptive behaviors. Cross-cultural studies were conducted in 1965 and in 1968 with 10- and 14-year-old children from Brazil, England, Italy, Japan, Mexico, West Germany, Yugoslavia, and the United States. Attributes of attitudes, motivation, and coping behaviors were measured using the Behavior Rating Scale (BRS), a peer-rated index of coping behavior. A combination of coping and motivation measures showed greater power to explain school achievement than any previous noncognitive measures; the BRS was one of the best predictors of school achievement. Results from the two United States samples found that all BRS items, except for anxiety and aggression correlated highly with the children's grade point average. The findings indicate that children's peers are good judges of their peers' coping abilities with school situations and classroom achievement, and that the BRS is a valid measure of the effectiveness of children's classroom coping behaviors. (NRB)