Student School Achievement: Testing a Model of Academic Competence

Sa？etak Different characteristics of student school achievement are discussed based on the theoretical model of school competence (DiPerna, Volpe & Elliot, 2002, 2005). The aim of this research was to test the model of school competence in which additionally, as a predictor of school achievement, a measure of student cognitive ability was used. Elementary school students in grades 7-8 (N = 393) from five schools in Zagreb and its surroundings and their teachers (N = 22) participated in this study. The results of structural equation modeling analyses provided support regarding the fit of the model with teacher ratings, explaining 55% variance of student school achievement. Mediation analyses indicated that motivation fully mediated the link between school and social skills and achievement and partially mediated the link between cognitive ability and achievement. An examination of the six predictor variables' overall contributions to current achievement, indicates that motivation and study skills demonstrated large total effects with current achievement, while academic enablers and cognitive ability demonstrated moderate total effects