The Relationship Between Student Resiliency and Student Achievement in Upper Elementary Students

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between fifth andsixth grade students’ self-reported levels of resiliency, as measured by grit scores, andtheir performance on the communication arts MAP assessment. An additional purpose ofthis study was to determine whether the relationship between fifth and sixth gradestudents’ grit scores and student achievement, as measured by MAP, was affected bystudent gender, minority/non-minority status, or lunch pay status. The sample for thisstudy was comprised of fifth and sixth grade students in District C. The sample ofstudents included only those fifth and sixth grade students who were enrolled in theschool district for the entire 2016-2017 school year, participated in the testing, andcompleted the survey.Statistically significant relationships were found between students’ self-reportedgrit scores and their achievement on the communication arts MAP assessment. Genderdata was disaggregated and further testing indicated that a statistically significantrelationship between both male and female students’ grit scores and MAP scores existed.Additionally, the minority and non-minority status was a variable tested within the study.The correlation for both minority and non-minority students revealed a marginallysignificant relationship between students’ grit scores and MAP scores. For the finalvariable tested, lunch pay status, a statistically significant relationship was found betweenfree/reduced pay and full pay students’ grit scores and MAP scores.In addition to academic interventions for all students, educators can use availableresources to teach and build resiliency in students at every level of the educational system. The results from this study indicate that time spent focusing on non-cognitiveattributes, including resiliency, has the potential to raise achievement scores in students