Academic buoyancy in high school: a cross-lagged multilevel modeling approach exploring reciprocal effects with perceived school support, motivation, and engagement

The present longitudinal study examined the reciprocal relationships among students’ academic buoyancy, their perceptions of school support (learning support, teacher relational support, school belonging, and classroom management), and their motivation and engagement (perseverance, perceived competence, valuing of school) across 1 year of school. Using information from a large sample of secondary school students (Grades 7–11) in New South Wales, Australia (N = 71,681 students, K = 292 schools), the current study examined a series of single-level (students) and doubly-latent multilevel (students and schools) cross-lagged structural equation models. At the student level, results revealed a reciprocal relationship among students’ sense of school belonging and academic buoyancy. There were also several significant directional paths at the student level, such that academic buoyancy predicted students’ motivation, engagement, and perceptions of school support 1 year later. At the school level, there were no significant reciprocal effects, but there were significant directional effects such that schools with higher average classroom management and school belonging tended to also have higher average academic buoyancy 1 year later. These findings contribute to ongoing research into ways researchers and educators may support and optimize student and whole-school academic buoyancy.