Variables personales relacionadas con el rendimiento académico

The present study examined to what extend some personal variables such as intelligence, attention, self-concept, and anxiety, predict four-grade children ́s academic achievement. A total of 410 children form 14 public schoolsof the city of Cuenca were subjected to a series of tests focusing on intelligence (WISC), attention (D2), self-concept (Piers-Harris), and anxiety (Spence). Results revealed that children ́s levels of self-concept and anxiety were normal;however,their level of intelligence was normal-low and their level of attention was extremely low. Second, it was found that all the mentioned variables predicted children ́s academic achievement, with intelligence possessing the highest predicting validity. Finally, gender differences were consistently found in all the variables, indicating that girls obtained higher scores of intelligence, attention, and self-concept, as well as higher levels of anxiety. The results of this study point to the need of implementing educational interventions aimed at stimulating the development of personal variables, including intelligence, toincrease children ́s academic achievement, particularly for those students at risk of academic failure