Academic Achievement and Perceived Peer Support among Turkish Students: Gender and Preschool Education Impact

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the academic achievement and perceived peer support levels of 4th-8th grade Turkish elementary and middle school students at low socio-economic status. Factorial design analyses were used to test the statistical effects of gender and preschool education variables on the dependent variables. The findings indicated that while girls performed a higher general academic achievement in school courses than boys, the perceived peer support levels were similar for both groups. On the other hand, although no significant effect of preschool education was detected on academic achievement, students who had completed preschool education were found to have significantly higher perceived peer support scores than their peers. Similar to findings of studies from non-Western contexts, no significant relationship was found between the Turkish students’ academic achievement and perceived peer support levels.

Keywords

• Academic achievement
• perceived peer support
• preschool education
• Turkish students