Student Context, Student Attitudes and Behavior, and Academic Achievement
Student Context, Student Attitudes and Behavior, and Academic Achievement: An Exploratory Analysis — Overview
Through path analysis modeling techniques applied to data collected in MDRC's evaluation of the First Things First school reform initiative in a large urban school district, the paper explores the influence of two psychological variables --- student engagement and perceived academic competence --- on achievement in reading and mathematics.
This study's findings may have important implications for understanding how students learn in the classroom.
But the study departs from earlier work in suggesting that perceived academic competence may be more influential than engagement in boosting achievement in both mathematics and reading.
Indeed, analyses indicate that perceived competence had a stronger influence on subsequent engagement than engagement had on students' perceptions of themselves as competent learners.
The findings also make clear that supportive teachers and clear and high expectations about behavior are key to the development of both student engagement and perceived competence.
