Since student ratings of teacher effectiveness are instrumental in faculty promotion and tenure decisions, the assets and limitations of such ratings must be understood. To investigate the impact of three personality factors (ability, locus of control, and self-esteem) and academic performance on expectation and attributions of performance, 212 college students (139 female, 73 male) completed two questionnaires. The first questionnaire assessed personality factors and was administered prior to examinations. The second questionnaire assessed expectation and attribution of grades and was administered immediately after the students received feedback on their exam performance. The attribution items were worded in a positive direction for those students who experienced success and in a negative direction for those students who experienced failure. An analysis of the results showed that ability and grade influenced expectation. Self-esteem, as well as grade and expectation, predicted attributions. Self-esteem was negatively related to both internal, stable and external, unstable factors. Grade, although a potent predictor of expectation, was less important than expectation in predicting attributions. Students who experienced success endorsed a variety of attributions exhibiting a "yes" response style. Those experiencing failure exhibited a "no" response style; however, they did not blame the teacher nor did they identify other factors as causes. (BL)