Factores que determinan el rendimiento académico en la educación general básica (EGB) pública en el cantón Cuenca aplicado al séptimo de básica; año lectivo 2013-2014

Abstract

The research is based on information from the 2013-2014 academic year for students in the seventh year of Public basic general education of Cuenca Canton; in order to analyze the factors that determine student achievement, for this purpose a Function of educational production was estimated by OLS (Ordinary Least Squares). The student’s final grade in the school year is considered as the dependent variable in function of individual, family and institutional characteristics (Educational Institution, teacher, classmates) of the student. Interesting results were generated around family characteristics, including the level of education of the household head with a positive effect on the academic performance, the higher the educational level of the household head, the greater the benefit in the performance of the student; likewise the purchase of goods at home with a positive effect on performance. Instead, the divorce variable has a negative effect on the performance of students; those who have divorced parents get a lower performance than their classmates. Regarding the institutional characteristics the area that belongs to the institution is mentioned, it became evident that there are differences between students in urban and rural areas; the urban students have a better performance in relation to those who belong to a rural institution. One of the variables with a greater impact over the academic performance was the effect that the classmates have; the more dedicated the grade is, the more benefit to the individual performance.