Review article

Psychosocial and educational determinants of primary school achievement: grasp of previous research

Toni Babarović orcid.org/0000-0003-0838-3205 ; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar
Josip Burušić orcid.org/0000-0002-0933-2189 ; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar
Marija Šakić ; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar

Abstract

This review presents the relevant scientific findings on the relation between primary school educational achievement and different student characteristics, elements of their social environment, features of schools, the teaching process and specific teachers’ characteristics. The relative contribution of each of the considered attributes in explaining school success and overall effectiveness of these predictors in a given prediction model are illustrated. Results of numerous studies have shown that the basic students’ characteristics, particularly their cognitive abilities, are the best predictors of school success. A much smaller part in the variability of educational achievement can be attributed to the characteristics of the student’s family and its wider social environment, while the rest can be accounted for by characteristics of teachers, elements of the teaching process and school features. In addition to these insights, the paper discusses the use of Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HML) as an adequate statistical-methodological approach in studying this phenomenon.

Keywords

school achievement; student characteristics; teachers; teaching; school; hierarchical linear modeling

Hrčak ID:

83098

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/83098

Publication date:

15.12.2010.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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