Beyond cognitive-skills: the attitude towards school and its determinants in Spain with PISA 2009

KRÜGER, NATALIA; FORMICHELLA, MARÍA MARTA; LEKOUNA ARGUTZANE

Revista de Educación

Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte. Secretaría General Técnica. Subdirección General de Documentación y Publicaciones

Año: 2015 vol. 367 p. 10 - 35

0034-8082

Educational processes can provide both cognitive (knowledge and abilities) and non-cognitive (expectations or attitudes) outcomes. Despite the relevance of the latter, they have frequently been neglected in the Economics of Education literature. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the study of non-cognitive results, by means of the analysis of their determinants; in particular, this study analyses the determinants of the attitude towards school of 15-year-old Spanish students. A bivariate multilevel model is estimated, which simultaneously explains non-cognitive and cognitive achievements, using data from PISA 2009. Results suggest that the determinants of both types of skills may differ. Indeed, home educational resources, academic history, and teacher-student relationships are more influential than socioeconomic status or possession of material resources in explaining students´ motivation.