Association between enjoyment of school at age 6 and later academic performance: evidence from a UK cohort study

Morris, TT, Dorling, D., Davies, NM etal. The association between school enjoyment at age 6 and subsequent academic performance: evidence from a UK cohort study. npjSci. learn. 6, 18 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41539-021-00092-w

Commentary

This study will investigate the role of kindergarten fun on students' academic performance. The study used data from a UK cohort that answered three survey questions.

1) Association between kindergarten fun and academic performance

2) Family background factors

3) Gender differences in school enjoyment

The two questionnaires on school enjoyment were completed at age 6.

The study used multiple substitutions to account for the missing covariates, resulting in a substituted sample size of 12,135.

Results show that girls are twice as likely as boys to report enjoying school and are strongly associated with achieving compulsory GCSE exams at age 16, even after adjusting for socioeconomic background and cognitive ability.

Students who reported enjoying school were, on average, 14.4 (95% CI: 6.9, 21.9) percentage points more likely and 29% more likely to obtain 5 + A * -C GCSEs, including math. They also had different rates of English language acquisition than those who did not enjoy school.

These results underscore the importance of "enjoying school" in achieving educational outcomes.