Personal and family paths to pupil achievement

Personal and family factors impacting directly and/or indirectly on academic achievement of a total of 751 eighth grade pupils were assessed. Six achievement tests, as well as pupil and parent questionnaires were used for generating empirical data. A structural equation model was used to test the model’s applicability. Path analysis yielded a comparative fit index of .97. Prior achievement, gender, and academic self-concept were found to have highly significant direct impacts on achievement, while academic self-concept, family size, parent education, and family cultural context exhibited indirect effects on achievement. The overall effect of academic self-concept increased significantly over and above the direct and indirect effects. The intervariables effects provided additional insights into existing correlations.