Abstract
There are major inter-individual differences in the school achievements of students aged 8–12. The determinants of these differences are not known. This paper investigates two possible factors: the self-regulation of the student and the educational levels obtained by their parents. The study first investigates whether children with high and low academic achievement differ in their self-regulation. It then evaluates whether there are differences in the self-regulation of children with high and moderate-to-low level of parental education (LPE). The focus was on the self-regulation of students as judged by their teacher. Teacher evaluations were assessed using an observer questionnaire: the Amsterdam Executive Functioning Inventory. Results showed that students with low school achievement had substantially lower teacher-perceived self-regulation than children with high school achievement. Furthermore, teacher-perceived self-regulation was lower for children with moderate-to-low LPE than for children with high LPE. The findings suggest that interventions on the domain of self-regulation skills should be developed and used, particularly in students at risk of poor school achievement.
Highlights
Children in the age-periods of late childhood and early adolescence are characterized by major inter-individual differences in school achievement and learning performance (e.g., Gerst et al, 2015)
The findings were statistically different for attention [F(1,162) = 4.41, p < 0.04, d = 0.33], for self-control and self-monitoring [F(1,162) = 4.44, p < 0.04, d = 0.33], and for the total Amsterdam Executive Functioning Inventory (AEFI) score [F(1,162) = 5.24, p = 0.02, d = 0.36]
The first study in this paper investigated whether children with high and low academic achievement differ in their levels of self-regulation as perceived by teachers
Summary
Children in the age-periods of late childhood and early adolescence (i.e., aged 8–12) are characterized by major inter-individual differences in school achievement and learning performance (e.g., Gerst et al, 2015). Self-regulation includes abilities such as concentrating on tasks for longer periods of time, suppressing impulsive behavior, planning the smaller steps that are necessary to solve tasks, planning future activities, and prioritizing tasks (Anderson, 2002; Lezak et al, 2012; Diamond, 2013; Chen et al, 2015; Gerst et al, 2015; Jolles, 2016) These abilities are considered to be important for school achievement (Anderson, 2002; Bembenutty et al, 2013; Diamond, 2013; Gerst et al, 2015). This study aimed to investigate the importance of self-regulation for academic achievement while taking the LPE into consideration
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
