Academic performance and competency profile in primary education: a predictive study

Assessment is one of the elements with the greatest presence in educational research, identified as the fundamental tool that acts as a driving force for learning, with the qualification being the qualitative expression (in this case, of competences) or quantitative expression (in this case, of academic subjects) of the evaluation or value judgement that is issued on the achievements attained by the students (assessment criteria). On this basis, the aim was to analyse the relationship between the academic subject grades and the competence profile of primary school pupils at the end of the academic year. A total of 971 schoolchildren (6-12 years old; = 8.46; SD = 2.61) participated in the research. Data were analysed using ANOVA, Pearson's correlation test and multiple linear regression technique. Among the main results, it is highlighted that: I) all academic subjects show a high degree of correlation with curriculum competencies ( p ≤ .05, for all), II) the academic subjects with the highest correlation coefficient with competencies are the core areas with respect to the specific subjects ( p ≤ . 05, for all) and, III) As for the predictive models, a close relationship is generally observed between the areas and the related competencies (e.g., Mathematics with Mathematical Competence and Basic Competencies in Science and Technology, Spanish Language with Literature and Linguistic Communication or Social Sciences with Social and Civic Competencies). Adequate teaching practice in primary education with respect to the normative guidelines for the marking of competences can be drawn from this study.