School Achievement and Performance in Chilean High Schools: The Mediating Role of Subjective Wellbeing in School-Related Evaluations

Abstract

School achievement gaps and school failure are problematic issues in Latin America, and are mainly explained by the socio-economic status (SES) of the students. What schools can do to improve school achievement and reduce school failure is a critical issue, both for school management and teacher training. In this study, we present the association of individual and school-related socio-emotional variables with school achievement and performance, controlling for the effects of SES. A probabilistic sample of 4,964 students, drawn from 191 schools enrolled in year 10 in urban areas of Chile, answered questionnaires assessing subjective wellbeing, social wellbeing in school, school climate, school social wellbeing and students’ perceptions of teachers’ wellbeing. Using structural equation modeling, and controlling for SES, we modeled subjective wellbeing as a mediator of the relationship between school-related variables, such as school climate and perception of teacher’s wellbeing, and (a) school achievement, and (b) school performance. School achievement was computed as a product of (a) the probability of passing the school year, and (b) the percentage of yearly attendance at school. Data on school achievement was drawn from administrative registries from the Chilean Ministry of Education. School performance was computed as the estimated grade point average (GPA) at the end of the school year, based on the students’ previous 5-year GPAs, and was also obtained through administrative data of the last 5 years. Findings reveal the mediating role of subjective wellbeing in the relationship between school-related evaluations (students’ social wellbeing at school, their perception of teachers’ wellbeing and school climate) and school achievement. For school achievement, two variables were mediated (students’ social wellbeing at school and school climate). However, for school performance, no significant mediations were found. We conclude that, on the one hand, after controlling for SES, students’ individual subjective wellbeing is associated with their achievement and performance in school. We discuss the importance of improving school experiences that may protect and promote students’ subjective experience and school achievement and performance, and reduce the probability of school failure and dropout.

Association between social conditions and oral health in school failure

“…It was observed that 68.4% of the youngest people between 15 and 17 years old were attending school at the correct age and there were only 31.7% of people aged 18 to 24 years in this situation in 2017 22 . These findings indicated that there were important disparities in school failure in adolescents associated with demographic and social demands as they grow older, such as having to work, having to take care of household chores or even losing interest in studying 2 , 3 , 22 .…”

“…School failure was the outcome variable of the study and was evaluated by the following question: “Up to which grade did you study?” The answers were converted into years of study considering the first year of elementary school and repetitions 2 , 3 , 6 . To differentiate adolescents with at least two years of delay with regard to progress expected by age, the criterion of 11 years of studies was adopted for adolescents 18 to 19 years; 10 for those aged 17; 9 for those aged 16; and 8 for those aged 15, as performed in the study by Barbato et al (2009) 21 .…”

“…When students do not attend school at the correct age when they were supposed to have done so, according to the national normative standards, due to dropping out of school, grade repetition or late enrollment in school, this phenomenon is known as school failure or educational lag 2 . According to Psacharopoulos (2007) 3 , school failure “means that a school system is failing to provide services leading to learning, or that a student is failing to advance to the next grade and eventually becomes a drop out”.…”

“…The causes of school failure have attracted attention from different areas of knowledge, from social scientists to health researchers 2 , 3 , 8 - 11 . It is known, for example, that the risk of dropout in high school is higher among low-income adolescents 8 , and it is also influenced by gender 9 , race/ethnicity 10 and the social context in which students are inserted 11 .…”

Study protocol and rationale of the “Cogni-action project” a cross-sectional and randomized controlled trial about physical activity, brain health, cognition, and educational achievement in schoolchildren

“…These characteristics increase the inequality among students, which initially is originated by a well-known socioeconomic status gap. Indeed, the Chilean educational system estimates the school vulnerability index (SVI), which is an indicator of the degree of educational establishment vulnerability (ranging from 0 to 100, indicating what percentage of students presents in an unfavourable socioeconomic status and therefore, they become priority for the government policies) [38]. Despite the above the Chilean education system is one of the highest-performing in Latin-America but it also presents one of the highest within-country variability in outcomes [39].…”