Declining trends in student performance in lower secondary education

Abstract

Student performance is related to motivation to learn. As motivation generally declines during lower secondary education, one might expect performance to decline as well during this period. Though, until now, it has been unclear whether this pattern exists. In the present study, we examined student performance during the early years of secondary education from a developmental perspective. Participants were 1544 Dutch secondary school students across three grades (grades 7 to 9). To investigate student performance trends, we analysed report card grades by using hierarchical linear modelling with two levels (level 1, time point; level 2, student). Potential moderators to be examined were (1) gender, (2) school type and (3) initial level. A linear decline in report card grades from grade 7 to 9 was found for boys and girls, in all school types, and regardless of initial level. Two variables moderated the steepness of the decline: school type and initial level. Gender and school type had a main effect on performance level. The same pattern was observed for the subset of 'core subjects'-Dutch, English and mathematics. Motivational and cognitive factors that may explain the performance decline are discussed.

Relations of autonomous and controlled motivation with performance in secondary school students’ favoured and disfavoured subjects

“…A report card grade for a specific subject is the average of multiple test scores a student has obtained throughout the school year. In a previous longitudinal study, we have shown that report card grade levels tend to decrease between the first and third year of secondary education (Wijsman, Warrens, Saab, Van Driel, & Westenberg, 2016). This means that, on average, students at the beginning of their secondary education start with higher report card grades than they have in their third year, while the standards are the same in all years.…”

“…Gender and school year (first or second) were also included in the study as control variables, as it has been demonstrated that these factors influence motivation and achievement levels (Wijsman et al, 2016), and the relationship between motivation and achievement (Freudenthaler, Spinath, & Neubauer, 2008).…”

Αντιλήψεις Παιδιών Για Την Ποιότητα Των Διαπροσωπικών Τους Σχέσεων Στη Σχολική Τάξη Και Τα Κίνητρά Τους Για Μάθηση

“…Ο Πίνακας 3 παρουσιάζει τις παραγοντικές φορτίσεις που προέκυψαν καθώς και τους συντελεστές αξιοπιστίας εσωτερικής συνέπειας alpha. De Boer et al, 2013• Peetsma et al, 2005• Wijsman, et al, 2016• Wijsman et al, 2019.…”

Mothers and Fathers—Who Matters for STEM Performance? Gender-Specific Associations Between STEM Performance, Parental Pressure, and Support During Adolescence

“…From T1 to T2 the dropout rate amounts 22.33% of participating students. The study focuses on this specific age group, as some studies indicate an achievement drop in school during this time period (Dohn, 1991;Wijsman et al, 2016). Initially, (1) written permission of the ethical committee of the Hoorn, Youth, and Sport (MBJS) of Brandenburg, (2) school consensus, and (3) both parents' and students' written and informed consensus was obtained.…”