The Effects Of Cognitive And Non-cognitive Abilities On Grades In High School And College Attendence

Author(s):

Elias Johannesson(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 09 A, Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Higher Education

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-04

11:00-12:30

Room:

B020 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Réka Plugor

Contribution

Numerous studies have found that measured cognitive ability is not only a strong predictor of school attainment, but also of a range of social outcome behaviors (see for example Saroza and Urzua, 2013; Heckman and Rubinstein, 2001; Duckworth and Seligman, 2005).

Cognitive skills can be understood as “verbal, reading, and writing abilities as well as those in mathematics, science, music, and art” (Farkas, 2003:543). The definition can also include “all forms of knowing and awareness such as perceiving, conceiving, remembering, reasoning, judging, imagining, and problem solving” (APA, 2006).

Non-cognitive skills are more vaguely specified as motivational and personality traits such as hard work, conscientiousness, self-discipline, determination, and also the way individuals think and feel about themselves in terms of self-concept, self-esteem and self-efficacy (Borghans et al., 2008).

Measured skills, both cognitive and non-cognitive, are closely related to schooling but skills accumulation depends upon the learning and upbringing earlier in life. Carneiro and Heckman (2003), Cunha, Heckman, Lochner, and Masterov (2006) and Heckman and Masterov (2004) found that parents play an important role in developing both the cognitive and non-cognitive skills of their children. It has also been established, that further schooling has a larger impact on skills if it builds on a larger skills base developed earlier (Cunha and Heckman 2007). This could, for example, mean that children who have been raised and taught to be persistent and cooperative, through these non-cognitive skills cumulatively develop their cognitive skills.

This paper presents an analysis of the effects of both cognitive and non-cognitive skills on grades in grade 9 and subsequently on college attendance. We present a model with one latent cognitive skill variable and three latent non-cognitive skill variables, grades achieved and the individuals’ choices to attend college.

This paper contributes to the literature by analyzing the impact of cognitive and non-cognitive skills on the likelihood of going to college. Since cognitive and non-cognitive skills are developed differently among different groups in the society, aspects such as parental education, ethnic background and other socio-economic variables are included in the analysis.

Method

The paper uses longitudinal Swedish cohort data, based on 9080 individuals who were born in 1972. The cognitive latent variable is based upon a battery of three cognitive tests (one verbal, one spatial and one inductive) taken in 6th grade. The latent non-cognitive variables are social cooperation, anxiety and persistence. All the indicators of the non-cognitive variables were measured with questionnaires that are in a school-related context. Outcome variables are grades in 9th grade and college attendance. Structural equation modeling was used to unfold all relations between the latent variables and the outcome variables. Control variables included gender, month of birth, mothers education (total years) and social background.

Expected Outcomes

The model ﬁt the data well: Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = 0.92, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA) = .027. Cognitive skills at age 12 increased the probability of getting higher grades in 9th grade (βstandardized 0.59, t-value= 20.67). The association between grades in 9th grade and college attendance was 0.21 (βstandardized, t-value= 2.68). There was a positive association between persistence and grades (βstandardized 0.45, t-value= 8.00). Social anxiety also showed a positive correlation with grades (βstandardized 0.22, t-value= 4.86). The association between social cooperation and grades was low and non-significant (βstandardized 0.03, t-value= 1.05). Persistence increased the probability of attending college mediated through grades in the last year of secondary school. We saw a similar effect from cognitive skills on attending college. There was also a positive association between socio-economic background upon persistence from early school years, which supports Heckmans and Masterovs previous findings that parents play an important role in developing these non-cognitive skills. These findings are important to policy makers in Europe and around the world, since they show that not only cognitive skills play an important role for attending college, but also non-cognitive skills in terms of persistence are also important.

References

APA (2006). The american psychological association dictionary. American Psychological Association Reference Books. Carneiro, P., J. J. Heckman, and D. V. Masterov (2005, April). Labor Market Discrimination and Racial Differences in Pre-Market Factors. Journal of Law and Economics 47 (1), 1{39. Cunha, F., & Heckman, J. (2007). The technology of skill formation. American Economic Review, 97(2), 31–47. Cunha, F., Heckman, J. J., Lochner, L., & Masterov, D. V. (2006). Interpreting the evidence on life cycle skill formation. In E. A. Hanushek & F. Welch (Eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Education. (pp. 697–812). Amsterdam: Elsevier. Duckworth, A. L. and M. E. P. Seligman (2005, November). Self-Discipline Outdoes IQ in Predicting Academic Performance of Adolescents. Psychological Science 16 (12), 939-944. Farkas, G. (2003). Cognitive Skills and Noncognitive Traits and Behaviors in Stratification Processes. Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 29, pp. 541-562 Heckman, J. J. and Masterov, D. V. (2004, September). The Productivity Argument for Investing in Young Children. Technical Report Working Paper No. 5, Committee on Economic Development. Heckman, J. J. and Rubinstein, Y. (2001, May). The Importance of Noncognitive Skills: Lessons from the GED Testing Program. American Economic Review 91 (2), 145-149. Heckman, J. J., Stixrud, J., & Urzua, S. (2006). The effects of cognitive and noncognitive abilities on labor market outcomes and social behavior. Journal of Labor Economics, 24(3), 411–482. Sarzosa, M and Urzúa, S (2013). Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills in Teenagers: Happiness, Cybercrime, Bullying and Their Dynamics in South Korea.

Author Information

Elias Johannesson (presenting / submitting)

Goteborg University

Goteborg

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