Outside-school factors affecting academic performance
Overviews
Alex, PAY ATTENTION TO THE ARTICLES IN BOLD BELOW - you might still be able to focus on social stuff!
socio-econnomic status
Parent-child relationships
Social networks
I'm not sure how useful these may be but they're from the Psycho-social Relations article above. some might be very difficult to access.
Because i'm not biased at all (!), I've included school libraries
- Factors influencing Academic Performance is a study of Aboriginal students but many of the finding correlate with other studies of low SES students, so it's a great place to begin. The factors on pp 326-328 will give you a frame work for your literature review (and maybe also your questionnaire). Some points from the school section on pp 324 (eg "unexplained absence from school") may correlate with your original hypothesis that social life is detrimental to academic results, but you would need to explicitly explain the link..
- Family Factors in early School Leaving lists factors that contribute to people not finishing their education - these are similar to the factors associated with lower academic results. It has great references you can chase up for more info.
Alex, PAY ATTENTION TO THE ARTICLES IN BOLD BELOW - you might still be able to focus on social stuff!
socio-econnomic status
- The Determinants of Academic Achievement Among Primary School Students: A Case Study of the Australian Capital Territory states that "both individual socio-economic status as measured by parents’ education and average level of educational advantage of the school population have a positive effect on child’s academic achievement, as measured by NAPLAN literacy and numeracy tests, thus confirming the findings of the majority of previous research. Perry and McConney (2010) found that academic achievement was positively correlated with socio-economic status at both an individual and school level."(p.140)
- Factors Influencing the Educational Performance of Students from Disadvantaged Backgrounds " socioeconomic status as reflected by the level of parental education was a key predictor of student academic achievement raises several policy implications...While financial assistance to schools and families in need is GILLIAN CONSIDINE AND GIANNI ZAPPALA 106 important, policies and programs that assist low-income parent/s in providing appropriate psychological and educational support for their children should also be promoted."
Parent-child relationships
- The Influence of Child-Parent and Child-Teacher Relationships on the Academic Performance of Children Aged 10-12 Years found that Child-Parent Attachment Attachment did not significantly influence any of the academic performance areas (things like language fluency were much more important)
- Parent Partnerships states that "Parents who involve themselves in schools are often more supportive of their children and their children’s teachers than parents who have less contact with schools. " (p.2)
Social networks
- Speaking Out About School and Learning states that students require "Help to overcome personal issues" (p.34). This could be a positive outcome of an active scicial life, but you'll have to build the case.
- Psycho-Social Relationships and Academic Achievement in Early Adolescence was the only article I found that directly linked social life and academic results - better friendships seems to leads to increased self-esteem and therefore better educational outcomes. It would be a key text for you. Read the abstract on p.x, then go to the discussion pp 95-98. The rest of the discussion is also relevant.
- Parent Partnerships states that "Having a diversity of friendship groups protects young people. For this reason, it is desirable during their childhood to try to have them mix with a few different groups of friends in and outside school."
The role of friends in early adolescents' academic self-competence and intrinsic value for math and English states that "there was a stronger positive association between students' and friends' academic self-competence when friendships were rated as more supportive". It also suggests that peer pressure can work to one's academic advantage in strong friendship groups.
I'm not sure how useful these may be but they're from the Psycho-social Relations article above. some might be very difficult to access.
- Adolescent Girls’ Experiences of Discrimination "Social support from family and friends was related to self-esteem....family and friends may help or hinder girls as they cope with different kinds of discrimination."
- Social Exclusion Impairs Self-Regulation suggests that students without a strong social network will pay less attention to listening tasks and give up sooner, which could have a serious impact on academic results.
Because i'm not biased at all (!), I've included school libraries
- Impact of School Libraries on Student Achievement is a government study into the impact of school libraries - read the conclusion on pp 30-32
Possible Tools
- Perceived influence of close friends, well-liked peers, and popular peers Idenitfies three ways to assess the quality of friendsships affective quality, interaction frequency, and friendship stability
- Children's Values Profile assesses their level of tolerance and communication and how children feel about things like asking for help. these questions could give information about friendships...?