Early Predictors of School Success (EPoSS)In Progress

In this project, we are investigating (early) predictors of and mechanisms underlying academic success. We are exploring the extent to which children’s lifestyles and health explain their academic performance at key transitions in their school career (e.g., from primary to secondary school), and, on the other hand, we are exploring the extent to which school characteristics and children’s social environment (friends, parents) contribute to explaining different lifestyles and the physical, mental and social health of children in primary and secondary education. Although policy-making often assumes a positive relationship between children’s health and academic performance, there is little evidence to support this, partly due to a lack of suitable data. In this project, we therefore collected new data on Dutch children’s health and linked this to data from the National Cohort Study on Education (NCO) on academic performance and the social background. The data collected covers physical, mental and social health, as well as health behaviours. Parents of students in Year 3 of primary school, and students in Year 8 of primary school, Year 3 of secondary school and final-year secondary school students were surveyed. In addition, schools were surveyed about their policies regarding health, well-being and lifestyles. At the end of the project, the data will be made available for external users, subject to certain conditions, as Open Module at the NCO.

Funded by: Nationaal Regieorgaan Onderwijsonderzoek (NRO; projectnumber 40.5.21325.004)

External Project members: T. van Amelsvoort, P. Delespaul, F. Hamers

Duration: October 2022 – January 2027