Academic underachievement refers to school performance which falls below expectations. Focusing on the pivotal first stage of education, we explored a quantitative measure of underachievement using genomically predicted achievement delta (GPA[delta]), which reflects the difference between observed and expected achievement predicted by genome-wide…

In the present meta-analysis, we systematically examined the association between students' initial level of metacognition and their academic achievement at least three months later. Using multilevel meta-analysis as well as meta-analytic structural equation modelling, we analysed data from 71,171 students provided by 28 independent studies. The…

The effects of school starting age and relative age effects (RAEs) have generated much interest from parents, teachers, policymakers, and educational researchers. Our 10-year longitudinal study is based on a nationally representative (N = 4,983) prospective sample from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children. The primary outcomes are results…

The reciprocal relationship between academic self-concept (ASC) and academic achievement has been documented in multiple studies. However, this relationship has not been investigated fully from a developmental perspective. In the present meta-analysis, 240 effect sizes were aggregated from 68 longitudinal studies to examine the longitudinal…

Externalizing behavior and low academic performance present key developmental challenges for school-age children, with the potential for these domains to predict each other over time, leading to worsened outcomes. Yet, previous studies have yielded inconsistent conclusions about the directional pathways between externalizing behaviors and academic…

Wealth inequality is at a historic high in the United States. Yet little is known about the implications of wealth on children's development because research has focused mainly on the role of wealth in shaping outcomes in adulthood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (N = 8,095), we examine how family wealth relates to…

The aim of this study is to investigate the academic success, self-efficacy and psychological resilience of sixth-grade students who started primary school in different age groups and who were followed up longitudinally. The study group of this research consisted of a total of 485 students, 73 of whom were longitudinally trained in the sixth…

In Geneva, Switzerland, students in secondary 1 education are grouped into different tracks according to their academic level. The tracking system in Geneva has been reformed recently. Prior to the reform, the tracks were very hierarchical but less selective; following the reform, the tracks are still very hierarchical but the entry criteria are…

The study looked at the stratified math and language arts trajectories of foreign-born adolescents (aged 14-19) in British Columbia (BC), Canada, and identified social position factors that predicted this variation. Leveraging data from the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education and Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the study looked…

The present meta-analysis assessed concurrent and longitudinal associations between parental educational expectations and child achievement, and factors that mediate the effect of expectations on achievement. A systematic search in electronic databases identified 169 studies that were included in a random-effects meta-analysis. We found small to…

This study expanded on research on temporal relations among motivation constructs as stated by expectancy-value theory, which has so far neglected the differentiation of value facets, the examination of long time spans with multiple measurement waves, and domain-specific patterns of findings. We examined the longitudinal relations among academic…

Children with special educational needs (SEN) are known to experience lower average educational attainment than other children during their school years. But we have less insight into how far their poorer educational outcomes stem from their original starting points or from failure to progress during school. The extent to which early…

Setting the age for starting elementary students at 60 months old has been a hotly debated topic in Turkey since the Grand National Assembly passed an education reform bill as Law No. 6287, known to the public as the "4+4+4 regulation." At the outset of its implementation, students who started first grade in school year 2012-2013 had an…

Student absences are a potentially important, yet understudied, input in the educational process. Using longitudinal data from a nationally representative survey and rich administrative records from North Carolina, we investigate the relationship between student absences and academic performance. Generally, student absences are associated with…

This study examined interrelations between three indicators of main challenges during adolescence: academic achievement, self-perceived peer acceptance, and self-esteem. An additional aim was to investigate whether the findings hold for girls and boys and across school types (academically oriented track vs. non-academically oriented track). We…