Self-Esteem and Academic Performance of 4th Graders in two Elementary Schools in Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica

In 2005, 62% of pupils who sat the 4th grade literacy and numeracy examination attained mastery, which increased to 67% in 2009 from 50% in 2001. No study has examined the role of self-esteem on the academic performance of Jamaican 4th graders. The main objectives were, 1) evaluate the influence of selfesteem on academic performance, 2) determine factors that account for changes in self-esteem, and 3) examine factors of academic performance. The sample for this research was one hundred and twenty (120) respondents. Multiple repression techniques were conducted to identify variables explaining performance, with self-esteem being among the variables. A p-value ≤0.10 was used to indicate statistical significance. There is a positive correlation between self-esteem and academic performance (rs = 0.611, p<0.0001). Four variables emerged as statistical significant factors of self-esteem-academic performance, age of respondents, gender and parental behaviour, which explain 64.4% of the variability in self-esteem. Boys had a lower self-esteem (b = -3.911) than their female counterparts. Self-esteem is the most influential factor that account for academic performance. Of the nine variables used, four emerged as explaining academic performance, which explained 73.6% of the variability in academic performance. The emerging findings and knowledge gleaned from this work present a critical guide and a framework for policy practitioners to implement measure that can effectively address low performance among 4th graders.