Digging into student behaviour and teacher strictness and academic performance

After researching into the effects of student  behaviour on academic performance, I was faced with a lot of evidence supporting the typical expected results that the better the behaviour of a student in the classroom the better they perform academically.  Zettler (2011) discusses the factor of self-control  on academic performance and makes the claim that “high self-control indicates better students’ performance” (p. 121). In a study conducted by Elias and Leverett (2011) the school district focused on improving moral and attitudes of students.  They found that by restoring morale and moving students towards positive behaviour, academic performance was improved (p. 28).  This is in direct conflict with Boaler’s (2002) claim that student behaviour and motivation does not make their academic successes any different than other students from Phoenix Park.

However, research backs up Boaler’s (2002) statements about the strictness of teachers.  She claims that the teacher that gave the students more freedom actually achieved the highest results on the GCSE exams that the other stricter teachers’ classes.  Students that have more positive and supportive relationships from their teachers are shown to have higher levels of academic achievement than those students that are faced with conflicting relationships with their teachers (Rimm-Kaufman, 2011).  This may explain why the students in the stricter teachers’ classes did not perform as well.

References:

Boaler, J.  (2002). Experiencing School Mathematics.  New York: Routledge.

Elias, M., Leverett, L.  (2011). Consultation to urban schools for improvements in academics and     behavior: No alibis. No excuses. No exceptions. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 21(1), 28-45.

Rimm-Kaufman, S. (2011). Improving students' relationships with teachers to provide essential supports for learning. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/education/k12/relationships.aspx 

Zettler, I. (2011). Self-control and academic performance: Two field studies on university citizenship behavior and counterproductive academic behaviour. Learning and Individual Differences.  21, 119–123.