Relationships Among Non-Cognitive Factors and Academic Performance: Testing the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research Model

In response to interest in the role of non-cognitive factors in academic performance, several theoretical models have been developed; however, there have been few empirical attempts to validate those models, particularly with minority populations. This study used measures of academic mindsets, social skills, academic perseverance, learning strategies, and academic performance to test the structural pathways of a well-known hypothesized model of noncognitive factors and academic performance proposed by researchers at the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research (Farrington et al., 2012). The population of study consisted of high school students from a mainly Hispanic, low-income school district. Results support the hypothesized model; however, academic perseverance was not significantly related to academic performance in the context of other non-cognitive factors. Additionally, findings differed across groups, including age (e.g., freshman vs. senior), socioeconomic status (e.g., parent education, free/reduced priced lunch), and race/ethnicity.