TESTING A MODEL OF SCHOOL LEARNING - DIRECT AND INDIRECT EFFECTS ON ACADEMIC-ACHIEVEMENT

Continued concern about the quality of American education highlights the need for a better understanding of the influences on school learning. Theories of school learning are consistent in pointing to the importance of variables such as ability, time (in particular, homework), quality of instruction, motivation, and academic coursework in their influence on learning. However, most investigators have not included all these variables simultaneously in investigations of school learning, and few have focused on indirect as well as direct effects. The purpose of the present paper was to determine the extent of the direct and indirect influence of each of these variables on academic achievement. Path analysis was conducted with data from the High School and Beyond study to examine the effects of these variables on the academic achievement of high school seniors. Results suggest that both ability and academic coursework have strong direct effects on achievement; motivation and quality of instruction were found to have meaningful indirect or total effects on achievement, but negligible direct effects. Surprisingly, homework had inconsistent direct effects. The results offer support for these variables as important influences on school learning, a finding which further supports their inclusion in prominent theories of school learning. © 1991.