Religiously engaged adolescents demonstrate habits that help them get better grades

Study suggests that being religious helps adolescents get better grades because they are rewarded for being conscientious and cooperative. Adolescents who practice religion on a regular basis do better in school than those who are religiously disengaged, according to new research from Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE). The findings indicate that religious communities socialize adolescents to cultivate two habits highly valued in public schools: conscientiousness and cooperation. Religious engagement may influence grades more than researchers realize. "The United States is a highly religious country, and religion is a powerful social force," said the study's author, Ilana Horwitz, a doctoral candidate at the GSE. "If we, as education scholars, are trying to understand adolescents in America, we should pay attention to this very important part of their life." Horwitz released the findings in a working paper , "The Abider-Avoider Achievement Gap: The Association Between GPA and Religiosity in Public Schools," at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association on April 15. Race, class, gender-and religion Religious engagement is typically ignored in studies on the relationship between social attributes and academic achievement, Horwitz said.