Trust in teacher, attitude towards school, alienation from school and school burnout as predictors of academic achievement

The aim of this research is to study the relationships among trust in teachers, attitude toward school, alienation from school and school burnout, which are variables having an effect on students' academic success, and their relationships with academic success. The population of the research was composed of 8130 Anatolian high school students studying in Battalgazi, Malatya, in 2015-2016 school year. The research sample consisted of 2291 students who were determined by using Stratified Random Sampling Method, considering students' genders and grades. Within the scope of the research, as data collection tool, a test battery with 5 parts was used. The first part of the test battery is composed of demographic information (gender, grade and school number); the second part is composed of Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Form; the third part is composed of the scale of attitude toward school; the forth part is composed of Student Alienation Scale; and the fifth part is composed of the scale of trust in teachers. Data collected as part of the research were analyzed with Structural Equation Modelling. 10 hypotheses were constructed for the test model, developed based on theoretical knowledge, and 3 other models, developed as an alternative to the test model. After the research was conducted, 8 out of 10 hypotheses were accepted, and 2 of them were rejected. In this research, it has been concluded that students' trust in their teachers has direct effect on their attitudes toward school and that trust in teachers explains around 43% of the variance of attitude toward school. In consequence of the research, it has been found that trust in teachers has a negative direct effect on alienation from school. Furthermore, it has been concluded that trust in teachers has an indirect effect on alienation from school, mediated by school burnout variables. It has been discovered by this research that trust in teachers has a negative direct effect on school burnout and that trust in teachers has an indirect effect on school burnout, mediated by attitude toward school and alienation from school variables. It has been revealed that trust in teachers does not have a direct but an indirect effect on academic success, mediated by school burnout and alienation from school. With this research, it has been concluded that attitude toward school has a direct effect on alienation from school. Trust in teachers and attitude toward school together explains 16% of variance of alienation from school. As a result of the analyses carried out as part of the research, it has been found that students' attitudes toward school have a negative direct effect on their school burnout. Attitude toward school influences school burnout indirectly, mediated by alienation from school. Trust in teachers, attitude toward school and alienation from school variables altogether explains about 26% of the variance of school burnout. As a result of the research, it has been determined that students' attitude toward school does not have a direct but an indirect effect on their academic success, mediated by alienation from school and school burnout variables. In the consequence of the studies carried out within the context of the research, it has been established that alienation from school has a direct positive effect on school burnout. With this research, it has been concluded that students' alienation from school has a negative direct effect on their academic success and that their school burnout has a direct negative effect on students' academic success. As a result of the analysis of the model, set by this research, using Structural Equation Modelling, trust in teachers, attitude toward school, alienation from school and school burnout variables have a direct or indirect effect on students' academic success. Trust in teachers, attitude toward school, alienation from school and school burnout variables altogether explains nearly 12% of the variance of academic success. Key Words: High school students, academic success, trust in teachers, attitude toward school, school burnout, alienation from school, Structural Equation Modelling.