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The Causes of School Failure in Secondary School Students: Validation of a Psychosocial Model with Structural Equations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

Fernando Chacón Fuertes  and
Carlos A. Huertas Hurtado
Fernando Chacón Fuertes
Affiliation:
Universidad Complutense (Spain)
Carlos A. Huertas Hurtado*
Affiliation:
Universidad de San Buenaventura (Colombia)
*
*Correspondence concerning this paper should be addressed to Carlos Alberto Huertas. Universidad de San Buenaventura, Facultad de Psicología. Medellín (Colombia). E-mail: huertas07@gmail.com
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Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine the causal effects of school failure (SF) among secondary school students, belonging to five public schools within the region of Girardota, Colombia, through the validation of a psychosocial model with structural equations. A total of 319 students, 25% more males, enrolled in classes between 6th and 11th year, with an average age of 14 years. Furthermore, 265 parents and 200 teachers were also included in the sample. Participants answered the questions raised in 9 instruments. Of the total number of students, 63.8% were surveyed. The instruments were subjected to a pilot test and to the judgment of experts. In order to reduce the amount of data, exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses were used. Other techniques of multivariate analysis such as decision trees and linear regressions were also used in order to previously evaluate the relationships between the independent variables (IV) and the dependent variable (DV). Afterwards, the Full SEM was calculated, yielding a model consisting of 34 variables (10 latent and 24 observable), with the following indexes of goodness of fit: CMIN/DF = 1.146, p = .058, IFI = 0.974, TLI = .970, CFI = .974, RMSEA = .027 and PCLOSE = 0.998. Theoretically, the model confirms the predictive value of the selected variables, with respect to school failure. The results are applicable to both the design of educational policies and the direct intervention in the classroom. In both contexts, strategies can be developed that reduce factors that negatively affect school performance, actively linking students, teachers and parents.

Keywords

modeling with structural equationsschool failuresecondary education
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 20 , 2017 , E62
Copyright
Copyright © Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2017 

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Footnotes

How to cite this article:

Chacón Fuertes, F., & Huertas Hurtado, C. A. (2017). The causes of school failure in secondary school students: Validation of a psychosocial model with structural equations. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 20. e62. Doi:10.1017/sjp.2017.60

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