Factors determining high academic attainment in primary school (based on the longitudinal study of year 2 and year 4 Russian schoolchildren)

Abstract

Introduction. The study attempts to solve the problem of predicting academic attainment in primary school. The main emphasis in selecting factors to predict success in learning was on personal and contextual ones. Among personal factors, executive functions were considered, which are described by many authors as significant for successful learning. Among the contextual factors, the main focus is on marks given to schoolchildren in each subject by their teacher. An attempt is made to predict children’s academic attainment in Year 4 based on data on academic attainment in Year 2. Materials and Methods. 53 primary schoolchildren were examined first in Year 2 and then in Year 4. The following executive functions were studied: working memory (using the O. M. Razumnikova’s technique) and inhibitory control (using E. G. Vergunova and E. I. Nikolaeva’s inventory). In addition, final marks in all subjects were analyzed for each year. All schoolchildren were assigned to one of the following groups: ‘excellent students’, ‘good students’, ‘C students’. This parameter was called ‘academic attainment’. First, using factor analysis, correlations between the studied parameters were identified separately for Year 2 and Year 4, then a regression analysis was carried out, with the help of which the factors influencing high academic attainment in Year 2 and Year 4 for the same children were identified. Finally, a factor analysis was conducted in order to assess academic attainment in Year 4 based on data collected in Year 2. Results. Factor analysis revealed that marks given to primary schoolchildren by the main teacher in Year 2 correlate with each other, that is, a halo effect is noted when marks are given not for a particular student’s answer, but according to teacher’s general impression about them. As part of the regression analysis, it was shown that in Year 2, academic attainment is determined only by final marks in the Russian language. Only in Year 4 the influence of inhibitory control and working memory on academic attainment was found. An attempt to predict academic attainment based on the results of Year 2 showed that academic attainment in Year 4 can only be predicted on the basis of final assessment in the Russian language. It can be assumed that this subject is more difficult for children than others; therefore it requires maximum inclusion of executive functions. Conclusions. The study revealed that executive functions do not affect academic attainment in Year 2, but inhibitory control is a significant factor predicting academic attainment in Year 4. Inhibitory control at the behavioral level is assessed as the level of manifestation of volitional quality in a child. A significant relationship was found in Year 4 between high scores in Reading and high scores in Music, Art, and Science. This indicates that central processes that underlie activities in these subjects are interconnected. Finally, it was found that a significant factor predicting academic attainment in Year 4 is the mark for Russian language in Year 2.