Does the Economic Crisis Affect Greek Adolescents’ Academic Performance? An EST Approach

Abstract

The enduring economic crisis across several countries has sparked a growing amount of research interest regarding its potential impact on various aspects of life, including adolescent academic achievement. However, there is not enough empirical evidence regarding the impact of a national-level economic crisis as a potentially traumatic experience on student populations (Bronfenbrenner, 2005; Elder, 1996). This study uses ecological systems theory (EST) as a consistent theoretical framework in order to explore the influence of both distal and proximal factors on students’ academic achievement. The aim of the study is to show that the economic crisis deeply affects adolescents’ academic performance in multiple ways and to identify resilience factors that should be taken into consideration when designing educational programs. Specifically, the current study is a person-process-context-time (PPCT) ecological systems model: a longitudinal study using cross-sectional data from the 2009, 2012 and 2015 cohorts of about 3,000 15-year-old Greek students tested through the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results indicate that student performance is not only significantly affected by family Socioeconomic standards and teacher responsiveness, but also that across the three years of testing the economic crisis is a key influence factor; as such, it is a significant risk factor for student and teacher performance as well as class environment.



Author Information
Tanya Maria Geritsidou, The American College of Greece, Greece
Despoina Paizi, The American College of Greece, Greece

Paper Information
Conference: ECE2017
Stream: Primary and secondary education

This paper is part of the ECE2017 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon