How to improve academic achievement of students? The influence of academic emphasis on academic achievement with the mediating roles of school belonging, student engagement, and academic resilience.

The purpose of this research was to examine the influence of academic emphasis on academic achievement, with the mediating roles of school belonging, student engagement, and academic resilience. The research adopted a cross‐sectional model, with a sample of 452 participants selected through a two‐stage stratified sampling procedure from public primary, middle, and high schools, including students (n = 400) and school principals (n = 52). The research adopted Academic Emphasis Scale, School Belonging Scale, Student Engagement Scale, and Academic Resilience Scale as data collection tools. Also, for determining academic achievement, students' grade point average scores in reading, mathematics, and science were used. Structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothetical model created based on the research variables, by using Mplus 8.3. The results of the research indicated that there were positive associations between variables. The research also showed that the measurement model provided a good fit to the data, with displaying statistically significant paths. The research suggested that academic emphasis has a positive influence on academic achievement, with school belonging, student engagement, and academic resilience playing mediating roles. Practitioner Points: School academic emphasis, school belonging, student engagement, and academic resilience together play an important role in improving students' academic achievement.School academic emphasis emerged as a significant contributor of students' academic achievement.School belonging, student engagement, and academic resilience acted as mediating variables in the interplay between academic emphasis and academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]