Exploring the Roles of Gender and Grade in Foundational Academic Skills among Primary School Children

By : Paul Raj

Page No: 35-46

Abstract
Significant disparities exist within the Indian educational framework, particularly among rural primary school students, in foundational academic skills such as math computation, spelling, word reading, and sentence comprehension. The study used a cross-sectional design with a survey method to investigate the effects of gender and grade levels on foundational academic skills among 248 rural and urban primary school children from grades III to V. Data was obtained using the Wide Range Achievement Test Fifth Edition (WRAT5™) along with a detailed socio- demographic profile and analysed employing descriptive analysis and two-way ANOVA to determine how gender and grade level affect foundational academic skills. The study concluded that fourth-grade students performed the best, followed by fifth-graders, while thirdgraders performed the worst. Surprisingly, rural fifth graders fared lower than their counterparts. Gender did not influence performance in any assessed domains. This study emphasises the need for educators and policymakers to customise interventions to enhance overall educational outcomes among children from rural areas and promote greater health literacy.

Author:
Paul Raj, PhD Scholar, Department of Studies in Psychology, University of Mysore, Mysore and PG Department of Psychology, Jyoti Nivas College Autonomous, Bangalore.
 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.32381/JPR.2025.20.01.4