School Failure: Some Causes and Determining Factors

In the last decade it has been observed a notable increase in the prevalence of school dropouts of the Spanish population, going from 14% in 2011 to 20% in 2015, to the point where this country reaches the highest rate compared to the rest of the members of the European Union (Eurostat, 2016).

The most commonly detected difficulties refer to reading and writing disorders or dyslexia (with an average rate of 10%) or related to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (with a proportion that ranges between 2 and 5% of students).

However, there are other problems which, without being as frequent as those indicated, can cause the existence of a learning disorder significant enough to finally lead to cases of academic failure.

Table of Contents

School failure and its causes

School failure, understood as the difficulty in assimilating and internalizing academic content established by the educational system based on the age and development of the child, can be motivated by multiple causes of different kinds. It cannot be considered, therefore, that the responsibility should fall exclusively on the student, but rather that both the educational community and the family environment have a very relevant influence.

Among the factors that can precipitate the appearance of school failure In the student the following are distinguished:

Strictly psychological disorders, such as the presence of fears, pronounced fears, phobias, emotional and behavioral inhibition and/or excessive shyness.

Other problems related to the basic skills of memory, attention, verbal or numerical aptitude that inevitably affect the student’s performance or other problems derived from the overload of activities or content to be learned.

On the other hand, as mentioned above, there are a series of circumstances that refer to the poor functioning, in some cases, of the educational system, which considerably aggravate the consequences derived from the existence of the factors listed above. Methodological issues, teaching attitudes, non-individualized and obsolete teaching styles mean that the teaching figure may not be sufficiently prepared to serve these students with the indicated characteristics, which are more complex in themselves.

Other factors that increase school failure

Below are exposed three of the problems that usually go unnoticed since they differ from the usual difficulties related to reading and writing.

You may be interested: Genius Children: What They Are, What Are Their Characteristics, and Examples

In the same way as this, those set out below can cause the student’s academic failure if they are not detected and appropriately intervened.

Acalculia and numerical reasoning problems

Acalculia is classified within the so-called Specific Learning Disorders and it is defined, as proposed by Salomon Eberhard Henschen (who coined the term for the first time in 1919) by a type of alteration of the calculation that can be derived from a brain injury or also due to the presence of difficulties in the course of the academic learning.

According to this author, acalculia does not coexist with aphasic symptoms or linguistic dysfunction in general. Later, his disciple Berger made the distinction between primary and secondary acalculia. In the first case, reference is made to a type of alteration in specific calculation aptitude and not related to aptitude deviations from other basic cognitive processes such as memory or attention. On the contrary, secondary acalculia has a broader and more general character and is linked to alterations in said basic cognitive processes.

Henri Hécaen’s classifications emerged from the initial approaches who distinguished between alexical acalculia (understanding of mathematical characters) and agraphic (written expression of arithmetic characters), spatial (arrangement and location of numbers, signs and other mathematical elements in space) and arithmetic (correct application of arithmetic operations) .

Some particularities of calculation problems

McCloskey and Camarazza have described a differentiation between the nature of the alteration in numerical processing or reasoning (understanding and production of numerical characters) with respect to those more related to the calculation process (procedures to carry out arithmetic operations).

In relation to the first type of difficulty, it is worth distinguishing between two components, which can lead to two types of alterations: the elements involved in the production of Arabic numbers and those that intervene in the production of verbal numbers. This last component consists of two procedures: lexical processing (phonological, related to the verbal sound of numerical characters, and graphological, a set of written signs and symbols) and syntactic processing (relationships between elements to provide a global meaning of the the numerical expression).

In reference to the alterations in the calculation It should be noted that adequate functioning must be available at the level of prior numerical processing, since the ability to understand and correctly produce the numerical elements that confirm a certain mathematical operation, as well as the relationships between the different arithmetic characters and their operation, is known to be necessary. .

You may be interested: Token Economy: What it is and How it is Used in Therapy and Education

Even so, with adequate numerical processing capacity, there may be difficulty in executing a correct order in the sequence of steps to follow to carry out this type of procedure or in memorizing the usual arithmetic combinations (such as example multiplication tables).

You may be interested: “Dyscalculia: the difficulty when learning mathematics”

Psychopedagogical Disorder due to lack of attention

Psychopedagogical Disorder occurs when the student is not capable of assuming the psychopedagogical objectives proposed for that specific academic year. This fact results in an accumulation of psychopedagogical learning not achieved that accumulate in subsequent courses if it is not detected and acted upon when the first confirmatory indicators are observed.

The subjects that are most frequently affected are the elementary ones: language and mathematics. Usually the origin of this type of complications derives from:

The application of teaching methodologies not adapted to the particular learning characteristics of the student, whether due to excess (undergifted students) or defect (gifted students).

Educational parenting styles that do not emphasize the relevance of learning acquisition.

Differentiating characteristics of the student himself with respect to his peers (presence of behavioral alteration, poor competence in a certain area, etc.).

This type of alteration differs from ADHD since the latter must meet criteria in the three affected areas: attention, impulsivity and/or hyperactivity.

Intellectual giftedness

Regarding intellectual giftedness, there are various factors to consider in the prevention of academic failure in students who have very high intellectual abilities:

Environmental awareness

It’s very important awareness and assimilation by the educational community that this type of group has particular characteristics and, therefore, special educational needs.

Institutional changes to create inclusive educational centers

Once the previous point has been passed, it must be an adaptation of the general educational system to create educational institutions (schools, institutes, universities, etc.) that allow this type of student to be served. Equally important is the fact of providing these institutions with the material, economic, personal and professional resources that allow the institution itself to offer its educational service appropriately.

You may be interested: Andragogy: Learning at Advanced Ages

The myth of chronological age

Another important issue is that the traditionally accepted idea that an academic year must correspond to a specific chronological age must be banished. It seems to be assimilated to a greater extent in the case of “repetition” students, but not so much in those who must be more “advanced”. As has been transmitted throughout the entire agenda, each student presents particularities and it must be the educational system that adapts to the characteristics of the student and not the opposite. Thus, the consideration of implementing curricular adaptations for this group must be applied without reluctance and in a generalized manner.

Thus, the objectives that must be pursued in said curricular adaptations They must be aimed at:

Promote divergent and creative thinking in students, with the aim of allowing them to develop all the potential that is possible;
Enhance scientific reasoning and logical development.
Offer free access to more complex educational media, especially in more specialized academic areas such as music, science or art.
Encourage and motivate the development of potential through rewards and positive reinforcements such as contests, exhibitions or debates where the gifted student obtains satisfaction from his or her work and effort.

In conclusion

After what has been explained in the text, it seems relevant to consider all the factors that are causing such high school dropout rates

Far from placing responsibility exclusively on the presence or absence of the student’s will to learn, there are many other aspects related to the type of teaching that is given, the pedagogical methodology applied, the habits and values transmitted by the family in relation to learning that must be followed. also taken into account to achieve an improvement in the objective of reducing the current percentage of school failure.

Escudero, J. M, González, MT, and Martínez, B. (2009). School failure as educational exclusion: understanding, policies and practices. Ibero-American Journal of Education, 50, 41-64.