This study uses National Assessment Program — Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) data linked with records from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) to better understand the association between students’ early academic performance at school and their schooling outcomes measured by the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).
In this paper the authors explore the relationship between social capital at age 15 and participation in education and training at age 17. Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) 2003 cohort, the analysis shows that social capital does play an important role in influencing educational participation. For both males and females, participation in school-based activities is found to have the greatest influence on participation in education and training, followed by the strength of the relationship students have with their teachers. Of particular interest, the authors find that social capital influences educational participation over and above the effects of background characteristics such as parental education and occupation, geographic location, cultural background and academic achievement.