DeCandia, Gabriela M.. Relationships between academic identity and academic achievement in low-income urban adolescents. Retrieved from https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/T31J986B
DescriptionThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between academic identity and academic achievement of low-income urban adolescents. Academic identity was defined by the constructs of future orientation, self-efficacy, confidence in academic abilities, and grit; academic achievement was defined by high school grade point average (GPA). The literature review covered research in the areas of identity formation, achievement motivation, and precollege programs. This study utilized data collected from high school students from low-income, urban backgrounds participating in a precollege program. Data from 257 participants were analyzed to answer the following research questions: (1) Does a relationship exist between academic achievement and any of the four academic identity variables? (2) In the case of a rejected null hypothesis, what is the unique contribution of each significant variable towards academic achievement? Results of a multiple regression analysis revealed a small statistically significant relationship between academic identity and academic achievement. No statistically significant unique contributions were detected from any of the four identity variables in isolation. While a small statistically significant relationship between academic identity and academic achievement was found, overall this study offered limited evidence to support the value of assessing academic identity to predict academic achievement in high school students. However, this study uncovered some important insights about the process of researching and evaluating precollege programs. In addition, through its limitations this study pointed out several improvements that can be made to future research on variables associated with academic achievement in high school students.