Associations Between Classroom Processes and Students’ Academic Outcomes from Pre-Kindergarten Through First Grade

This study examines concurrent teacher–student interaction quality and 5th graders’ (n = 387) engagement in mathematics classrooms (n = 63) and considers how teacher–student interaction quality relates to engagement differently for boys and girls. Three approaches were used to measure student engagement in mathematics: Research assistants observed engaged behavior, teachers reported on students’ engagement, and students completed questionnaires. Engagement data were conducted 3 times per year concurrent with measures of teacher–student interaction quality. Results showed small but statistically significant associations among the 3 methods. Results of multilevel models showed only 1 significant finding linking quality of teacher–student interactions to observed or teacher-reported behavioral engagement; higher classroom organization related to higher levels of observed behavioral engagement. However, the multilevel models produced a rich set of findings for student-reported engagement. Students in classrooms with higher emotional support reported higher cognitive, emotional, and social engagement. Students in classrooms higher in classroom organization reported more cognitive, emotional, and social engagement. Interaction effects (Gender × Teacher–student interaction quality) were present for student-reported engagement outcomes but not in observed or teacher-reported engagement. Boys (but not girls) in classrooms with higher observed classroom organization reported more cognitive and emotional engagement. In classrooms with higher instructional support, boys reported higher but girls reported lower social engagement. The discussion explores implications of varied approaches to measuring engagement, interprets teacher–student interaction quality and gender findings, and considers the usefulness of student report in understanding students’ math experiences.

Research demonstrates that children's participation in quality early childhood care and education often has immediate positive effects on their social‐emotional, self‐regulation, and achievement outcomes. Most of the research on the impacts of early child care and education has focused narrowly on the United States, but advocacy for economic and social investment in early childhood care and education to support future children's growth and well‐being now exists on an international scale.The longer‐term outcomes from prekindergarten programs have not been as strong. To improve children's long‐term outcomes, one suggested strategy is an intentional, scripted curriculum. Our goal in this monograph is to provide a fully integrated and comprehensive account of a large‐scale, longitudinal, field‐based randomized control trial of the Tools of the Mind (Internal consistency of the Tools) prekindergarten curriculum that occurred in the United States. Our intent is twofold. First, we examine the impact of the Tools curriculum itself, addressing both the potential impacts of the curriculum to improve prekindergarten quality and children's academic, executive function, self‐regulation, and social outcomes. Second, we consider the broader question of whether the use of intentional, scripted curricula during early education can, more generally, enhance both short‐ and long‐term outcomes in children.Developed from a Vygotskian framework, Tools focuses on equipping children with cognitive tools for learning that they can then apply to the task of acquiring and sustaining academic knowledge as well as behavioral competencies. Thus, Tools is an integrated, comprehensive curriculum, not a supplementary one. The Tools approach follows from a socio‐cultural perspective on child development that emphasizes children's acquisition of skills and cultural tools in collaboration with knowledgeable others.The methodology of the 4‐year longitudinal cluster randomized control trial is described in detail. We provide comprehensive information about recruitment, randomization of treatment condition, child assessment instrumentation and procedures, as well as observational assessments, including fidelity of implementation and teacher and child classroom behaviors.We provide results comparing 32 classrooms assigned to the Tools condition and 28 assigned to the business‐as‐usual control condition for children's academic, executive function, self‐regulation, and social gains from prekindergarten to the end of first grade. Developers of the curriculum specifically expected to see benefits on these measures. There were no positive effects for Tools on any of the outcomes.The lack of expected curriculum effects required careful consideration and raised more general questions about how curriculum experiences manifest themselves in assessed skills. As a first step to understanding the findings, we focused on teachers who were implementing Tools and examined the degree to which the curriculum was delivered as intended and the relations between fidelity of implementation and children's outcomes in prekindergarten. Results indicated a wide variation in observed fidelity of implementation but no consistent associations between fidelity of implementation and any child outcomes.In terms of more general practices and interactions associated with positive student outcomes, developers of the curriculum hypothesized that implementing Tools would enhance classroom practices and teacher–child interactions. Among the aspects they expected to be affected were the amount of non‐instructional behaviors, teacher‐led and child‐directed activities, teacher and child talk, social learning interactions, classroom emotional climate, quality of teacher instruction, and children's level of involvement. Teachers varied as much within treatment and control classrooms as they did between conditions on most of the aspects examined. We found no differences between experimental conditions on most practices and interactions.Curricula vary in scope and content, but they are universally intended to change classroom processes in ways that in turn will facilitate the development of targeted skills. For this mediational hypothesis to hold, the targeted classroom processes must be associated with child outcomes. We examined the associations between the classroom processes and children's prekindergarten and kindergarten gains and found support for their importance in early childhood classrooms. These findings demonstrate the value of identifying strategies to enhance these classroom practices and interactions.We situate the findings of our study within the larger context of early childhood education expansion policies and practices, and we offer a set of lessons learned. The study we report is a single evaluation of a single curriculum, yet we hold that the lessons learned are general and shed light on understanding why evaluations of curriculum have yielded such mixed results.

This study examines whether a school-based preventive intervention for children with aggressive behavior affects children's academic outcomes when it is implemented by school counselors in a dissemination field trial. The Coping Power program targets empirical risk factors for aggressive behavior and focuses primarily on teaching social and emotional skills rather than directly intervening around academic performance. This study examined the long-term effects (2 years postintervention) of Coping Power on language arts and mathematics grades in 531 children from 57 schools. Prior analyses found that students of counselors who received intensive training in how to implement Coping Power (CP-IT) had broad improvements in teacher-rated social and academic skills and in teacher-, parent-, and self-reported externalizing behavior problems in comparison to children in a control group and to children whose counselor received more basic training in Coping Power (Lochman et al., 2009). In the present study, students with CP-IT counselors had smaller declines in language arts grades through a 2-year follow-up than children in the control group. Significant effects of CP-IT on mathematics grades were not observed. Special education status did not moderate intervention effects, indicating that special education students’ academic outcomes were affected in similar ways by the intervention in comparison with students not in special education. Intervention effects were not evident for children who had basic-trained counselors. These findings have implications for educational policy and underscore the potential for school-based social-emotional interventions such as Coping Power to have a long-term impact on children's academic outcomes.

The well‐being, particularly academic performance, of left‐behind children (LBC) by their migrant parents has been studied. Although extensive literature pronounces the adverse impact of parental migration on LBC's academic outcomes, a growing body of evidence has found that these children might perform equally or even better academically than non‐left‐behind children (NLBC), which inspires the present review. This innovative study has systematically reviewed previous studies to provide evidence of a silver lining for parental migration and its implications. We searched for relevant studies from reliable sources and screened them between January and April 2023, following the PRISMA guidelines. After two authors independently screened the title, abstract and full text, 11 potential studies that met the inclusion/exclusion criteria were reviewed. The results indicate that eight eligible studies found no significant difference in academic performance between LBC and NLBC, while the remaining studies showed that LBC outperformed NLBC. Additionally, the age of left‐behind children, the duration and reasons for parental migration and household remittance practices were key factors in determining the resilience of LBCs towards academic engagement and performance. The present review findings suggest that future studies need to examine the positive consequence of parental migration on LBCs' academic and nonacademic outcomes by performing rigorous and robust methodology that unfolds and provides casual relationships, which insist on feasible practical and policy effective implications.

This study explores the correlation of parental involvement on the academic engagement and performance of Grade 11 students in Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) academies within the Western Visayas region. Using a descriptive-correlational survey approach, the research examines the relationship between various aspects of parental involvement such as support with homework, school event participation, and parent-teacher meeting attendance and students’ academic outcomes. It considers how factors like parental gender, profession, student demographics, and educational background influence these dynamics. Data collection was conducted through a self-developed questionnaire and verified academic records, with statistical analysis using Pearson correlation, t-tests, ANOVA, and moderation analysis. Findings reveal a “moderately high” level of parental involvement, particularly among non-SDA parents, fathers, and professional parents, with financial support (e.g., for school supplies) rated highest. Academic performance showed an outstanding mean GPA of 90.38, with top scores observed among students from SDA Junior High Schools and female students. Results indicate that female students benefit more from parental involvement, and socioeconomic status, educational background, and school environment significantly shape both engagement levels and academic success. The study highlights the importance of gender-sensitive and inclusive strategies to enhance parental involvement, particularly for male students and students from non-professional backgrounds. It proposes collaborative training programs to foster parent-school partnerships, aligning with SDA educational principles to support holistic student development. Recommendations encourage deeper investigation into the impact of socioeconomic and community factors on academic outcomes in faith-based schools.

Health sciences education involves intensive theoretical and clinical training that can expose students to psychological and physiological stressors, potentially affecting their well-being and academic success. Music may help mitigate these challenges. This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of music interventions across psychological, physiological, and academic outcomes in health sciences students. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in nine databases up to August 2025, following PRISMA guidelines. Randomized controlled and controlled clinical trials comparing music interventions with control group were included. Meta-analyses were conducted using RevMan (version 5.4). Thirty-four studies (n = 2841) were included, mostly nursing (n = 24), medical (n = 7), dental (n = 2), and midwifery (n = 1) students. Meta-analyses demonstrated significant reductions in anxiety (SMD = - 0.48, 95% CI [- 0.72, - 0.23]; p = 0.001), depression (SMD = - 1.00, 95% CI [- 1.95, - 0.04]; p = 0.040), and vital signs, including systolic blood pressure (MD = - 7.15, 95% CI [- 9.64, - 4.66]; p < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (MD = - 3.72, 95% CI [- 5.53, - 1.91]; p = 0.050), and pulse rate (MD = - 3.77, 95% CI [- 7.46, - 0.07]; p = 0.050). No significant effects were found for stress, self-efficacy, sleep quality, pain, or academic performance. Music interventions effectively improve emotional well-being and autonomic regulation among health sciences students. Although their effects on academic or behavioral outcomes remain inconclusive, music represents a simple and safe approach to enhance psychological resilience in educational environments. International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) (CRD420251150104).

Food insecurity is characterized by limited access to adequate food due to a lack of money or resources (eg, lack of transportation to obtain food). School aged children who are experiencing food insecurity are at greater risk for poor academic outcomes, but previous studies have not examined the effects of food insecurity on specific academic outcomes over time. This study examined food insecurity as a risk factor for subsequent academic skills, enablers, and achievement. As part of a larger longitudinal study, middle school students (N = 112; meanage = 12.14, SD = 0.41; 50% female; 68% black/African American, 14% white, 13% Hispanic or Latino, 5% other) reported on food insecurity at baseline, while teachers reported on students' academic skills and enablers at both baseline and 12 months later at 1 year follow up. Math and English/Language Arts grades were obtained from the schools at each wave. Food insecurity predicted lower academic skills over time but was unrelated to academic enablers and grades. Considering a whole school, whole community, whole child (WSCC) framework, this study will also discuss the important role schools and communities have in reducing food insecurity in middle school students. These results support negative long-term effects of food insecurity on academic skills in early adolescents.

Importance: Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at heightened risk of poor neurocognitive and academic outcomes. The relationship between fine motor skills and academic outcomes is not well understood.Objective: To compare the fine motor skills of individuals with SCD with normative expectations, test whether demographic and medical factors are associated with fine motor performance, and determine the impact of fine motor performance on academic performance.Design: Cross-sectional.Setting: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.Participants: Individuals with SCD (N = 376; ages 8–24 yr).Outcomes and Measures: Fine motor outcomes included visual–motor integration, manual dexterity, and graphomotor speed. Academic outcomes included math fluency and word reading. Demographic and medical variables were obtained via medical records and interviews.Results: Compared with normative expectations, the performance of individuals with SCD on all fine motor measures was lower than expected. Male sex, lower socioeconomic status, and lower oxygen saturation was associated with slower graphomotor speed. Lower socioeconomic status and older age were associated with lower visual–motor integration scores. Performance on all fine motor measures was positively associated with math fluency and word reading.Conclusions and Relevance: Individuals with SCD exhibited poorer than expected fine motor skills across multiple motor domains, and these deficits were associated with poorer academic outcomes. Early referral to intervention services for fine motor skills may facilitate improved academic outcomes for individuals with SCD.Plain-Language Summary: This study had three objectives: (1) Compare the fine motor skills of people with sickle cell disease (SCD) with normative expectations, (2) test whether demographic and medical factors are associated with fine motor performance, and (3) determine the impact of fine motor performance on academic performance. We found that SCD is a risk factor for lower than expected fine motor performance across multiple fine motor domains and that these deficits also affect functional academic skills.

These commentaries [1,2] as well as the Engberg & Morral [3] paper, raise important and thought-provoking questions concerning the role of adolescent substance use in academic outcomes. Godley [1] makes the point that, regardless of the nature of the relation between academic achievement and substance use, schools are an important potential intervention environment for adolescents who are at risk for substance use problems. Indeed, our own findings and those of Engberg & Morral [3] suggest that adolescent drug use is related to reductions in sustained engagement in academic pursuits, which implies that interventions outlined by Godley [1] could improve school engagement and attendance. Engberg & Morral's data are particularly compelling, as they demonstrate that reducing substance use through a treatment program increases school attendance among heavy drug-using adolescents. Taken together, the results of both empirical studies suggest that decreasing drug use will produce improvements in academic outcomes. Results of both studies [3,4] underscore the importance of clarifying the mechanisms by which substance use influences academic outcomes. Research suggests at least two potential mechanisms. First, substance use itself may impair cognitive development which, in turn, reduces academic achievement and disrupts academic progression. Recent studies have shown that heavy adolescent substance use can lead to problems with working memory and attention due to changes in adolescent brain activity [5]. In turn, these memory and attention problems may lead to decreases in academic performance and engagement in school, and ultimately increase risk for school problems and dropout. However, these findings have been reported with heavy drinking and drug-using adolescents (similar to the clinical sample used by Engberg & Morral), and it is unclear whether such effects would emerge at lower levels of use. Moreover, the magnitude and permanence of these effects are unclear in terms of whether they extend to impair academic functioning. For example, studies [6,7] suggest that withdrawal is an important predictor of the neurocognitive deficits associated with adolescent drinking, but it is not clear whether prolonged periods of abstinence rectifies these deficits or whether they are permanent. Alternatively, it could be that drug and alcohol use during adolescence leads to association with antisocial peer groups, which in turn diminishes school engagement and increases other behavioral and social problems. Indeed, as Godley and the current studies support, substance use is related to many school-related outcomes that have a strong behavioral and social component. That is, outcomes such as school grades, attendance, school completion and dropout are influenced not only by intellectual functioning, but also by motivation, organizational skills and social/behavioral skills. In other words, the effects of substance use on academic outcomes may have motivational, social and behavioral components in addition to any effects on cognition and cognitive development. Thus, negative academic outcomes may be due to both the direct effect of substance use on cognitive skills as well as the constellation of motivational, social and behavioral risk factors associated with substance use in adolescence. Interestingly, the findings from the current studies suggest that the mechanism by which substance use influences academic performance may differ depending on the nature of the adolescent sample (clinical versus community) and the developmental outcome that is studied (high school attendance versus academic achievement and college completion). Specifically, the substance use of heavy drug-using adolescents may directly impair academic (cognitive) abilities which limits academic performance in adolescence. For most adolescents who use drugs at a lower level, however, adolescent drug use may serve as a maturational ‘snare’ that keeps some adolescents engaged in deviant peer groups as others move on to more normative groups, thus having a long-term direct effect on educational attainment. Other studies [8–10] have discussed similar processes, in which differential pathways to problematic outcomes are determined, in part, by the level of multiple risk behaviors. If we believe that multiple mechanisms are operating, then it follows that preventive interventions aimed at improving academic engagement should broaden their focus beyond drug use in adolescence. We echo Godley's [1] suggestion that community and family risk factors should also be targets of intervention. Our findings showed that drug use in adolescence partially mediated the effect of adolescent externalizing behaviors on college completion; adolescent externalizing also had direct effects on both adolescent reading achievement and on degree completion [3]. This implies that a powerful target of intervention would be externalizing behaviors, especially for adolescents who have not yet developed heavy or problematic levels of alcohol and/or drug use. This commentary was supported by Grant AA16213 from the National Institute an Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to Laurie Chassin and a National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to Kevin M. King, Grant DA019753.

Background: Social media platforms, particularly Facebook, have become deeply integrated into the daily lives of students, influencing how they interact, learn, and manage their academic responsibilities. While Facebook offers opportunities for information sharing and academic collaboration, concerns have emerged regarding its potential to disrupt study routines, affect classroom attentiveness, and negatively influence academic performance. Understanding the relationship between Facebook usage and academic outcomes is essential to developing strategies for its constructive use in educational settings. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the impact of Facebook usage on the academic performance of female students in public-sector colleges in District Peshawar, focusing on its influence on study hours, classroom attentiveness, and overall academic outcomes. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive research design was employed, with data collected from 400 female Bachelor of Science (BS) students enrolled in Social Sciences and Natural Sciences programs. A simple random sampling technique was used to ensure representativeness across four public-sector colleges. Data collection was conducted through self-administered questionnaires using a 5-point Likert scale. Regression analysis and descriptive statistics were applied to assess the relationship between Facebook usage, study hours, classroom attentiveness, and academic performance. Results: Findings revealed that 65% of students acknowledged disruptions in study routines due to excessive Facebook use, while 58% reported difficulty maintaining focus during lectures. Approximately 72% believed that Facebook negatively affected their academic performance. However, regression analysis showed a weak but statistically significant negative correlation between Facebook usage and academic performance (r = -0.104, p = 0.038), with only 1.1% of academic performance variability explained by Facebook usage. Late-night usage was associated with decreased study hours and lower classroom attentiveness. Conclusion: While Facebook provides valuable academic resources, excessive usage disrupts study routines and reduces focus, indirectly impacting academic outcomes. Educational institutions should promote responsible social media use through seminars and structured academic engagement. Future research should explore broader populations and include qualitative analyses for deeper insights.

A central task of educational researchers has been to uncover factors that improve student academic achievement. Research in both developed and developing nations during the past few decades has analysed the links between educational outcomes and school physical resources, teacher quality and children's demographic and family background. (1) Importantly, research on teacher and school effects in developing countries has focused on factors such as human capital, economic resources and physical infrastructure, the so-called input factors in the black box production function model of school outcomes. Fewer studies have focused on the softer classroom process factors that might be seen as important mechanisms of the production function, such as teaching style, the quality of teacher-student interactions and student academic engagement. This study investigates the sensitivity of academic achievement and educational engagement to student experiences in the classroom: teaching style, teacher-student interactions and classroom environment. This study is first placed in the theoretical context of comparative educational research, then in the context of recent education reform initiatives in China. Next follows a description of the data which came from a survey of primary school students, teachers and principals in rural Northwest China that was carried out in the summer of 2000. Multivariate analyses of achievement and engagement are presented and the paper closes with a discussion of the implications of the findings. Framework and Hypotheses Research on Teacher Quality Disparate lines of research in the fields of sociology, demography and economics have considered community, school, classroom and family characteristics that predict children's educational outcomes. (2) Across these disciplines, an important goal has been to produce policy-relevant insights on measurable aspects of school quality, including teacher quality, that significantly affect outcomes such as achievement. Much of this research stemmed from Stephen Heyneman's Report for a Developing Country, and his subsequent research suggesting that the portion of the variance in achievement attributable to school quality, as opposed to family background, was generally much larger in developing versus industrialised countries. (3) Following Heyneman's lead, studies of school effects have been conducted in a wide range of developing countries, and many have found significant effects of school factors, net of family background, on achievement. (4) However, recent work by David Baker and his colleagues has suggested that the Coleman effect--large family effects and small school effects --has spread throughout the world. (5) Moreover, studies that have sought to identify effects of specific dimensions of teacher quality and other school inputs on academic achievement have produced decidedly mixed results for both developed and developing countries. (6) For example, Hanushek has argued that US-based research yields no systematic evidence that teacher education, experience or salaries affect student performance. (7) Other studies have found stronger evidence of positive school and teacher effects on learning and labour market outcomes (8) In developing countries, a number of studies have found that teacher education and experience, as well as basic material resources do affect achievement, but other work has presented a mixed verdict on teacher and school effects. (9) Limited Definition of Quality One problem with these studies has been the narrow conceptualisation of teacher quality. Too often, teacher quality has been conceptualised simplistically, as easy-to-measure background factors thought to be linked to productivity such as teacher education or training, teacher salary or teacher experience. While identifying a mix of easy-to-measure and easy-to-manipulate inputs has a great deal of theoretical and policy appeal, the lack of consistent findings suggests the value of exploring alternative approaches. …

We examined effects of hybrid coaching delivered face-to-face and via smartphone to train middle school general educators to use a simultaneous prompting procedure during instruction on academic core content with sixth-grade students with intellectual disability in general education classrooms. We also measured student outcomes. We used a multiple probe design across four student-teacher dyads in the study. Teachers acquired the steps of simultaneous prompting procedure with 100% accuracy, maintained the use of the prompting procedure over time, and generalized prompting for teaching new academic content to their students. Students acquired their targeted academic content, maintained the skills over time, and generalized the skills across different persons and settings. The results showed a functional relation of the intervention on the dependent variables. Social validity data collected from teachers and students were positive. Future research needs and implications of the findings are discussed.

This study examined the influence of anxiety on the academic performance of final-year undergraduate students in selected tertiary institutions in South-Western Nigeria. Employing a descriptive survey design, data were collected from 200 students drawn from five universities using a structured questionnaire. The study explored three major components of anxiety—emotional, cognitive, and behavioral—and their relationship with students’ academic outcomes. Findings revealed that a significant proportion of the respondents (46%) reported being “very often” nervous before examinations, and 52% admitted to experiencing difficulty sleeping before major academic assessments. About 48.5% indicated that anxiety affected their concentration in class, while 43.5% agreed that it interfered with their ability to complete assignments on time. Through multiple regression analysis, the study showed that the composite influence of anxiety symptoms on academic performance was statistically significant (R = 0.612, R² = 0.375, p &lt; 0.01), indicating that approximately 37.5% of the variance in academic performance could be explained by anxiety symptoms. The joint contribution of anxiety symptoms and demographic variables (age, gender, institution type) also yielded a significant result (R = 0.658, R² = 0.433, p &lt; 0.01), suggesting a combined explanatory power of 43.3%. Among the predictors, cognitive anxiety had the strongest relative contribution (β = -0.51, p &lt; 0.01), followed by emotional (β = -0.28, p &lt; 0.05) and behavioural components (β = -0.17, p &lt; 0.05). The study concludes that anxiety, particularly its cognitive aspects, negatively impacts academic performance among final-year students. It recommends that tertiary institutions should enhance access to counselling services, organize anxiety management workshops, and provide stress-relief programs aimed at improving students’ mental health and academic outcomes.

SummaryBackgroundOver a fifth of children and adolescents suffer with asthma or atopic disease. It is unclear whether asthma impacts academic performance in children and adolescents, and little is known about the association of eczema, food allergy or hayfever and academic performance.ObjectiveTo examine whether asthma, eczema, food allergy or hayfever impacts on adolescent academic performance and to assess the role of unmeasured confounding.MethodsThis study used the Childhood and Adolescent Twin Study of Sweden cohort born 1992‐1998. At age 9‐12 years, parents reported on their child's ever or current asthma, eczema, food allergy and hayfever status (n = 10 963). At age 15, linked national patient and medication register information was used to create current and ever asthma definitions including severe and uncontrolled asthma for the same children. Academic outcomes in Grade 9 (age 15‐16 years) included: eligibility for high school (Grades 10‐12), and total mark of the best 16 subject units, retrieved from the Grade 9 academic register. Whole cohort analyses adjusted for known covariates were performed, and co‐twin control analyses to assess unmeasured confounders.ResultsThere were no associations found for asthma or food allergy at 9‐12 years and academic outcomes in adolescence. In addition, at age 15, there were no statistically significant associations with current, ever, severe or uncontrolled asthma and academic outcomes. Eczema and hayfever at age 9‐12 years were found to be positively associated with academic outcomes; however, co‐twin control analyses did not support these findings, suggesting the main analyses may be subject to unmeasured confounding.Conclusion and clinical relevanceHaving asthma or an atopic disease during childhood or adolescence does not negatively impact on academic performance. This information can be used by clinicians when talking with children and parents about the implications of living with asthma or atopic disease.

ABSTRACTAcademic performance is a complex outcome, driven by both cognitive skills and the emotional connections students form with peers, teachers, and their broader school community. The aim of this study is to examine the relationships between school belonging, peer bullying, teacher support, and academic performance, and to explore the effects of these variables on students' academic performance from a gender perspective. Seven thousand and two hundred fifty Turkish students from 196 schools participating in PISA 2022 were analyzed. Three different scales—school belonging, peer bullying, and teacher support—were developed using the PISA 2022 student survey. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationship between constructs and multigroup analysis was used to assess gender‐based differences. The findings indicate that school belonging, peer bullying, and teacher support have significant effects on academic performance. Additionally, peer bullying negatively affects school belonging, while teacher support positively influences school belonging and reduces peer bullying. The multigroup analysis reveals that the relationships between school belonging, peer bullying, teacher support, and academic performance differ by gender. By incorporating a gender‐based analysis, this study provides understanding of the differential impacts of school belonging, peer bullying, and teacher support on male and female students' academic outcomes. These findings offer practical guidance for developing gender‐sensitive educational interventions that support academic success and student well‐being.