Actividades extraescolares y rendimiento académico en alumnos de Educación Secundaria

Abstract Introduction. In this paper we study the posible influence of extra-curricular activities (study-related and/or sports) on academic performance of first- and second-year pupils in Educacion Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) [N.T. seventh- and eighth-graders]. Method. We randomly selected 12 schools in the city (9 public and 3 private), and randomly chose participating pupils (222), assigning them to two groups as a function of whether they were involved in activities outside the schoolday. Thus, the first group was made up of pupils who participated in extra-curricular activities (43 males and 68 females) and the second group contained pupils who did not (35 males and 76 females). Afterward we used analysis of vari-ance to verify whether there were significant differences in academic performance of the two groups. Results. Results indicate that the group involved in activities outside the schoolday yielded better academic performance, especially those that participated in study-related activities, tutoring support or private classes, and those that participated in mixed activities (both sports and academic).