Theoretical Background

This study is anchored on Walbergs theory of educational productivity that was

tested as one of the few theories about academic achievement. This theory

suggests that the psychological characteristics of the students and their immediate

psychological environments influence their educational outcomes (cognitive,

behavioral, and attitudinal) (Reynolds & Walberg, 1992). This is considered as the

educational process goals as well as achievement goals to increase educational

productivity. Within these approaches, the main point is that there are

circumstances that can influence students academic achievement. Walberg (1986)

identified nine key variables that can influence educational outcomes: students

ability, motivation, age and stages of development, quantity of instruction, quality

of instruction, classroom climate, home environment, peer group, and exposure to

social media outside of school.

First is students ability. As suggested by Walberg, students ability can influence

educational outcomes for it shows the quality and skill of a student for being able to

perform physically and mentally in school. A student's ability is in a major factor for

the success in achieving a good academic performance of a student. A student may

have abilities such thinking, perceiving, problem solving, and remembering which

has a great contribution to their achievement in school. These abilities are beneficial

in certain situations or particular tasks that could help a student attain greater

performances at school.
 Further, Motivation has been shown to positively influence study strategy,

academic performance, adjustment and well-being in students in domains of

education other than medical education (Vansteenkiste et al. 2005). Students need

motivation to influence them to do tasks willingly. In this case, students tend to

have a reason to act and respond quickly without being asked and to work hard

thinking about the thing that motivates them. As observe, students who are most

motivated to learn and excel in classroom activities tend to be the highest achievers

(A. E. Gottfried, 1990; Schiefele, Krapp, & Winteler, 1992; Walberg & Uguroglu,

1980). Conversely, students who have little interest in academic achievement are at

high risk for dropping out before they graduate from high school (Hardr & Reeve,

2003; Hymel et al., 1996; Vallerand, Fortier, & Guay, 1997).

Third, age and the stages of development influence the educational outcomes.

Fourth is the quantity of instruction wherein it explains that the impact of the

amount of instruction on a student's achievement depends on the total hours spent

in school which do not significantly impact the student's outcomes unless the hours

are unusually low or high. But not all time is equal. The actual time students spend

engaged in a specific subject is critical. Over a years, conventional wisdom

increases in the length of the school day and school year to improve the student's

performance in school. Unfortunately, the evidence is not just there to support

these efforts. Classroom time must be divided between time spent on instruction

and time-off tasks (lunch, recess, moving from one class to another) and teachers
need to ensure that an adequate amount of academic instruction is executed using

quality instructional methods.

Fifth is the quality of instructions which refers to the use of teaching approaches

in the classroom to provide individual learning needs of all students. Quality of

instructions has a big impact to the students academic achievement because it

shows the level of the teaching skills of a teacher in teaching his students. A quality

teacher is one who has a positive effect on student learning and development

through their content mastery and communications skills. They are life-long learners

and teach students with commitment. They transfer knowledge by learning process

through good communication, knowledge about child development, and the ability

to meet student needs. They support students in achieving their goals in life. They

establish an environment for an effective learning, in school. By these, quality of

instructions has a big impact to the students academic achievement because it

shows the learning of the students based on teaching strategies of a teacher.

Sixth is the classroom climate which includes the mood, attitude, standard and

tone that the students feel when they are inside a classroom. A negative classroom

climate can feel out of control while a positive classroom climate feels safe and

supportive. Amborse et.al. (2010) define classroom climate as the intellectual,

social, emotional, and physical environments in which our students learn. Climate is

determined of interacting factors that include faculty-student interaction, the tone

instructors set, instances of stereotyping, the course demographics, student-student

interaction, and the range of perspectives represented in the course content and

materials." By these factors, the educational outcomes of a students will be

affected. Classroom climate is affected not only by blatant situations of inequality

directed to a person or group of people, but also by smaller, not obvious "micro-

iniquities" that can accumulate to have negative impacts on learning (Hall, 1982).

Seventh variable is the home environment. Home environment refers to aspects

of peoples domestic lives that contribute to their living conditions. It provides not

only the hereditary transmission o development of the child, but also the

environment in terms of interpersonal relationship and education status. However,

education at home must also strive to achieve the desired objectives because it can

also affect the performance of a child in school. These factors may be poverty,

psychological conditions due to parenting, and social circumstances. Parents who

provide a warm, responsive, and supportive home environment can motivate their

child to excel more in school. On the other hand, the academic performance of a

student could be affected negatively if their parents doesnt provide their basic

needs (physically, emotionally and financially).

Eighth is the peer group. Peer group is a group of people that shares the same

interest and has the same age and status. Most people agree that friends matter

not just for personal wellbeing but also for achieving goals in life. Peer group usually

happens inside a classroom where you can find someone with the same interest and

age. Each student influences his/her classmate. A less disciplined student is more

likely to disrupt his/her classmate and forcing the teacher to focus more on

disciplining rather than discussing. Harris (1998, 2002) and Rowe (1994) maintained

that peer groups have an even stronger influence than parents, although that

extreme position has been refuted by other researchers (Berk, 2005). Peer group

can contribute low

 Lastly is the mass media. Mass media has evolved significantly over time. It has

also played a major role in enhancing socialization and grades improvement of a

student. However, mass media could affect the performance of the student

negatively for the reason that mass media is widely used by the students

nowadays. Because of this, many children are taking most of their time in mass

media that leads to getting poor grades and low academic performance of a

student.

With these disquisitions, we can distinguish how these identified key variables

could affect specifically the academic performance of students. It also means to

appear that the essential factors may substitute, compensate, or tradeoff for one

another in diminishing rates of return: for example, immense quantities of time may

be required for a moderate amount of learning to occur if finance, motivation,

ability, or quality of instruction is minimal (Haertel et.al., 1983, p.76). This strongly

explains the significant difference between the academic achievement of a working

student and a regular student.

Walbergs Model of
Educational
Productivity

Students
ability

Motivation

Age and
stages of
developmen

Quantity of
instruction Student Learning

Quality of
instruction

Classroom
climate

Home
environment

Peer group
 Mass media

Figure 1.1 Schematic Diagram of the Theoretical-Conceptual

Framework

In this view, there are three propositions that explain further the Walbergs theory of
educational productivity. The first proposition is the learners characteristics which
reflect the ability, motivation, and age.