The Role of Executive Functioning, Motivation, and Engagement in Academic Achievement

Abstract

Academic achievement is an important part of healthy development for children and adolescents because of its impact on mental health, wellbeing, and occupational success. Therefore, promoting academic achievement in students of all ages should be a central goal of educational programming. However, to do this, it is essential to first understand what, and how, different factors impact student achievement. Although there are a variety of variables that contribute to academic achievement, executive functioning (EF) and academic motivation and engagement appear to play particularly important roles. To further explore the relationships between academic achievement, motivation and engagement, and EF, two hierarchical multiple regressions were conducted on a sample of high school students. The Motivation and Engagement Scale – High School (MES-HS) was used to measure the positive and negative aspects of students’ motivation and engagement. The Executive Skills Questionnaire – Teen Version (ESQ-T) was used to measure students’ EF. Grade point average (GPA) was used to measure academic achievement. Regarding EF, only working memory and metacognition significantly predicted GPA. This suggests that, of all components of EF, these two are most strongly implicated in academic achievement for high school students. Regarding motivation and engagement, only positive engagement significantly predicted academic achievement for high school students. This suggests that positive engagement plays an important role in academic achievement for high school students.