Academic Resilience and Achievement

This study uses narrative analysis to understand the ways in which Mexican university faculty members used their self-motivational resources to persist in an instructional technology training program within adverse work conditions. The methodology included interviews and participant observation. Findings suggest that faculty’s academic resilience was based on faculty’s self-definition as permanent learners and innovators, the perception of instruction as a field of reflection-in-action and systematization, and the caring instructional approach used by training instructors

Indonesian Students' Social-emotional Competencies and Their English Academic Achievement

In Indonesian secondary schools, young learners might have some difficulties such as lack of motivation, lack of confidence and disengagement in learning English, which contribute to the level of their social-emotional competencies (SEC). This study was conducted to investigate the relations between 103 seventh graders' SEC and their English academic achievement. This study provided not only the correlation but also the results of the students' SEC, their English academic achievement, and the contribution of the students' SEC to their English academic achievement. The collected data from the SEC questionnaire and documentation were analyzed by using Pearson Correlation. The results highlighted that there was a significant weak correlation (r-obtained=0.367) between the students' SEC and their English academic achievement. Moreover, there was 12.6% contribution of the students' SEC to their English academic achievement. Therefore, it is possible that social-emotional competencies may enhance students' English academic performance

The Relationships between Fine Arts Course Enrollment and Middle School and High School Academic Ratings, Campus Rating Improvement and Graduation Rates in Texas Public Schools

Research continues to demonstrate a correlation between the study of fine arts and overall academic achievement. To explore this relationship of fine arts participation to academic achievement in Texas schools, the Texas Coalition for Quality Arts Education, together with Texas Music Educators Association (a TCQAE participating organization) collected data regarding campus academic achievement ratings, campus rating improvement, graduation rates, and fine arts enrollment from 2006 to 2010 as reported by public schools across Texas

Cultural identity and academic achievement among Māori undergraduate university students

Cultural identity and academic achievement were investigated among a nonrandom sample of 72 undergraduate Māori university students studying at Massey University. Student problems were examined to identify the types of difficulties most prevalent among this population. The degree to which cultural identity moderates the relationship between student problems and academic achievement was then examined. Major findings were that (a) there is a consistent negative relationship between student problems and academic achievement; and (b) cultural identity moderates the effect of student problems on academic achievement, in that: a high degree of problems were associated with decreases in grade point average among respondents with low cultural identity; while among respondents with high cultural identity, high levels of student problems had little negative effect on grade point average. Despite the study having limitations, the findings have important implications for Māori students, deliverers of tertiary education, tertiary education providers, and those involved in the development and implementation of tertiary education policy

Adaptability: Does Students’ Adjustment to University Predict Their Mid-Course Academic Achievement and Satisfaction?

Individual differences in ‘adaptability’–cognitive, behavioural, and emotional adjustment in the face of change, novelty, and uncertainty–are theorised to influence students’ academic achievement and course satisfaction; although the literature examining these relations in tertiary education is sparse. In the present study, first-year undergraduate students were surveyed for their adaptability, academic buoyancy, and academic motivation (predictor variables) along with their mid-course academic achievement and course satisfaction (outcome variables). Correlation analyses revealed that adaptability was significantly associated with all other variables in this study. Multiple regression analyses revealed that after controlling for individual differences in academic buoyancy and academic motivation, adaptability explained unique variance in both academic achievement and course satisfaction. These findings have important implications for researchers and educators seeking to understand first-year students’ adjustment to university and the influence this may have on their educational outcomes.</p

Educational Reform and Disadvantaged Students: Are They Better Off or Worse Off?

This paper analyzes the effects of increased academic standards on both average achievement levels and on equality of opportunity. The five policies evaluated are: (1) universal curriculum-Based External Exit Exam Systems, (2) voluntary curriculum-based external exit exam systems with partial coverage such as New York State Regents exams in 1992, (3) state minimum competency graduation tests, (4) state defined minimums for the total number of courses students must take and pass to get a high school diploma and (5) state defined minimums for the number of academic courses necessary to get a diploma. We use international data to evaluate the effects of CBEEES. High school graduation standards differ a lot across states in the U.S. This allowed us to measure policy effects on student achievement and labor market success after high school by comparing states in a multiple regression framework. Our analysis shows that only two of the policies examined deliver on increasing everyone’s achievement and also reduce achievement gaps: universal CBEEES and higher academic course graduation requirements. Other policies were less successful in raising achievement and enhancing equality of opportunity

The role of social relationships in the association between adolescents' depressive symptoms and academic achievement

While research has established that depression interferes with academic achievement, less is understood about the processes by which social relationships may buffer the relationship between depression and academic outcomes. In this study we examined the role of positive relationships in the school, family and peer contexts in the association between depressive symptoms and academic achievement among 894 adolescents aged 12-17 years living in Santiago, Chile. Depressive symptoms were associated with lower levels of academic achievement; parental monitoring, school belonging, positive mother relationships, and having academically inclined peers moderated this relationship, though some interactions differed by sex and age. Implications for promoting the academic success of adolescents experiencing depressive symptoms are discussedR01 DA021181 - NIDA NIH HHS; R01 HD033487 - NICHD NIH HH

Relating emotional intelligence to academic achievement among university students in Barbados

This study investigated the relationships between emotional intelligence and academic achievement among 151 undergraduate psychology students at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Barbados, making use of Barchard (2001)’s Emotional Intelligence Scale and an Academic Achievement Scale. Findings revealed significant positive correlations between academic achievement and six of the emotional intelligence components, and a negative correlation with negative expressivity. The emotional intelligence components also jointly contributed 48% of the variance in academic achievement. Attending to emotions was the best predictor of academic achievement while positive expressivity, negative expressivity and empathic concern were other significant predictors. Emotion-based decision-making, responsive joy and responsive distress did not make any significant relative contribution to academic achievement, indicating that academic achievement is only partially predicted by emotional intelligence. These results were discussed in the context of the influence of emotional intelligence on university students’ academic achievement.peer-reviewe

Signaling, Incentives and School Organization in France, The Netherlands, Britain and the United States: Lessons for Education Economics

[Excerpt] What causes differences in secondary school achievement across these four nations? The first two sections of the paper describe the achievement differences among the four countries and examine the proximate causes of the differentials. I conclude that these achievement differentials are caused by differences in the quality of teachers and of student time and effort inputs devoted to academic achievement