Predictors of Academic Achievement in Primary School Students

Academic achievement is considered an important indicator for successful future. The present study examines the role of intellectual functioning, study habits and behavioral adjustment in predicting academic achievement of primary school children. It was hypothesized that study habits and intellectual functioning would positively predict high academic achievement. It was also hypothesized that behavioral maladjustment (impulsivity and distractibility, delinquency, family dysfunction, somatic concerns, social skills deficits and social withdrawal) would predict low academic achievement. The sample consisted of 280 school children of grade 4 and 5 equally divided for high (n = 140) and low academic achievement (n = 140). Both boys (n = 143) and girls (n = 137) along their teachers (n = 54) and mothers (n = 280) participated in the study. Personality Inventory for Children (Lachar & Gruber, 2001) and Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices (Raven, 1984) were administered along with a demographic information questionnaire. The results showed that delinquency and social withdrawal significantly predicted low academic achievement; however, family dysfunction, impulsivity and distractibility, social skills deficits, and somatic concerns did not significantly predict academic achievement. Implications of these results for parents, educationists, and school psychologists were discussed.