Individual Academic Achievement Research Articles

Changing the narrative on African American boys: A systemic approach to school success

Despite progress over the past decade in math and reading, proficiency scores of African American boys continue to trail behind those of White, Latino, and Asian male counterparts. African American boys’ reading and math disparities have been attributed to the negative portrayal and the pervasive deficit-oriented discourse about these young men. Using salient characteristics of organizational culture as a framework, this paper offers strategies for creating a culturally responsive environment that supports and promotes high academic performance among African American boys. Attention is given to policy, practice, personnel, programs, and process in schools and their role in culturally competent approaches for improving schools and individual academic achievement.

Constructing false consciousness: vocational college students’ aspirations and agency in China

ABSTRACT Individual academic achievement is highly valued in Chinese society, with vocational education students positioned at the bottom of the educational hierarchy and suffering considerable societal prejudice. In this paper we present new findings from the choice-making experiences of students in two vocational education colleges in China, how they are perceived by their teachers, and how, in the context of their negatively-stereotyped status, they perceive themselves. Drawing on the Marxist notion of false consciousness to help understand the agency of these students, we found that almost all perceived themselves as being agentic and having control over their destiny. They felt they only had themselves to blame for the stereotyping to which they were subjected. One student had not adopted this mindset and was critical of the exam system. We argue that the perceived agency of the majority of the students resonates strongly with the neoliberal values which are associated with responsibilisation, and which have been encouraged in China since the 1970s with the beginning of the Reform Era. The evidence from our study also suggests, however, that it is possible for young people , by their own efforts, to move away from the state of false consciousness.

Associations Between 24-Hour Time Use and Academic Achievement in Australian Primary School-Aged Children.

Previous research has examined associations between individual activity behaviors and academic achievement. Yet activity behaviors should be analyzed together because they are codependent parts of the 24-hour day. This study aims to explore the associations between all daily activity behaviors (sleep, sedentary time, light physical activity [LPA], and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [MVPA]) and academic achievement using compositional data analysis. Participants for this study were drawn from two cohorts: the Australian arm of the cross-sectional International Study of Childhood Obesity, Lifestyle and the Environment (n = 452; mean age 10.7 years (SD = 0.4); 54% female) and CheckPoint (n = 1278; mean age 12 years [SD = 0.4]; 50% female), a cross-sectional study nested between Waves 6 and 7 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. Objective daily activity behavior data (sleep, sedentary time, LPA, and MVPA) were collected using 8-day, 24-hour accelerometry. Academic achievement was assessed using a nationally administered standardized test in literacy (spelling, grammar and punctuation, writing and reading) and numeracy. Compositional models (adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomic position, and pubertal development) regressed academic scores against isometric log ratios of activity behaviors. We used the models to estimate academic achievement for observed daily activity mixes. Estimated outcomes were plotted against time spent in each individual activity domain, and loess curves were fitted. In two different cohorts using two different accelerometers, lower LPA was related to better numeracy and literacy and higher sedentary time to better literacy (relative to time spent in other domains). Discussion and conclusion. LPA likely "drains time" from other movement behaviors, which are beneficial for academic achievement.

Examining the hard, peer, and teacher scaffolding framework in inquiry-based technology-enhanced learning environments: impact on academic achievement and group performance

The purpose of this study was to examine how students’ academic achievement and group performance related to their perceptions of the usefulness of hard, peer, and teacher scaffolds. A single instrumental case approach that integrated quantitative and qualitative analysis was employed for this study, which involved data gathered from 163 students in a ninth-grade biology course. Statistical results suggest that the students’ perceived usefulness of hard scaffolding, followed by peer scaffolding, was the most significant variable to predict individual academic achievement. However, only the perceived usefulness of peer scaffolding was found to be a significant predictor of group performance. This finding empirically points to the positive impact that student perceptions of the usefulness of hard, peer, and teacher scaffolds may have on students’ individual academic achievement and group performance in IBL (inquiry-based learning) activities.

Error monitoring and daily life executive functioning

Error monitoring during task execution is reflected in post-error slowing (PES), which refers to the tendency to slow down performance after making an error in order to prevent future mistakes. The key question of the present study is whether poor error monitoring (reduced magnitude of PES) has negative consequences for daily life executive function skills, as well as functioning in different life settings such as work, family, social, and academic settings. Eighty-five university students performed a lexical decision task and completed The Executive Function Index Scale (EFI), and the Weiss Functional Impairments Rating Scale (WFIRS). Individual academic achievement was measured using the Grade Point Average. Statistical analysis revealed that a decreased magnitude of PES was weakly associated with less efficient planning (one of the executive functions). Results suggest that error monitoring, as measured by PES, was not associated with functioning in a naturalistic environment, but could be interpreted to some extent as an experimental marker of planning in daily life executive functioning.

Adolescents' academic engagement mediates the association between Internet addiction and academic achievement: The moderating effect of classroom achievement norm

Although the association between Internet addiction and academic achievement has been widely observed in adolescents in recent years, little is known about the mechanisms of Internet addiction and its adverse effects on academic achievement in terms of individual factors and classroom contexts. The present study examined the relationship between Internet addiction and academic outcomes, the mediating role of academic engagement, and the cross-level moderating effect of classroom achievement norm. By using a short-term longitudinal design, two-wave data were obtained from 2407 students from 47 classes in China over six-months. A multilevel structural equation model was used to explain the nested data structure. Results indicated that the negative effect of Internet addiction on adolescents' later academic achievement was mediated by academic engagement and disaffection at the individual level. Furthermore, classroom achievement norm moderated the association between academic disaffection and achievement, with a significant indirect effect in the high classroom achievement norm classes and a non-significant effect in the low classroom achievement norm classes. These results held after controlling for an individual's gender, age and academic achievement in the first term at the individual level and the class size and school at the classroom level. In conclusion, this study reveals the internal mechanism of how students' Internet addiction leads to the decline of academic achievement. It also provids a practical and effective outlook on the prevention and intervention of the negative effects of Internet addiction in the future teaching practice from the perspective of personal motivation and classroom environment.

Religion and youth educational aspirations: a multilevel approach

ABSTRACTPrevious research has demonstrated that individual religious beliefs and practices are associated with educational outcomes. However, less is known about the manner in which the overall religious cultural influence of a religion can affect an individual’s educational aspirations. Using multilevel analyses on two waves of the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) merged with county-level variables from the US Census, and the Religious Congregations and Membership Study (RCMS), the study shows that a county’s higher Jewish population share is associated with a higher level of educational aspirations for the youth, regardless of being Jewish or not. This Jewish contextual effect remains robust even after controlling a wide range of individual and county-level variables, such as individual academic achievement and religious identity. Consistent with the relevant theory and literature, the negative main effect of county-level conservative Protestant population share on educational aspirations is explained by county-level socioeconomic characteristics. The same mechanism is used in part to explain the initially positive relationship between Catholic population share and educational aspirations. Finally, the study highlights the importance of using a multilevel approach to examine and provide understanding of the relationship between religious influence and educational outcomes.

Peer Effects and Scholastic Achievement: Regression Discontinuity Estimates Using the Age Sorting Criterion in the Composition of Classrooms

This paper evaluates the influence of the classmates’ age on individual academic achievement. The identification strategy explores a mechanism for the division of classes based on age homogeneity, with cutoff value determined by the Brazilian law of age at school entry. Fuzzy regression discontinuity estimates a local average treatment effect of 2.34 standard deviations favorable to students assigned to class with older peers, in comparison to those allocated to classes with younger classmates. The empirical estimations use a unique educational dataset originated from the Brazilian Ministry of Education, which provides a large information set related to the student’s scholar environment.

A Saúde dos Amigos de Sala de Aula Interfere no Desempenho Escolar do Aluno?

Resumo Este artigo tem como objetivo investigar se existe alguma relação entre a saúde dos amigos e o desempenho acadêmico de alunos do 6º ano de escolas públicas da cidade do Recife. As estimações empíricas utilizam uma pesquisa da Fundação Joaquim Nabuco (Fundaj 2013) que traz informações cruciais para as estratégias de identificação propostas. Essas estratégias baseiam-se: (i) na arquitetura de redes de amizades em sala de aula composta por grupos de referência heterogêneos, (ii) na utilização de uma avaliação longitudinal do desempenho em duas provas de matemática, (iii) no controle do efeito fixo da rede e (iv) em estimações de modelos espaciais utilizando a matriz de amizades da turma. Os resultados demonstram que os alunos apresentam melhor desempenho acadêmico quando se relacionam com amigos de sala de aula que possuem um bom estado geral de saúde. Um aumento de 1 desvio padrão (d.p.) na proporção de amigos saudáveis, leva a um acréscimo de aproximadamente 9% do d.p. da nota média de matemática do aluno ao final do ano letivo.

Are we allowing impact factor to have too much impact: The need to reassess the process of academic advancement in pediatric cardiology?

Impact factor has been used as a metric by which to gauge scientific journals for several years. A metric meant to describe the performance of a journal overall, impact factor has also become a metric used to gauge individual performance as well. This has held true in the field of pediatric cardiology where many divisions utilize impact factor of journals that an individual has published in to help determine the individual's academic achievement. This subsequently can impact the individual's promotion through the academic ranks. We review the purpose of impact factor, its strengths and weaknesses, discuss why impact factor is not a fair metric to apply to individuals, and offer alternative means by which to gauge individual performance for academic promotion.

Class Composition Effects and School Welfare: Evidence From Portugal Using Panel Data

Using student-level longitudinal data of 6th graders I estimate class composition effects impacting on individual academic achievement. The richness of the dataset allows to tackle endogeneity stemming from between and within-school non-random sorting of students and of teachers and other confounding factors through the inclusion of many control covariates that characterize the students’ cumulative process of learning and several fixed effects, namely school, teacher and cohort fixed effects. I find that increasing the percentage of high achievers, in a 6th grade class, has a negative effect on student performance. Larger shares of low-income classmates improve performance for non-low-income students. The shares of male and foreign students yield non or faintly significant results. Using the setup of a particular school, representative of the sample, I also compute improving classrooms’ allocation of students by rearranging the existing students through the existing classes using the estimates of the education production function and different social welfare functions. This way I assess how the actual distribution of students across classes of a given school-grade deviate from what can be considered an improving distribution of classmates. Pareto improving allocations were not found, nevertheless utilitarian welfare functions yield marginally improving allocations.

Coming from Somewhere Else: Group engagement between students and academics

The present political and economic climate for universities can promote competitive learning and anxieties about individual students' academic achievements. It can inhibit the enjoyment and skill in shared learning. Group work can provide a creative, empowering avenue so students become proactive in their learning and engage more equally with academics. It has potential to enhance intellectual ability as well as social and emotional wellbeing, yet careful planning is essential to achieve this. This paper addresses the shortfall of prioritising assessment over relationships and identifies how relationships are central in preparation for assessment. It draws upon an ethnographic, qualitative and emancipatory approach to research. This approach enabled students to initiate the research focus and design of the last session. The paper identifies how the group was set up, developed and what it achieved. It makes recommendations for overcoming some tensions and fears that can inhibit effective group work so that social and emotional equity inspires intellectual development.

КОНЦЕПЦІЯ ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ ПІДГОТОВКИ МАЙБУТНІХ ФАХІВЦІВ З ТУРИЗМОЗНАВСТВА У ВИЩИХ НАВЧАЛЬНИХ ЗАКЛАДАХ

The article substantiates that the methodological basis of professional training of future masters of tourism have an approaches: systemic, structural, acmeology, the activity, the operational, praxeology, competence, cultural, information, innovation, value, creative personality; and also, principles of general didactics (humanization, democratization, activity, scientific, systematic, knowledge of the sequence of skills, awareness, communication theory and practice, independence, clarity, thoroughness, availability of training, taking into account individual characteristics of students, emotional learning, a combination of collective and individual, spirituality) and special (citizenship, communication, interdisciplinary, multilevel, continuity, bustling, multicultural, social relevance, feasibility and socio morphic) principles teaching. Also, the study found that the training of future masters of tourism is so important: social; personal; culturological; humanitarian; political. Substantiating the concept of training of future masters of tourism, we made sure that this training is holistic educational system that is based on an integrated approach to designing the content, harmonious combination of traditional and modern computer-oriented methods and teaching aids, and conventional forms of distance educational process; and personal approach that provides not only a comprehensive development of future masters of tourism, but the gradual formation of readiness for professional tourism activity according to individual capabilities, abilities, personal qualities and academic achievements.

COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING: ALTERNATIVE COUNSELING TECHNIQUES TO REDUCTION ACADEMIC PROCRASTINATION

Procrastination is often experienced by almost everyone, including students who often delay to resolve any responsibility in the academic process that would decrease the individual academic achievement. cognitive restructuring is one of the cognitive techniques used in counseling in addition to cognitive behavioral techniques (behavioral) and didaktif techniques. This technique has several procedures by focusing on identifying an effort and changing dysfunctional thoughts or negative self-statements into a new belief that is more rational and adaptive, which will affect more rational behavior anyway. Cognitive restructuring techniques assessed to be an alternative counseling techniques in reducing academic procrastination.

The Journal Impact Factor: Moving Toward an Alternative and Combined Scientometric Approach

The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is a single citation metric, which is widely employed for ranking journals and choosing target journals, but is also misused as the proxy of the quality of individual articles and academic achievements of authors. This article analyzes Scopus-based publication activity on the JIF and overviews some of the numerous misuses of the JIF, global initiatives to overcome the ‘obsession’ with impact factors, and emerging strategies to revise the concept of the scholarly impact. The growing number of articles on the JIF, most of which are in English, reflects interest of experts in journal editing and scientometrics toward its uses, misuses, and options to overcome related problems. Solely displaying values of the JIFs on the journal websites is criticized by experts as these average metrics do not reflect skewness of citation distribution of individual articles. Emerging strategies suggest to complement the JIFs with citation plots and alternative metrics, reflecting uses of individual articles in terms of downloads and distribution of related information through social media and networking platforms. It is also proposed to revise the original formula of the JIF calculation and embrace the concept of the impact and importance of individual articles. The latter is largely dependent on ethical soundness of the journal instructions, proper editing and structuring of articles, efforts to promote related information through social media, and endorsements of professional societies.

Investigating the relationship among extracurricular activities, learning approach and academic outcomes: A case study

Learning effectiveness requires an understanding of the relationship among extracurricular activities, learning approach and academic performance and, it is argued, this helps educators develop techniques designed to enrich learning effectiveness. Biggs’ Presage–Process–Product model on student learning has identified the relationship among individual difference, learning approaches and academic achievement in higher education. Studies have typically revealed that the deep approach is positively associated with academic achievement. It is argued that extracurricular activities enhance students’ confidence in their ability which in turn encourages deep learning. Comparatively little is known about such relationship. The main aims of this study are to examine the effect of the learning approach on academic outcomes and the effect of extracurricular activities on the learning approach and academic outcomes. A total of 131 full-time students participated in this research using Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire to examine the fit of the variables to hypothesised model. The results indicate a positive relationship between deep approach and academic outcomes. Students with active involvement in extracurricular activities are more likely to use the deep approach.

Long-term health implications of school quality

ObjectiveIndividual academic achievement is a well-known predictor of adult health, and addressing education inequities may be critical to reducing health disparities. Disparities in school quality are well documented. However, we lack nationally representative studies evaluating the impact of school quality on adult health. We aim to determine whether high school quality predicts adult health outcomes after controlling for baseline health, socio-demographics and individual academic achievement. MethodsWe analyzed data from 7037 adolescents who attended one of 77 high schools in the Unites States and were followed into adulthood from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. Selected school-level quality measures—average daily attendance, school promotion rate, parental involvement, and teacher experience—were validated based on ability to predict high school graduation and college attendance. Individual adult health outcomes included self-rated health, diagnosis of depression, and having a measured BMI in the obese range. ResultsLogistic regressions controlling for socio-demographics, baseline health, health insurance, and individual academic performance demonstrated that school quality significantly predicted all health outcomes. As hypothesized, attending a school with lower average daily attendance predicted lower self-rated health (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) 1.59, p = 0.003) and higher odds of depression diagnosis (AOR 1.35, p = 0.03); and attending a school with higher parent involvement predicted lower odds of obesity (AOR 0.69, p = 0.001). However, attending a school with higher promotion rate also predicted lower self-rated health (AOR1.20, p < 0.001). ConclusionsHigh school quality may be an important, but complex, social determinant of health. These findings highlight the potential inter-dependence of education and health policy.

Investigating the Relationship between Extracurricular Activities, Learning Approaches and Academic Outcomes in Chinese Sub-degree Students

Biggs’s 3P model on student learning has identified the relationship among individual difference, learning approaches and academic achievement in higher education. Previous studies have typically revealed that the deep approach is positively associated with academic achievement. It is argued that extracurricular activities enhance students’ confident in their ability which encourage a deep motive in their learning. Comparatively little is known about such relationship in Hong Kong Chinese continuing education context especially for full-time sub-degree students under the new secondary school system in Hong Kong. The research aims to investigate the relationships of extracurricular activities, learning approaches and academic outcomes among Hong Kong Chinese sub-degree students. 131 full-time sub-degree students participated in this research on a voluntary basis by using Biggs’s Revised Two-Factor Study Processes Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) to examine the fit of the variables to hypothesized model. The results indicated that sub-degree students with lots of extracurricular activities experiences were more likely to use the deep approach.

Individual Needs, Cooperative Learning and Academic Achievement among University’s Students

Individual Needs, Cooperative Learning and Academic Achievement among University’s Students

The readiness of pedagogical personnel to realize the inclusive education in general educational institution

The dilemma between general pedagogical offer and individual needs of every student has been topical in all ages and now, too. An inclusive education now has been considered a new hope and a possible solution for the pedagogical dilemma – how to provide educational and development necessities of every child at comprehensive school. Teacher is a crucially essential person in the practice of inclusive education. The teachers mostly have to be professionally competent in order to reveal varied necessities, individual academic achievements, the social and culture environment, where these students live, of every student; and it provides an opportunity to find out how to facilitate academic achievements of every student most efficiently. The research reveals the work conditions of Latgale region teachers through the implementation of inclusive education at educational institutions of different level.