Children's Educational Achievement Research Articles

Multidimensional energy poverty and human capital development: Empirical evidence from India

Energy poverty is believed to have crucial socio-economic impacts on people's lives, making it a major concern for the policy agenda in many countries, especially in the Global South. Evidence-based inferences on the antecedents and outcomes of energy poverty would aid policymakers in the formulation of better-informed policy decisions. However, measuring energy poverty at the micro-level has always been a challenge, especially in developing countries. This study uses household-level survey data from India to construct a multidimensional measure of energy poverty, which focuses on quantifying energy deprivation, covering both accessibility to and affordability of a broad range of energy forms, and examines its impact on human capital development indicators. Our instrumental variable-based estimations reveal that energy poverty has significant negative effects on children's health and educational achievements. Our results are robust to alternative ways of measuring energy poverty, a suite of estimation approaches, and other sensitivity checks.

The Implication of Child Labour on Educational Achievement: A Case Study in Assosa Town, Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, Ethiopia

This study aimed to identify the implications of child labour on child educational achievement. Cross sectional data randomly collected from 384 sample child labourers in Assosa town, were utilized in this study. Two- limits tobit estimator was employed for estimating the determinants of child educational achievement. The empirical result reveals that there is association between child labour and educational achivement. Thus, strengthening school based financial support and creating awareness are of paramount importance to fight child labour exploitation. Curbing the problem of child labour and improving academic achievement also requires reducing poverty. Keywords: Child labour; Children’s educational achievement; Two-limit tobit model DOI: 10.7176/JESD/12-13-05 Publication date: July 31 st 2021

Genetic sensitivity analysis: Adjusting for genetic confounding in epidemiological associations.

Associations between exposures and outcomes reported in epidemiological studies are typically unadjusted for genetic confounding. We propose a two-stage approach for estimating the degree to which such observed associations can be explained by genetic confounding. First, we assess attenuation of exposure effects in regressions controlling for increasingly powerful polygenic scores. Second, we use structural equation models to estimate genetic confounding using heritability estimates derived from both SNP-based and twin-based studies. We examine associations between maternal education and three developmental outcomes – child educational achievement, Body Mass Index, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Polygenic scores explain between 14.3% and 23.0% of the original associations, while analyses under SNP- and twin-based heritability scenarios indicate that observed associations could be almost entirely explained by genetic confounding. Thus, caution is needed when interpreting associations from non-genetically informed epidemiology studies. Our approach, akin to a genetically informed sensitivity analysis can be applied widely.

The relationship of interactive technology use for entertainment and school performance and engagement: Evidence from a longitudinal study in a nationally representative sample of middle school students in China

Interactive technology use (e.g., Internet and video games) can promote children's educational access and achievement. However, excessive technology use, particularly for entertainment, may adversely affect children's educational development. This study examined the relationship of the amount of entertainment-related interactive technology use and school engagement and performance using two-wave survey data collected from a nationally-representative sample of middle school students in China (N = 9,949, 48% girls, Mean age = 13.5 years). Results showed that nearly 40% of children used interactive technology for entertainment/non-schoolwork-related activities on school days, and, 62%, for entertainment/non-schoolwork-related activities on weekends. Multilevel mixed models revealed that excessive use of technology for entertainment/non-schoolwork-related activities (i.e., 1+ hours on a school day and 4+ hours daily on weekends) was significantly, adversely associated with all outcomes one year later, including lower test scores on Chinese, Math, English, and cognitive competencies, lower educational aspirations, and higher likelihoods of truancy, lacking concentration in class, and boredom at school. Potential reasons for the findings as well as their implications for research and intervention are discussed. Findings will inform the development of feasible and effective guidelines to help parents, teachers, and schools regulate interactive technology use among school-aged children.

Children Health and Academic Achievements: A Micro-econometric Analysis

The study examines the effect of children's health on their educational performance in Sargodha city, Pakistan. The data utilized for the study were collected from a primary level survey of randomly selected children attending various private and public schools in Sargodha during 2016. The study employs a multinomial logistic regression model to estimate the effect of children's health status as determined by the Body Mass Index (BMI) on their academic performance. To control the role of other socio-economic factors that might affect children's educational achievements, the study also includes such variables as study hours and school type. The regression estimates

Society's readiness: How relational approaches to well‐being could support young children's educational achievement in high‐poverty contexts

AbstractThis paper explores how relational approaches to well‐being could support young children's educational achievement in high‐poverty contexts. It draws on findings from a qualitative study involving mothers and early years educators living and/or working in a city characterised as one of the most disadvantaged in England. The findings suggest that children's well‐being, rather than being merely an individual characteristic or aspiration, is interdependent with their social and material environments, as are the institutions that support them. The paper concludes by calling for a recalibration of early childhood policies away from assessing individual children's ‘school readiness’ to encouraging society's readiness to support everyone's well‐being, and consequently that of young children too.

The correlation between polygamy and educational achievement of children

Among themost efficient employee related management practices identified in both the developed and the developing nations is performance appraisal system, which is alsorecognized as a strong motivator for employees. It also enables smooth functioning of managerial decision making, administrative decision making and the employee development. The present study reviews prominent and key studies conducted in recent past systematically in order to assess how organizational performance appraisal systems and competency management frameworks affect employees’ work performance in the telecomsector.

The Implication of Child Labour on Educational Achievement: A Case Study in Assosa Town, Benishangul-Gumuz Regional State, Ethiopia

This study aimed to identify the implications of child labour on child educational achievement. Cross sectional data randomly collected from 384 sample child labourers in Assosa town, were utilized in this study. Two- limits tobit estimator was employed for estimating the determinants of child educational achievement. The empirical result reveals that there is association between child labour and educational achivement. Thus, strengthening school based financial support and creating awareness are of paramount importance to fight child labour exploitation. Curbing the problem of child labour and improving academic achievement also requires reducing poverty. Keywords : Child labour; Children’s educational achievement; Two-limit tobit model DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-3-04 Publication date: February 28 th 2021

Enhancing Human Capital at Scale

A two-year randomized evaluation shows that the effectiveness of multi-tasking men- tors on schooling outcomes crucially depends on their training. While a standard training modality in highly marginalized communities in Mexico generates null results, enhanced training yields sizable treatment effects on primary school children's cognitive, behavioral, and educational achievements. This difference cannot be explained by remedial educational activities or pedagogical support, but it can be reconciled with higher parental aspirations and investments. Evidence gathered on the subsequent national roll out of the intervention with enhanced training substantiates the external validity of our findings.

Parent’s participation in the education of their children and in the school's educational policy

Introduction. The discourse that has unfolded recently about the future of the school, about the difficult relationship between the school and the parents of students, about the difficulties of introducing state-public administration has led to the need for a scientific understanding of the position of modern parents regarding the education of their own child and in the broader context of their participation in educational policy. The main goal of this theoretical article is to analyze the current features of the interaction between school and family and to build a comprehensive model for the participation of parents in the education of their children and in the educational policy of the school. Methodology and methods. The study refers to the comparative analysis and generalization of the results of the specialized and comprehensive scientific data, dedicated to the problems of parental positions in mutual relations with the school. Methodology of research composed of complex approach, detailed and subjective approaches, semantic analysis of central points, synthesis of positions and partial models, proposed different researchers. Results and scientific novelty. In the course of the work, studies were analyzed on the problems of interaction between parents and schools, the concepts of “parental involvement/participation”, “educational policy and its subjects”. The created model reveals the personal and institutional aspects of parental participation, taking into account the different levels of subjectivity of the participants in the interaction. The novelty of the proposed model lies in the fact that it compares two types of participation: participation in the construction of the child's educational space and participation in the educational policy of the school. At the same time, three groups of factors are identified that determine the nature of participation: “subjects” of participation or interest of parents, based on their idea of the quality of education; communication channels, ways of interaction between educational subjects; socio-psychological “motivators” for participation. Practical significance. The resulting model allows the school to purposefully adjust the processes of interaction with parents. The model also serves as the basis for empirical research to identify the conditions for effective family-school cooperation and its impact on the child's school well-being and educational achievement.

Nurturing a Better Future for Best Schooling Practices: A Review Portraying the Alternative Schooling, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Schooling is an essential stage in the socialization of a child. Schooling has a direct effect on a child's educational achievement, acquisition of skills, social cognition, and feelings (Sylva, 1994). Every schooling practice has the potential to mould the child and shape future citizens. Today many different schooling practices are prevailing in India. However, the majority of these schooling practices focus more on the cognitive development of the child and nurtures the values of competition and insecurity among the children. The schools have turned into factories that bring out mechanical individuals who cannot question, express, and voice themselves but who can only become a part of the race of obtaining marks and jobs. This kind of schooling may help in increasing the literacy rates but has not helped in producing truly educated and ethical citizens. It has led to moral degradation in society (Parihar, Parihar & Sharma, 2018). In this context, it is imperative to analyse the alternative schooling practices that nurture a better future. One such school that educates the heart, allows the flowering of the child and nurtures good citizens is the Valley School, Bangalore. Through this article, an attempt has been made to present a description of prevailing schooling practices and the challenges faced in the educational context. The authors put forth a review of schooling practices at valley school, one of the best alternative schools and ignite the discussion on Valley school being the best in nurturing a better future.

Family assets, parental expectation, and child educational achievement in China: A validation of mediation analyses

Previous research found positive correlations among asset accumulation for children, parental educational expectations, and students’ educational achievement. However, more research is needed to validate the mediation effects of asset accumulation on children’s educational achievement through parental expectations. We create a sample of children (N = 1,101) using data from a longitudinal and nationally representative survey in China, and apply three sets of multiple regressions to examine the proposed mediation hypothesis. We use family savings for children measured in 2012 to predict parental expectations and children’s academic performance in 2014. Analyses also include lagged indictors of parental expectations and children’s academic performance as control variables. Results suggest that family savings for children are positively and significantly associated with subsequent parental educational expectations and children’s academic performance. A partial mediation process is supported by the results. The study highlights the policy and practice significance of asset building for children; asset building for children could be a potential policy tool to promote educational development in China.

Educational trajectories of children in care across the early education and primary school years: A national cohort study in England.

The goals of this article were to (a) examine the changes in educational achievements of children in care from preschool through the end of primary school; (b) identify subgroups exhibiting distinct educational trajectories; and (c) explore key predictive individual, care, and school characteristics. To this end, the study investigated a cohort of 1,834 children in England who had been in care in their final year of preschool. Data from the National Pupil Database and from the Children Looked After Database was used to examine national assessments of literacy and numeracy in preschool and School Years 2 and 6, as well as potential child (e.g., special educational needs), care (e.g., placement changes) and school predictors (e.g., school's mean ability level). The findings indicated that as early as preschool, children in care lagged substantially behind their peers and their relative academic condition worsened over time. Latent growth analyses revealed four distinct subgroups of children. One was a relatively resilient subgroup of children with "stable high" achievements over time, but more than 8 out of 10 children belonged to one of the other subgroups and exhibited maladaptive educational trajectories. Risk factors for a poorer trajectory included having special educational needs and spending more time in care during primary school, whereas attending higher performing schools was found to be related to better performing trajectories. The findings underscore the crucial need for early assessment and intervention efforts to deal with the unique educational needs of children in care. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Predicting educational achievement from genomic measures and socioeconomic status.

The two best predictors of children's educational achievement available from birth are parents’ socioeconomic status (SES) and, recently, children's inherited DNA differences that can be aggregated in genome‐wide polygenic scores (GPS). Here, we chart for the first time the developmental interplay between these two predictors of educational achievement at ages 7, 11, 14 and 16 in a sample of almost 5,000 UK school children. We show that the prediction of educational achievement from both GPS and SES increases steadily throughout the school years. Using latent growth curve models, we find that GPS and SES not only predict educational achievement in the first grade but they also account for systematic changes in achievement across the school years. At the end of compulsory education at age 16, GPS and SES, respectively, predict 14% and 23% of the variance of educational achievement. Analyses of the extremes of GPS and SES highlight their influence and interplay: In children who have high GPS and come from high SES families, 77% go to university, whereas 21% of children with low GPS and from low SES backgrounds attend university. We find that the associations of GPS and SES with educational achievement are primarily additive, suggesting that their joint influence is particularly dramatic for children at the extreme ends of the distribution.

Risk factors for malnutrition among school-aged children: a cross-sectional study in rural Madagascar

BackgroundFor over 20 years, Madagascar has been challenged by continued high prevalence of stunting, underweight and wasting among children under 5 years of age. Yet, nutritional status of post-under-five age group has never been assessed in the country, despite its importance in relation not only to physical health but also to cognitive capacity and educational achievements of children. This study aims to estimate prevalence of malnutrition among schoolchildren aged 5–14 years in Madagascar. It further attempts to identify the possible risk factors for their malnutrition. This is the first study that estimates prevalence of malnutrition among school-aged children in Madagascar.MethodsA cross-sectional household survey was conducted in Antananarivo-Avaradrano district, Analamanga region, Madagascar. The study targeted 393 first and second graders 5–14 years of age enrolled at 10 primary schools, where school-feeding was implemented. Data were collected from anthropometric measurements, their subsequent household structured interviews and observations. Bivariate (Chi-square test or Mann-Whitney’s U test) and multivariable (logistic regression) analyses were performed, to identify the possible risk factors associated with malnutrition.ResultsThe overall prevalence rates of stunting, underweight and thinness were 34.9%, 36.9% and 11.2%, respectively. Nineteen children (4.8%) suffered from all the three forms of undernutrition. Older schoolchildren had a significantly greater likelihood of being stunted, underweight and thin. The greater number of members a household had, the higher likelihood of being stunted and thin its schoolchild had. Children having lower Household Dietary Diversity Score were more likely to be underweight. Yet, ‘Had lunch at school yesterday’ was associated neither with being stunted nor with being underweight and thin. This implies room for improvement of the current school feeding program.ConclusionsPrevalence rates of stunting and underweight among 393 children examined were as high as the national averages among children under 5 years of age. Adequate food availability and dietary diversity over a sufficient period (incl. 5–14 years of age) are necessary for increasing likelihood of catch-up in height-for-age and weight-for-age, which are expectable during adolescence. To supplement inadequate household dietary diversity practices, school-feeding program may need to use more animal-protein ingredients.

SOCIAL BACKGROUND, EDUCATION, AND INEQUALITY

The role parents' education plays for the educational achievements of children is a source of unequal opportunities. Through this channel the number of educated affects the options of future cohorts, creating a social multiplier effect making improvements in education self‐reinforcing. Policies to compensate for inequalities of opportunities—public education or transfers—have very different implications. Transfers not only reduce inequality on impact but also reduce social mobility, while public education—even if a perfect substitute to private education—works in the opposite direction. Social impediments to education are similar to a market imperfection, and publicly provided education may lead to a Pareto improvement. (JEL D3, I2, H2, H4)

Educational achievement of children with congenital heart disease: Promising results from a survey by the German National Register of Congenital Heart Defects

BackgroundSurvival rates of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) have increased significantly in the decade. There is now increased interest in the long-term outcome and quality of life of these children. AimsTo assess the educational achievement of patients with CHD in Germany. Study designCross-sectional study using an online survey. The recruitment of study participants was carried out via the database of the German National Register for Congenital Heart Defects (NRCHD). SubjectsPatients born between 1992 and 2011 were enrolled in the study. For 2609 study participants (female = 1870 (71.7%); 1072 (41.1%) patients; 1537 (58.9%) parents), who participated in the survey, detailed information regarding the underlying CHD diagnosis and clinical data was available. Outcome measuresAge at enrollment, secondary school form, school year repetition, school degree. ResultsThe large majority of study participants were enrolled at a conventional elementary school (83.4%) and started school at the age of 6 years or below (73.3%). In total 45.7% of graduated study participants graduated with the qualification necessary to study at any university. In terms of analysis of the different CHD severity subgroups 57.3% of patients with a mild CHD, 47.5% with a moderate CHD and only 35.1% suffering from a severe CHD attained a high school diploma. ConclusionsIn our study, the majority of participating CHD patients had a standard school career. These initial results are of great importance to affected families and treating physicians as they show that, in general, a normal school career is possible for all CHD patients.

Assessing Child Welfare Agency Practices and Attitudes that Affect Father Engagement

ABSTRACTThe importance of fathers' involvement in their children's lives is irrefutable. Supportive, warm, and positive involvement of fathers leads to children being well-adjusted. Indeed, involved fathers positively influence their children's cognitive ability, social behavior, psychological well-being, and educational achievement. For children in foster care, when fathers are involved they have significantly shorter stays in foster care than those whose fathers are not involved. For parents to demonstrate fitness to parent they must show the successful completion of goals specified in a case plan that promotes safety and permanence of their child. This cross-sectional study investigated how fathers' perception of social workers' attitude and practice skills was associated with fathers' understanding and confidence with regard to completing the case plan goals. A purposive sample of 56 child welfare-involved fathers completed the Child Welfare Father Involvement Questionnaire. The findings indicated that the more positive fathers perceived social workers' attitude and skills, the greater their understanding about the case plan goals and greater confidence to complete case plan goals. The results were statistically significant. These results have implications for child welfare training to build the social worker-client relationship in a compassionate manner while maintaining a rigorous assessment and monitoring of fathers' parenting capabilities.

The effect of neighborhood context on children’s academic achievement in China: Exploring mediating mechanisms

Along with the economic reforms, rapid urbanization, and the growth of a free land market, Chinese cities witness new forms of neighborhood poverty and increasing residential segregation by social class, migration status, and housing tenure. But little is known about the consequences of the growing social-spatial differentiation for children's educational achievement in China. Using national-scale survey data from the China Family Panel Studies in 2010, this study examines the relationship between neighborhood socioeconomic status (SES) and children's test scores in urban China, and explores the mechanisms through which neighborhood environment is associated with children's academic achievement. The results show that neighborhood SES is positively associated with children's verbal and math test scores after accounting for myriad individual and family characteristics. The relationship between neighborhood SES and test scores is partially explained by neighborhood educational institutions and collective socialization. Peer contagion, neighborhood social organization, or neighborhood physical environment do not explain this relationship.

Enrollment in Religious Schools and the Educational Achievements of Children of High-Skill Immigrants

The present study examines the effect of studying in schools of different levels of religiosity on academic achievements of first- and second- generation immigrant students from English-, Spanish-, and French-speaking countries in Israel. The sample included 52,043 students who completed twelfth grade in 2011. The findings of the Israeli case study indicate that choice of school based on religiosity interferes with the educational achievements of immigrant students. In spite of high socio-economic background of immigrant students, those who were enrolled in religious schools were less likely to earn matriculation certificates, as compared to those attending other types of schools.