A contextualized view on long-term predictors of academic performance.

Abstract

$a Several studies show that parents' and teachers' perceptions of children's academic competence are important predictors of children's subsequent academic performance. However, there is a lack of evidence on what precedes these perceptions as well as the dynamics within a comprehensive model. The aim of this study was to investigate the simultaneous influences of child (general intelligence, problem behavior) and family (socioeconomic status, migration background) characteristics as well as parents' and teachers' perceptions of children's competence on children's academic performance in a 3-year longitudinal study with 221 children (52% girls) who were 5 to 7 years of age when they were first measured (M = 6.15 years, SD = 0.80 years). Structural equation modeling analyses revealed that parents' and teachers' perceptions of children's competence were positively associated with children's general intelligence and negatively associated with family adversity and child problem behavior. Further, parents' perceptions fully mediated the association between family adversity as well as child problem behavior and academic performance. Teachers' perceptions partially mediated the association between child problem behavior and academic performance.