Testing models of school learning: Effects of quality of instruction, motivation, academic coursework, and homework on academic achievement.

Tested the influence of ability, time, quality of instruction, motivation, and academic coursework on students' achievement, controlling for relevant background variables. Structural equation models were analyzed with longitudinal data from a national sample of 25,875 high school students. Intellectual ability and academic coursework had direct effects on achievement, and homework had a smaller direct effect. The indirect effects of quality of instruction and motivation were stronger than their direct effects; quality affected motivation, which affected coursework. Supplemental analyses were consistent with the initial findings. Results support these variables as influences on school learning, and support the theories from which the variables were derived. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)