Promoting Academic Enablers to Improve Student Achievement: An Introduction to the Mini-Series

Although previous miniseries (e.g., see Carnine, 1994; Skinner & Berninger, 1997) and numerous individual articles (e.g., Daly, Witt, Martens, & Dool, 1997; Powell-Smith, Shinn, Stoner, & Good, 2000) have appeared in School Psychology Review exploring empirical and practical issues regarding academic skills, a focused discussion of academic enablers (or nonacademic skills that contribute to academic success) has yet to occur within the field of school psychology. As such, we have assembled a panel of distinguished researchers to share their perspectives regarding conceptual, empirical, and practical issues related to the construct of academic enablers. In the following paragraphs, we describe how the construct of academic enablers has been defined to date as well as provide a context for how academic enablers relate to academic skills and academic achievement. In addition, we explain the rationale for developing this miniseries and the objectives the included articles collectively address. This introduction c oncludes with an overview of each of the articles included in this special issue. Definition of Academic Enablers and Related Constructs The idea of academic enablers evolved from the work of researchers (e.g., Gresham & Elliott, 1990; Malecki, 1998; Wentzel, 1993; Wigfield & Karpathian, 1991) who explored the relationship between students' nonacademic behaviors (e.g., social skills, motivation) and their academic achievement. Based on this earlier research, we hypothesized that a student's academic success--or competence--in the classroom required more than academic skill proficiency. Specifically, we defined academic competence as a multidimensional construct consisting of the skills, attitudes, and behaviors of students that contribute to success in the classroom. The results of our research (DiPema & Elliott, 1999,2000) exploring this construct have indicated that the skills, attitudes, and behaviors contributing to academic competence fall into one of two domains: academic skills or academic enablers. Academic skills are the basic and complex skills that are the primary focus of academic instruction in elementary and secondary schools. In contrast, academic enablers are attitudes and behaviors that allow a student to participate in, and ultimately benefit from, academic instruction in the classroom. Through a variety of means (e.g., review of research literature, discussions with educators, empirical research), we have identified specific domains of academic skill and academic enablers that contribute to academic competence. Specifically, the academic skill domains include language-based skills (reading and writing), mathematics, and critical thinking (DiPerna & Elliott, 2000). The academic enablers include interpersonal skills, motivation, study skills, and engagement (DiPerna & Elliott, 1999, 2000). Figure 1 displays the academic enablers and skills that contribute to the construct of academic competence. Rationale for the Miniseries The rationale for this miniseries is based on the recognition that the current knowledge base regarding academic enablers has--at a minimum--three significant limitations. The first such limitation is that the current definition of academic enablers may be too narrow. That is, to date, academic enablers have been defined as the nonacademic skills, attitudes, and behaviors of students that contribute to academic success in the classroom. From Carroll's Model of School Learning (1963) to Walberg's Theory of Educational Productivity (1981), there is substantial empirical evidence that a variety of environmental factors influence learning. As such, some might suggest (see Christenson and Anderson, 2002) that the construct of academic enablers should be expanded to encompass key student and environmental factors that promote the development of academic skills. …