Grade Attainment Research Articles

Late-childhood foundational cognitive skills predict educational outcomes through adolescence and into young adulthood: Evidence from Ethiopia and Peru

We estimate associations between foundational cognitive skills (inhibitory control, working memory, long-term memory, and implicit learning) measured at age 12 and educational outcomes measured at ages 15 and 19–20 in Ethiopia and Peru, using the Young Lives data. The estimates adjust for rich sets of controls and include measurements of children's baseline abilities. For a subset of the outcomes, we exploit within-household variation. Working memory and long-term memory are consistently and positively associated with subsequent domain-specific cognitive achievement tests (measuring specifically numeracy, vocabulary and literacy achievement) in both countries, university enrolment in Peru (long-term memory) and lower secondary-school completion in Ethiopia (working memory). Inhibitory control predicts subsequent math-test scores in both countries, grade attainment (Ethiopia), and university enrolment (Peru). Value-added estimates show that these skills play roles during adolescence, with the memory-related skills predicting higher domain-specific test scores (Peru and Ethiopia) and grade attainment (Ethiopia), while inhibitory control has associations with math (both countries). These results provide additional evidence to justify the importance of promoting investments in cognitive skills throughout childhood and adolescence, and elucidate how such investments impact educational achievements.

Does early nutrition predict cognitive skills during later childhood? Evidence from two developing countries

The existing evidence linking early undernutrition to educational outcomes in developing countries is largely focused on assessing its impacts on grade attainment and achievement test scores, with limited evidence on the foundational cognitive skills required to perform well at school. We use unique data collected in Ethiopia and Peru as part of the Young Lives Study to investigate the relationship between early undernutrition and four foundational cognitive skills measured later in childhood, the first two of which measure executive functioning: working memory, inhibitory control, long-term memory, and implicit learning. We exploit the rich longitudinal data available to control for potential confounders at the household and individual level and for time-invariant community characteristics. We also take advantage of the availability of data for paired-siblings to obtain household fixed-effects estimates. In the latter specification, we find robust evidence that stunting at ∼age 5 is negatively related with executive functions measured years later, predicting reductions in working memory and inhibitory control by 12.6 % and 5.8 % of a standard deviation. Although the main cohort of Young Lives was around 12 years old when executive functions were measured, complementary results and analysis of the data available for the younger siblings suggest that the impact of stunting on executive functions—specifically, on working memory—starts at an earlier age. Our results shed light on the mechanisms that explain the relationship between early nutrition and school achievement tests suggesting that good nutrition is an important determinant of children’s learning capacities.

Helping Children Catch Up: Early Life Shocks and the PROGRESA Experiment

Abstract Children who face significant disadvantage early in life are often found to be worse off years or even decades later. Can conditional cash transfer programs mitigate the negative consequences and help these children catch up with their peers? We answer this question using data from rural Mexico, where rainfall shocks can have substantial effects on household income. We find that adverse rainfall in a child's year of birth decreases grade attainment, post-secondary enrolment and employment outcomes. But declines were much smaller for children whose families were randomised to receive the conditional cash transfer program, PROGRESA: each additional year of PROGRESA exposure during childhood mitigated almost 20% of the early disadvantage in grade attainment.

The impact of primary schooling expansion on adult educational attainment, literacy, and health: Evidence from India’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

In 2001–2002, India launched a schooling infrastructure program called the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). We examined the long-term associations of SSA with adult education and health. We used data from a national survey and employed fixed-effects regression models to compare outcomes of adults who were originally eligible for primary school during four years before (control) and after 2001 (intervention). Intervention group adults had 0.2 higher grade attainment, 0.04 points higher literacy test score (0–2 scale), and 0.12 higher weight-for-height z-score as compared with the control group. SSA was associated with improved education and health outcomes across socioeconomic subgroups but did not appear to reduce gender gaps substantially.

Assessment and Feedback in Post-pandemic Healthcare Provider Education: A Meta-synthesis

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has led both to an increased need for and a shortage of trained healthcare staff globally. The population of undergraduate students in health and social care is diverse and widening participation practices are vital to support these students to navigate through academic study. In post-pandemic higher education environments, where hybrid and blended approaches to learning are now more commonplace, research relating to students’ experience, use, perception and understanding of assessment criteria and feedback is ever more important. Aim: The present review and qualitative thematic meta-synthesis is a secondary analysis following a primary study that aimed to understand students’ understanding of the relationship between assessment criteria and assessment feedback. Methods: Using an integrative systematic review method, 1754 articles were initially identified via electronic searches. Study selection was conducted in a series of stages and by agreement between reviewers; 35 articles were selected that met the relevancy criteria. A screening process excluded quantitative and mixed-methods studies, leaving nine qualitative studies for analysis. Results: Findings highlighted two intersecting themes relating to the importance of “Scaffolding assessment and feedback” and how this linked to students’ “Engagement and perceived self-efficacy”. A constructivist educational framework is proposed to scaffold students’ engagement and perceived self-efficacy in relation to assessment criteria and assessment feedback. Elements in this framework include: (1) multiple modalities for feedback to support inclusive best practice; (2) the provision of mentorship and / or reflective spaces for processing assessment criteria and feedback; and (3) a goal-oriented approach to students’ engagement with assessment criteria and feedback. Conclusion: Such a framework will make assessment and feedback more transparent and accessible for students, broaden their focus beyond grade attainment, enable them to make links between assessment criteria, assignment writing and assessment feedback, and support inclusivity and staff-student relationships in the context of post-pandemic educational systems.

The Learning Crisis of Developing Country Elites: Lessons from PISA-D

AbstractHow much of the learning crisis can be addressed through “inclusion”—the equalization of grade attainment and learning outcomes across groups (e.g., girls/boys, rural/urban, poor/rich)—and how much of the learning crisis requires improvement in the country's system of basic education to improve learning outcomes across the board? This study uses the data from the seven countries who participated in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for Development (PISA-D) to show that for most countries and subjects the average learning outcome for the advantaged (male, urban, native-born, speakers of assessment language), and elite (95th percentile in PISA measured socio-economic status) students was below the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) “minimum learning level” target of PISA level 2. Even if every child in these countries were fully “included”—had the same distribution of learning outcomes as the advantaged, SES elite, public school children—80 percent of all children would still fall short of proposed global minimum levels of learning.

Institute for Educational Research, Belgrade

This article aims to test the predictive potential of frequently researched socio-demographic and motivational incentives and time perspectives as a still unexplored personal-level factor affecting the strength of youth emigration intentions and the agency of potential migrants (i.e., activities related to emigration). We tested the incremental validity of motivational incentives and time perspectives in predicting emigration intention and potential migrants’ agency, after accounting for socio-demographic variables. Furthermore, to strengthen the estimation of the effect of education on outmigration propensity, we included respondents’ grade attainment in their current educational level (upper secondary education), their highest intended level of education, and their parents’ level of education. Drawing on psychosocial conceptualisations (Bandura, 2001; Zimbardo and Boyd, 1999) this quantitative study was conducted on a representative sample of 1973 students enrolled in the final grade of upper secondary schools in Serbia. A three-step hierarchical multiple regression analysis was employed for this purpose. The results reveal that emigration intention, as well as potential migrants’ agency, cannot be predicted only based on socio-demographic characteristics. However, motivational incentives are important correlates of both emigration intention and migrants’ agency. Social motivation¬al incentives tend to reduce both emigration intention and migrants’ agency, while economy-related motivational incentives tend to increase emigration intention and migrants’ agency. On the other hand, while time perspectives are not significantly agency. Concretely, present hedonistic and future time perspective orientations tend to increase migrants’ agency. The findings indicate the need for a more differentiated approach in theoretical, empirical and policy considerations.

The effect of siblings’ sex ratio on physical capital, human capital, and gendered time use among adolescents in Ethiopia

We examine the role of siblings’ sex ratio on adolescents’ physical and human capital development, as well as gendered time allocation using data from the Young Lives project in Ethiopia. We use BMI-for-age and Weight-for-age to measure physical capital and grade attainment and scores in Mathematics and English tests as human capital indicators. Gendered time use is proxied by the hours per day the adolescent spends doing traditionally female-specific chores. Our identification strategy relies on the absence of sex-selective reproduction in our study area which implies that for a given number of siblings, their sex ratio should be exogenous. Our results show that having relatively more brothers than sisters increases both physical and human capital for adolescents, typically with a stronger effect for boys. Yet it also increases girls’ time spent on traditionally female-specific tasks, especially in the rural areas. This points to a complex relationship between siblings’ sex composition and long-term life outcomes for women.

Pre-registration nursing students' anxiety and academic concerns after the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: A cross-sectional study

BackgroundThe pandemic and its related social restrictions have led to many uncertainties in nurse education, including the fear of infection in clinical learning settings and the challenge of remote learning. The modification of clinical and academic environments generated anxiety and academic concerns among nursing students. ObjectivesTo explore the main determinants of anxiety related to the clinical and classroom environments in nurse education after the second wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic. DesignMulticentre cross-sectional study. SettingsTen universities offering nursing bachelor programs in central and southern Italy. ParticipantsA convenience sample of 842 nursing students. MethodsFrom April to July 2021, the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale and the Altered Student Study Environment Tool were administered to assess, respectively, students' anxiety and their concerns about the study environment. A regression model was tested. ResultsMost of the nursing students were female (76.6 %), living with family (70.9 %), and full-time students (85.7 %); 44.6 % were third-year of Bachelor in Nursing students. The majority of the participants (88.5 %) showed a level of anxiety. The statistically significant predictors of anxiety levels were concerns about grade attainment (β=0.42, p < 0.001) in the total sample, and, among the first-year students, the completion of clinical placement (β=0.14, p = 0.047). ConclusionsResults suggest a need for the redesign of teaching activities and clinical learning experiences to ensure academic outcomes and to preserve students' psychological well-being. Models of learning environments' dynamic adaptation and ongoing psychological support should be implemented to develop tailored interventions.

Development and Evaluation of the Altered Student Study Environment Tool: A Tool to Measure Nursing Student Concerns Relating to Academic Progression During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Rapid alterations to study environments during COVID-19 raised concerns for nursing students about their academic progression. The study aim was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Altered Student Study Environment Tool (ASSET) and the relationship between students' concerns, demographics, COVID-19-related knowledge, and communication received from the university. The 11-item ASSET and investigator-developed questions were administered to prelicensure nursing students using an anonymous online survey. Responses were obtained from 234 students. Exploratory factor analysis supported a three-factor structure, namely, attending clinical placement, completion of clinical placement, and grade attainment. Students with higher scores on knowledge had significantly lower concerns for the subscale attending clinical placement. Full-time students had significantly higher concerns for the subscale completion of clinical placement. The ASSET is a valid and reliable instrument that can be used to measure concerns relating to the effects of altered study environments on academic progression.

Impacts of two-year multisectoral cash plus programs on young adolescent girls\u2019 education, health and economic outcomes: Adolescent Girls Initiative-Kenya (AGI-K) randomized trial

BackgroundEarly adolescence is a critical window for intervention when it is possible to lay a foundation for a safe transition to adulthood, before negative outcomes occur. The Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya randomized trial tested the effects of combinations of interventions for young adolescent girls in two sites – the Kibera informal settlement in Nairobi and rural Wajir County in the Northeastern region.MethodsThe interventions included community dialogues on the role and value of girls (violence prevention), a conditional cash transfer (education), weekly group meetings for girls with health and life skills training (health), and training and incentives for financial literacy and savings activities (wealth creation). Participants were randomized to one of four study arms: 1) violence prevention only, 2) violence prevention and education, 3) violence prevention, education and health or 4) violence prevention, education, health and wealth creation. An intent-to-treat (ITT) analysis was conducted using longitudinal data to estimate the impact of each combination of interventions and various sensitivity analyses conducted addressing potential attrition bias and multiple hypothesis testing concerns.ResultsIn Kibera, the education conditional cash transfer had small effects on grade attainment but larger impacts on completion of primary school and the transition to secondary school in the most comprehensive arm; the health intervention improved sexual and reproductive health knowledge and condom self-efficacy; and the wealth intervention improved financial literacy and savings behavior. In Wajir, the education conditional cash transfer increased school enrollment and grade attainment, and the wealth intervention improved savings behavior.ConclusionsThe results indicate that when trying to improve a range of outcomes related to adolescent wellbeing for young girls, a multisectoral intervention with components addressing household economic constraints is a promising approach.Trial registrationTrial Registry: ISRCTN, ISRCTN77455458. Registered 24/12/2015 - Retrospectively registered.

Education, Child Marriage, and Work Outcomes Among Young People in Rural Malawi

PurposeSchool attainment has increased and gender gaps narrowed in many settings without commensurate declines in child marriage and with persistent gender gaps in work. This paper investigates whether child marriage changes young people’s ability to translate education into paid work in rural Malawi. MethodsUsing data from a longitudinal study of adolescents in rural Malawi followed through young adulthood, individual-level fixed-effects regressions that account for time-invariant factors were used to investigate differences in child marriage status on the extent to which grade attainment, reading, and numeracy skills lead to higher participation in paid work and reduce participation in unpaid work. Gender differences in these relationships were explored. ResultsPrevalence of child marriage is high for young women (53% vs. 6% for men), and participation in paid work low (7% vs. 42% for men). Attainment of six grades among young married women and nine grades among young married men was associated with paid work irrespective of child marriage. Reading with comprehension in two languages was associated with paid work for young men married as adults (coefficient = .27, p ≤ .01). Numeracy was associated with paid work among unmarried young women (coefficient = .04, p ≤ .01). Negative associations between grade attainment and unpaid work were found for young women married at ages 16–17 and unmarried, while positive associations were found for young unmarried men. ConclusionsThe relationship between education and work among young people in Malawi is compromised by related challenges of poor learning and continued high levels of child and young adult marriage.

Simulation training and professional self-confidence: A large-scale study of third year nursing students

BackgroundWhile hands-on training is a prerequisite for successful education of nursing students, constraints on clinical training availability and quality have increased focus on effects of in-school simulation training. However, existing research has produced inconsistent conclusions and the literature lacks high-powered evidence from controlled trials. ObjectivesTo test effects of a simulation scheme on student professional self-confidence in technical and non-technical skills, as well as to investigate effects on knowledge acquisition and interaction with clinical training. DesignField experiment, treatment is a three + two day simulation training scheme while control is a standard three hour simulation session. Self-confidence in a list of technical and non-technical skills is measured in three survey-rounds. Enriched with data on type of clinical training site and grade attainment. SettingUniversity College Copenhagen Department of Nursing, all third year students in 2019. Participants352 in cohort, out of which 316 participated and 311 answered first survey round (163 in treatment, 148 in control). MethodsField experiment analyzed utilizing multivariate OLS regression analysis. ResultsStudents who receive increased simulation training report markedly higher levels of professional self-confidence immediately after training. This effect is double the size for confidence in technical skills, compared to non-technical skills. The effects on self-confidence in technical skills persist at the end of the following semester for those that receive low intensity clinical training. Students who receive the treatment see a small (and statistically uncertain) relative increase in grade attainment in the semester of treatment, but this difference dissipates over time. ConclusionsSimulation training has substantial positive short-term effects for the professional self-confidence of nursing students and appears to have small positive effects on knowledge acquisition. Most of these effects are crowded out by other factors (notably intensive clinical training) over time but might have long-term positive effects for those that do not receive other intensive hands-on experiences. This is interpreted as an indication that simulation training can be used to compensate for uncertainties in providing sufficient training experiences outside of academic training.

Effects of Principals’ Provision of Teaching and Learning Materials on Students’ Perfomance in Mathematics in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in Meru County

In the past few years, Mathematics performance among secondary school learners in Meru County has been decreasing. The current study aims to evaluate various administrative strategies used by principals and their effects on learners’ grade attainment in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Educationin Meru County. The study examines ways through which principals support mathematics teachers through trainings, seminars, workshops and how the support is translated into students’ performance. The study adopted ex post facto design to collect data and analyze the information for conclusion. The researcher analyzed KCSE data over the previous 5 years in Meru County, interviewed the principals, and designed questionnaire for Mathematics teachers. A total of 836 Mathematics teachers and 299 principals across the county were targeted.Using stratified and random sampling, only 251 Mathematics teachers and 92 principals were engaged, which accounts for only 30% of the target. The researcher used split half technique to test reliability and instrument piloting to ensure validity of the data. The study concluded that principals provided little support to Mathematics teachers to attend seminars and workshops. However, principals defended this by citing low resource budget allocations and inadequate resources to support teachers’ seminars and workshops. The findings of the current study can be used by education ministry, school administrator, teachers, and other stakeholders during the decision-making.

Using learning profiles to inform education priorities: An editors’ overview of the Special Issue

This special issue explores the use of learning profiles for analysing the dynamics of low learning in low- and middle-income countries and informing priorities to address the learning crisis. The 12 papers in the special issue draw on learning data from more than 50 countries and 6 million individuals, with implications for education policy and practice. Taken together, they point to a need to steepen learning trajectories by prioritizing early mastery of foundational skills for all children. The papers show that addressing the learning crisis will not be achieved through more school grade attainment alone, nor through within-country equality across groups (such as girls and boys or rich and poor). Positive examples show that programs focused on foundational learning both improved average learning and reduced inequality. Addressing the learning crisis will require a focus on systems improvement, using foundational learning as a case in point for making the needed systems improvements to steepen learning throughout children’s time in school. Learning profiles can provide a guide for education actors aiming to improve learning outcomes.

Effective investment in women's futures: Schooling with learning

Women's schooling has long been regarded as one of the best investments in development. Yet countries vary widely in the extent to which a year of schooling conveys useful skills and knowledge and hence schooling and education cannot be treated as synonyms. Using two different cross-nationally comparable data sets which contain measures of schooling, assessments of literacy, and life outcomes for more than 50 countries we show the association of women's education, defined as schooling and the acquisition of literacy, with four life outcomes (fertility, child mortality, empowerment, and financial practices) is much larger than the standard estimates of the gains from schooling alone. In our preferred instrumental variables (IV) estimates, that correct for the attenuation bias induced by measurement error, the gain from education is more than 3 times larger than the standard OLS estimates of gains from schooling alone. While our results are not causal estimates, if anything like our results are true in the causal pathways whereby schooling and learning lead to improvements in women's well-being this implies the estimates of the costs and benefits of expansions in grade attainment versus improving learning need to be adjusted accordingly.

Learning equity requires more than equality: Learning goals and achievement gaps between the rich and the poor in five developing countries⋆

Whereas the MDG was a simple schooling goal the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have a number of targets for learning. Target 4.1 specifies not just that all children complete primary and secondary school but that this schooling leads to “relevant and effective learning outcomes” and Indicator 4.1.1 tracks progress goal using the proportion of children reaching “minimum proficiency” at early (grade 2/3), intermediate (primary complete) and late (end if lower secondary) stages of basic education with the aim that "all youth…achieve literacy and numeracy" (Target 4.6). We use the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) data from India and Pakistan, and Uwezo data from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda that assess all children in a given age range, whether in school or not, on simple measures of learning in math, reading (local language), and English, to quantify how much achieving within country equality between the richest 20 percent and the poorest 40 percent in (a) grade attainment and (b) learning achievement by grade would contribute to an SDG-like global equity goal of universal numeracy and literacy for all children by age 12−13. We have three empirical findings. First, except in Kenya equalizing grade attainment between children from rich and poor households would lead to only modest progress in achieving universal numeracy, closing only between 8% (India) and 25 % (Pakistan) of the existing gap to universal literacy. Second, equalizing the learning profiles, that is, closing the gap in learning for children in the same grade between those from the poorest 40 percent of households and the richest 20 percent, would close between 16 % (Pakistan and Uganda) and 34 % (India) of the gap to universal numeracy, and between 13 % (Uganda) and 44 % (India) of the gap to universal literacy. Third, even with complete equality in grade attainment and learning achievement with children from the richest 20 percent children from poorer households still be far from the equity goal of universal numeracy and literacy, as even children from the richest 20 percent of households are far from universal mastery of basic reading and math by ages 12−13. In the currently low performing countries achieving universal literacy and numeracy to reach even a minimal proficiency of global equity goal will require more than just closing the rich-poor learning gap, it will take progress in learning for all.

Critically Analysing the Ethical Dilemmas Arising from Lecturer and Student Relationships at the University: Pushing Social Boundaries for Institutional Revolution

The basis of the ethical dilemma discussed in this article is the controversy surrounding the personal relationship between a student and their lecturer. The social constructs of university highlight that the potential for any friendship or relationship within the institution is very uncommon and both parties usually assume that integration of their social groups cannot take place. Many people argue that the relationship of this nature can adversely affect grade attainment and fairness of judgement. We assess and reflect upon the merits of this conventional view by drawing upon a real-life case-study involving the first author (a lecturer) and the remaining six authors (his students). After considering the various arguments on both sides, and drawing upon authors such as Freud, Marx, and Sartre, we conclude that, if individuals remain honest, the relationship can only mean a greater understanding for the student and a lesser alienation complex for both parties.

Aiming higher: Learning profiles and gender equality in 10 low- and middle-income countries

Global education goals have many aims, among them universal basic schooling, universal literacy and numeracy, and gender equality. We use unique, nationally representative data on adult learning outcomes to examine the link between schooling and literacy in ten low- and middle-income countries. We simulate scenarios of increasing school grade attainment, increasing learning per year, and achieving gender equality, and examine learning outcomes in each. In six of the ten countries only about half or less of younger adults (aged 18−37) with primary completion as their highest schooling can read a few sentences without help. Simulations show that achieving universal primary completion would still leave many adults functionally illiterate: in India nearly a third of adults would still be unable to read. Our simulations further show that, while achieving equality of schooling attainment would produce improvements in women’s literacy, in many countries this would still leave a third of women unable to read. Gender equality of learning per year produces very little gain as, once in school, girls’ learning nearly matches that of boys. In nearly all countries steepening the learning profiles for all students to the best-performing of the ten countries would lead to greater gains in literacy for women than achieving gender equality in both schooling and learning. Achieving learning for all will require both eliminating gender gaps but also improving how much is learned while in school.

Grade inflation versus grade improvement: Are our students getting more intelligent?

The move from elite to mass systems of higher education has been accompanied by concerns relating to the quality of provision and standards, particularly in relation to the increasing proportion of higher grades awarded to students. Bayesian multilevel models were used to investigate the temporal trend of grade attainment in 101 higher education providers across the UK, between the 2009/10 and 2018/19 academic years, to understand if rising grades are due to inflation or a consequence of improvements across the higher education system. The results suggest a much more positive and proactive picture of a higher education system that is engaged in a process of continuous enhancement. The unexplained variables, rather than automatically being labelled as grade inflation, should instead point to a need to investigate further the local institutional contextual factors that inform grade distribution. The deficit lens through which ‘grade inflation’ is often perceived is a damaging and unhelpful distraction. Measures, such as improved assessment literacy, are suggested as approaches that the sector could adopt to further develop its understanding of grade improvement as opposed to grade inflation.