The academic performance of elementary school students is a key issue for researchers, teachers, and families.
Children’s academic performance is linked to motivation and both factors feed back on each other. Because, being motivated makes them perform better, and good performance motivates at the same time.
However, it is not clear how the student should be stimulated and whether it is good to reward children who get good grades. Since some researchers argue that it is good to reward them so that they feel motivated and study hard. Meanwhile, others do not support this type of stimulation because students focus only on short-term results, instead of loving the learning process and long-term knowledge.
Factors influencing academic performance
- Teaching style. Teaching style is linked to student motivation and academic performance. This is most evident in a mathematics class, for example, where performance depends, to a large extent, on how the teacher teaches.
- Socioeconomic level. It is one of the main factors in academic performance and the gap between students from different social classes. Fundamentally, in primary education.
- Personal, family, and gender aspects. Studies show that girls excel in areas such as reading and writing, while boys excel in math and science. Parental support in their children’s education and the creation of a learning environment at home improves their performance.
- Cognitive skills. Mainly, memory and attention.
- School environment. This factor includes the quality of teaching, infrastructure, and resources of the educational center.
To improve student academic performance, effective policies and programs can be designed to address the specific needs of individual students. At the same time, they encourage their academic success and the collaboration of parents and teachers.
Finally, the Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana (International Iberoamerican University) (UNIB) offers the Master in Education with a specialty in the Organization and Management of Education Centers.
