The Impact of Membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints on Academic Achievement at the High School Level

Abstract

Throughout history religion has influenced the behavior of adherents, however, little research has been completed determining how these religious beliefs result in changes in academic achievement. This research study, on the relationship between religious affiliation and academic achievement, is constructed on the theory that religious teachings result in changes in behavior that can be measured as different outcomes. This United States research, focused on 1,057 surveyed 18–24-year-olds from the United States, examined if the educational teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints resulted in different academic achievement compared to other religious affiliations. This research expanded on prior research (Albrecht & Heaton, 1984, Merrill et al., 2003) with additional contributions examining academic achievement though High School Grades and SAT/ACT scores. The research included the investigation of other demographic and control variables that have been shown in the body of research to significantly influence academic achievement, including parental education expectations (Shim, 2000; Wilder, 2014), educational resources (McCune & Hoffman, 2009), and parental education attainment (Schlechter & Milevsky, 2010). The findings of this research study reported that Church membership had a significant difference in the mean academic achievement measurement when compared to the sample population (sig. =<.001). Church membership had a significant difference (sig. = <.05) in mean academic achievement with only some of the other religious affiliations. Mean variances of academic achievement between religious affiliation were not consistent when evaluating High School Grades and SAT/ACT scores. Analysis of demographic and control variables suggest that less than 12.5% of the variance in academic achievement can be primarily explained by the level of parental education, parental educational expectations, and race. The results of this study should inform religious leaders that the focus on education within a spiritual context can result in improved academic achievement. The study provides several opportunities for future research including evaluating the correlation between high school grades and standardized test scores in a post-COVID educational environment. Performing multi-factor ANOVA of religious affiliation and academic achievement with additional constructs with large enough sample sizes is an additional opportunity to expand understanding.