Title:
AN ANALYSIS OF FACTOR AFFECTING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODELLING APPROACH

Authors:
Dr. Peter Chimwanda, Zimbabwe.

Abstract:
The study offered an assessment of the factors that are believed to directly and/or indirectly influence academic achievement. A correlation analysis of the factors was first carried out and it was established that some of the factors were significantly correlated. One of the assumptions of multiple regression analysis is the non-existence of multicollinearity. Independent variables need not be significantly correlated. In addition, multiple linear regression looks at direct relationships between the dependent variable and each of the independent variables. In this study access-toresources and attendance were found to be significantly correlated to parental-involvement and parental-education-level respectively. This ruled out the use of multiple linear regression modelling paving way for structural equation modeling which was used to establish not only relationships between the dependent variable and a set of independent variables but also relationships among the independent variables themselves. Factors that have direct effects as well as those that have indirect effects to exam-score were established. Gender and school-type were found to have no effect on academic achievement.