A Study Examines the Connections Between Gender, Behavior and Achievement

A longitudinal study of preschool and first year students in Germany, Iceland and France sought to find out whether children’s levels of behavioral self-regulation was correlated with academic achievement (one to two years later) and whether there were significant gender differences in the abilities of student to self-regulate their behavior. This study followed 79 French students, 70 German students and 111 Icelandic students, all of whom were about five to six years old at the start of the study. The French and German students were in preschool in the first phase of the study, and the Icelandic students were in their first year of school. All of these students had attended some kind of preschool prior to the study. For the second phase of the study, in which students’ academic achievement was assessed, all of the students were in a more structured, formal school setting.

Two measures were used to assess students’ levels of behavioral self-regulation. The Head-Toes-Knees-Shoulders, or HTKS, test was used to rate students’ levels of self-regulation. This test, in which students have to do the opposite of what the instructor says, assesses several elements of behavioral self-regulation: attention, short-term memory, and control of inhibitions. Student self-regulation was also determined by teacher ratings. In France, the Q-EM questionnaire was used for teacher ratings, and in Germany and Iceland, teachers rated student self-regulation using the Child Behavior Rating Scale.

The researchers used a multilevel model to determine the relationship between the HTKS test of self-regulation and achievement. They found that higher levels of behavioral self-regulation correlated with higher achievement in math in France and higher performance in word reading in Germany. However, no significant relationship was found with any of the other academic measures. Nonetheless, the teacher ratings of behavioral self-regulation were significantly related to academic achievement on all of the measures. The researchers believe that the teacher ratings offered a more valid measure of behavioral self-regulation than the HTKS test in this case because student behavior in a complex classroom setting may be different than during a structured test like the HTKS.

As far as whether there was a relationship between student gender and behavioral self-regulation, in the results from French and German students no such relationship was found. However, for Icelandic students, boys had lower scores both on the HTKS test and on teacher ratings than girls.

Researchers are not certain why this gender gap was found only in Iceland, but they speculate that the reasons may be related to the degree of structure that students had been exposed to in the different countries as well as the sample age of students. In France, students are exposed to a more structured learning environment at a younger age. Therefore, the French participants were more likely to have already practiced and developed behavioral self-regulation regardless of gender. In Iceland, however, the curriculum was more play-centered. Research on play in early childhood has found that boys engage in less organized play, whereas girls’ play tends to have more structure and promotes self-regulation. Therefore, Icelandic students that engaged more in free play are more likely to experience a gender difference in behavioral self-regulation when compared to French students that have had more exposure to a structured environment. However, this explanation does not extend to German students who also had a more unstructured learning environment but did not experience the same gender gap as Icelandic students.

Another possible explanation is that the average age of the Icelandic students was older. It could be that differences in behavioral self-regulation of the genders become more pronounced with age and that a similar correlation would be found with French and German students as they got older.

Regardless of gender, this study demonstrates a strong relationship between teacher ratings of behavioral self-regulation in all three countries and student achievement. This study has shown, once again, that young students that are better able to regulate their behavior are also more likely to succeed academically.

Gestsdottir, S., von Suchodoletz, A., Wanless, S. B., Hubert, B., Guimard, P., Birgisdottir, F., Gunzenhauser, C., & McClelland, M. (2014). Early behavioral self-regulation, academic achievement, and gender: Longitudinal findings from France, Germany, and Iceland. Applied Developmental Science, 18(2), 90-109. doi: 10.1080/10888691.2014.894870