Academic achievement refers to a student's success in meeting short- or long-

term goals in education. . It is the person's strong performance in a given academic

arena. In the big picture, academic achievement means completing high school or

earning a college degree with high self – esteem.

The study “Self-Esteem and Academic Performance of 4th Graders in two

Elementary Schools in Kingston and St. Andrew, Jamaica” by L.K. Colquhoun and

P.A. Bourne 1 Jamaica of Constabulary Force (JCF) 2 Socio-Medical Research Institute

Formerly, Department of Community Health and Psychiatry in the University of the West

Indies, Mona is conducted to evaluate the influence of self- esteem on academic

performance and determine factors that account for changes in self-esteem, and 3)

examine factors of academic performance.

The sample for this research was one hundred and twenty (120) respondents,

with a non-response rate of less than 5%. The eligibility and inclusion criteria were 1)

being teachers of the 4th grade (from primary and preparatory schools-n = 30), 2)

parents of 4th graders (n = 30) and 3) 4th grade students (n = 60). The targeted

population excluded Ministry of Education personnel (Education officer), Bursars,

Principals and Vice Principal (except they teaching a grade four class), pupils of grades

1-3, 5 and 6, administrative staffers, ancillary staffers and only included the

aforementioned categories of people. The sample was parents, teachers and pupils

who attend two primary and/or preparatory schools in the parishes of Kingston and St.

Andrew (Rosa Mount Preparatory and Eva-Dean Primary schools-pseudo names) and

were from varying economic backgrounds.

 The study was accommodated with particular methods like case study, document

analysis, statistical analysis, interviews and narrative.

There is a positive correlation between self-esteem and academic performance.

Four variables emerged as statistical significant factors of self-esteem are academic

performance, age of respondents, gender and parental behavior. Boys had a lower self-

esteem than their female counterparts. Self-esteem is the most influential factor that

account for academic performance.

Fourth graders academic performance cannot be drastically change with a

fundamental improvement in their self-esteem. While education continues to formulate

policies and identify new approaches to the teaching the curriculum, it has failed to chart

a pathway of self - esteem development. The children low academic performance is

mirrored on the poor self - esteem, poor supervision from teachers and parents and this

is compounded by the infrequent school attendance, nutrition, state of depression

among the children and social isolation. The emerging findings and knowledge gleaned

from this work present a critical guide and a framework for policy practitioners to

implement measure that can effectively address low performance among 4th graders.

Self-confidence, the combination of self-efficacy and self-esteem, is an essential

part of humanity. Self-efficacy is the internal sense, or belief that we can accomplish a

variety of tasks or goals throughout life. Self-esteem, is similar, but more related to

believing we are generally competent in what we do, and that we deserve to be happy

in life. A person with self-confidence generally likes herself, is willing to take risks to

achieve her personal and professional goals, and thinks positively about the

future. Someone who lack self-confidence, however, is less likely to feel that she can
achieve her goals and she tends to have a negative perspective about herself and what

she hopes to gain in life. The good news is that self-confidence is something that you

can build on your own!