The Relation between Academic Competence and Social Competence along Time: A Study with 3^rd and 4^th Grades

The association between social competence and academic achievement has been broadly supported. This paper is guided by the theoretical model of social competence of Vaughn and Hogan (1990) and tries to explore the relation between social competence and academic competence along schooling. The results presented are from a longitudinal study with four data collection moments. Participants were 240 students from primary school (3^rd and 4^th grades). The main goal is to understand the reciprocal relations between academic competence and social competence along these two school years. We are particularly interested in tracing the achievement trajectories of low, average and high achievers, and its effects on social competence. Data was analyzed using HLM6.0. In general, the results confirm the correlation between social competence and academic competence and establish that academic competence is a good predictor of social competence. Moreover, the social competence trajectories of average and high achievers seem to be stable along time, however, the low achievers’ social competence significantly increases along time.