"The Impact of Noncognitive Skills on Student Achievement in Elementary" by Karen Garmon

Date of Award

Fall 2022

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Committee Chair

Mitch Porter

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has created one of the largest disruptions in educational history. The impact on learning loss and social-emotional well-being from the pandemic threatens to compromise achievement outcomes for an extended number of years. Previous research has proven relationships between grit, growth mindset, self-efficacy, and academic achievement (Duckworth, 2016; Duckworth et al., 2007; Dweck, 2008), but little is known about the validity of noncognitive constructs and academic achievement in elementary-age students, particularly how the relationship between these variables affected student achievement during the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this study was to determine if noncognitive traits had a relationship with achievement in elementary-age students during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, the noncognitive constructs of grit, growth mindset, self-efficacy, and self-management were analyzed for correlation with the achievement variables in the universal screeners, i-Ready math and English language arts (ELA). It was found that students with higher self-management were more likely to have higher math achievement. Self-management was the only statistically significant variable with achievement of the noncognitive constructs measured. It was also found that students with higher self-management typically had higher self-efficacy. A significant change in i-Ready math achievement was found resulting in an average 5-point decrease in scores over time. Change was also found in i-Ready ELA over time, resulting in a 22-point increase in the average scores. This research adds to the understanding that cognitive abilities alone do not fully predict a student’s academic achievement (Micceri, 2010; Nichols & Clinedinst, 2013).

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

Share

COinS