Access Type

Open Access Dissertation

Date of Award

January 2017

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Department

Educational Psychology

First Advisor

Cheryl L. Somers

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to examine the roles of select intrapersonal and microsystem factors in high school adolescents’ academic achievement. The selected combination of factors was hypothesized to be unique in their ability to explain greater proportions of variance in academic achievement in adolescents. A specific model through an ecological framework was proposed. Participants included 379 high school students (176 males, 193 females) from a midwestern, suburban high school that enrolls approximately 1,500 students. A variety of variables emerged as significant predictors of academic achievement, with social emotional learning, selfefficacy, socio-economic status, parental involvement, peer support, and teacher support all explaining significant proportions of variance in achievement, and some to stronger degrees than others. This lends support to the notion that learning is shaped by a myriad ecological factors. These findings are discussed with regard to their usefulness in understanding ways in which to target each of the investigated variables to ultimately increase academic achievement in adolescents.

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