Girls' academic achievement: varying associations of extracurricular activities

This study examined the relationship between extracurricular activities and academic achievement for girls with different ethnic backgrounds in eighth and tenth grade. Participants include 4382 American girls (78% Caucasian, 9% Latina, 7% African American and 6% Asian Pacific Islander). It was expected that in‐school academic organized activities would be positively related to achievement, whereas out‐of‐ school non‐academic unorganized activities would be negatively related to achievement. As hypothesized, the aggregated data demonstrate that participation in academic related activities is beneficial. Also, in‐school academic organized activities were positively and significantly related to achievement. Moreover, the hypothesis that out‐of‐school non‐academic non‐organized activities would be negatively and significantly related to achievement was only partially substantiated. Notable is that the prediction equations did not work equally well for girls with different ethnic backgrounds. It would be beneficial for future researchers to consider disaggregating data when possible and appropriate. Descriptive statistics for tenth grade girls Ethnicity Mean SD Skew Asian/Pacific Islander, SES, 0.33, 0.89, −0.23 Reading, 35.33, 8.82, −0.49 Math, 53.70, 11.78, −0.63 Science, 23.66, 5.62, −0.03 History/geography, 33.70, 4.72, −0.04 ISAO*, 1.43, 1.26, −0.67 ISNAO*, 0.96, 0.73, −0.17 OSNAO, 1.52, 1.34, −0.49 OSNANCT, 7.45, 2.07, −0.37 OSNANTV, 6.13, 2.77, −0.07 OSANO*, 2.75, 0.84, −0.10 Latina, SES, −0.46, 0.77, −0.30 Reading, 29.64, 8.66, −0.13 Math, 40.67, 11.90, −0.25 Science, 18.93, 4.80, −0.62 History/geography, 29.95, 4.19, −0.35 ISAO*, 0.84, 0.97, −1.14 ISNAO*, 0.73, 0.73, −0.36 OSNAO, 1.45, 1.40, −0.82 OSNANCT, 7.51, 2.24, −0.53 OSNANTV, 6.52, 2.79, −0.02 OSANO*, 2.39, 0.75, −0.13 African American, SES, −0.21, 0.83, −0.03 Reading, 30.61, 9.47, −0.05 Math, 40.52, 12.84, −0.31 Science, 19.03, 4.93, −0.56 History/geography, 30.58, 4.49, −0.33 ISAO*, 1.04, 1.12, −1.27 ISNAO*, 0.75, 0.76, −0.45 OSNAO, 1.57, 1.29, −0.58 OSNANCT, 7.18, 2.25, −0.39 OSNANTV, 8.15, 2.87, −0.40 OSANO*, 2.47, 0.81, −0.31 Caucasian, SES, 0.21, 0.74, −0.07 Reading, 34.78, 8.76, −0.46 Math, 48.56, 12.35, −0.27 Science, 22.93, 5.47, −0.05 History/Geography, 33.64, 4.62, −0.15 ISAO*, 1.19, 1.12, −0.85 ISNAO*, 0.93, 0.71, −0.10 OSNAO, 1.73, 1.38, −0.44 OSNANCT, 7.87, 2.08, −0.58 OSNANTV, 5.95, 2.70, −0.30 OSANO*, 2.49, 0.79, −0.19 *These composites were skewed; therefore, square root transformations were used to correct for the skewness (Tabachnick & Fidell, 1996). Descriptive statistics for eighth grade girls Ethnicity Mean SD Skew Asian/Pacific Islander, SES, 0.26, 0.87, −0.24 Reading, 31.00, 8.32, −0.16 Math, 44.65, 11.23, −0.16 Science, 19.93, 4.68, −0.28 History/geography, 31.48, 4.60, −0.00 ISAO*, 1.29, 0.72, −0.05 ISNAO, 0.86, 0.88, −0.66 OSNAO*, 0.69, 0.66, −0.18 OSNANOTV, 6.93, 2.82, −0.02 OSANO*, 3.07, 0.93, −0.29 Latina, SES, −0.50, 0.75, −0.30 Reading, 25.96, 7.60, −0.40 Math, 33.59, 10.04, −0.70 Science, 17.27, 3.80, −0.66 History/geography, 28.28, 4.16, −0.29 ISAO*, 1.05, 0.81, −0.37 ISNAO, 0.85, 0.92, −0.69 OSNAO*, 0.70, 0.73, −0.44 OSNANOTV, 7.35, 2.96, −0.12 OSANO*, 2.72, 0.81, −0.57 African American, SES, −0.26, 0.81, −0.03 Reading, 26.69, 8.20, −0.24 Math, 32.60, 10.35, −0.82 Science, 17.21, 3.97, −0.67 History/geography, 28.91, 3.91, −0.46 ISAO*, 1.31, 0.83, −0.01 ISNAO, 0.91, 0.91, −0.57 OSNAO*, 0.99, 0.78, −0.01 OSNANOTV, 8.96, 2.78, −0.83 OSANO*, 2.89, 0.83, −0.63 Caucasian, SES, 0.15, 0.72, −0.08 Reading, 30.84, 8.00, −0.16 Math, 40.43, 11.26, −0.12 Science, 20.04, 4.44, −0.26 History/geography, 30.68, 4.08, −0.26 ISAO*, 1.19, 0.69, −0.26 ISNAO, 1.04, 0.92, −0.38 OSNAO*, 0.96, 0.68, −0.17 OSNANOTV, 6.84, 2.71, −0.04 OSANO*, 2.91, 0.88, −0.19 *These composites were skewed; therefore, square root transformations were used to correct for the skewness (Tabachnick & Fidell, 1996).