Academic performance in the context of bilingual education

Abstract

This study examines the factors influencing students' achievement in Mathematics and Science and Technology among six-grade of primary education students in the region of Castilla y León, Spain. The analysis is focused on scores in Mathematics and Science and Technology obtained from questionnaires administered by the Junta de Castilla y León as part of final individualized assessment. The sample comprised 1,652 sixth-grade students from 49 schools across various provinces of the region during the 2018–2019 academic year. The study considered variables previously identified in literature as influential on academic performance: gender, geographic area, school ownership (public or private), socioeconomic and cultural status (ISEC), school absenteeism, grade repetition, and homework. Additionally, the study included a new variable—the presence or absence of bilingual education in schools. The results revealed that bilingual education , when is considered in isolation, does not impact academic performance in Mathematics or Science and Technology. However, when analysed individually, gender and school ownership significantly affect Mathematics performance. Our data shows that boys and students in private schools achieve higher scores. Furthermore, other variables such as socioeconomic status (ISEC), class attendance, grade repetition, and number of days dedicated to homework were found to individually influence performance in both Mathematics and Science and Technology. Academic performance improves as ISEC increases, absenteeism decreases, grade repetition is avoided, and homework is completed over more days. When we analyse the variables in the context of bilingual education modalities, we observe there are differences between the different types of schools. Among them, boys perform better in Mathematics in autonomous bilingual sections than in non-bilingual schools.

Keywords: Academic performance, academic achievement, performance factors, socioeconomic factors, primary education, bilingual education, student evaluation.