An i̇nvestigation of the relationship between demographic characteristics and academic achievement of elementary students

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there is a significant difference between the demographic characteristics and academic success of those students who are studying at primary schools. Study group in this research consists of 137, 4th grade students who are studying at Atatürk, Barbaros and Fatih Primary School during the 2015-2016 academic year in Çelikhan District of Adıyaman. The 70 of the participants were girls and the 67 of them were boys. In order to determine the demographic characteristics of the students, "Student Information Sheet" is used which is prepared according to the expert opinion and after obtaining permission from authorities, weighted mean scores which indicates academic achievement of students was obtained from the school office. In the first phase of the analysis the demographic characteristics of students were summarized with the help of descriptive tables and frequencies, percentiles are given. In the second stage of analysis, due to the abnormal distribution of students weighted average score, statistical analysis was done with Mann-Whitney U test, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. According to the findings obtained; 1. Weighted average scores of students differ significantly with respect to gender variable and differentiation were found to be in favor of the female students. 2. Weighted average scores of students are not differentiated significantly depending on the number of siblings they have. 3. Academic achievement scores of students differ significantly with respect to the mothers' education level variable. 4. Academic achievement scores of students differ significantly with respect to the fathers' education level variable. It is observed that when the father education level increases, academic achievement rates of students also increase. 5. A significant difference was found in the students' academic success scores depending on the Mother' profession variable. Differentiation is in favor of the students whose mothers are teachers. 6. A significant difference was found in the students' academic success scores depending on the Fathers' profession variable. Differentiation is in favor of the students whose fathers are teachers. This group is followed respectively by the groups whose fathers are officer, artisans, farmers, workers and in other occupational groups. 7. Depending on the level of income variable a significant difference was found in students' academic achievement scores. The academic achievement of students increases when the income level increases. 8. Depending on the studying room variable no significant difference was found in students' academic achievement scores.