Factors Influencing School Achievement of Children from Low Socioeconomic Groups in Malaysia
Titel:
Factors Influencing School Achievement of Children from Low Socioeconomic Groups in Malaysia
Auteur:
Dugdale, Alan E. Chen, Siew Tin
Verschenen in:
International journal of psychology
Paginering:
Jaargang 12 (1977) nr. 1 pagina's 39-50
Jaar:
1977
Inhoud:
A general model is proposed relating the social and nutritional factors involved in school performance of children from poor socio-economic backgrounds. The model has been tested in a group of 263 primary school children who came from mainly lower-class families in Malaysia. School performance was assessed by the mark in a national school examination; the factors considered were race, sex, type of school attended, nutritional status and score in the Goodenough-Harris Draw-a-IVlan test, and also the family size, income and education of parents. Multiple linear regression and extended median test were used in the analysis. The re were strong associations between poor school performance on the one hand and nutritional and socio-economic conditions on the other. However, detailed analysis showed that, for most sub-groups, nutritional status was not a direct causal factor in school performance. Both nutrition and school achievement reflected home circumstances, particularly family income. The re were however significant differences among children of different races. Many of the pathways on the general model have been shown to be irrelevant in this group of children; those pathways which remain are likely to be causal. The Goodenough-Harris test showed highly significant differences between children of different ethnic groups. The general model seems justified as a framework for-investigating school performance. It has been shown that simple correlation between factors is not a good guide to cause-and-effect relationships. Each deprived group is likely to have its own significant pathways, so that each group should be analyse rather than applying generalisations derived from other populations.
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