Mental health and the academic performance of first nations and majority-culture children.

Prior classroom achievement and verbal IQ are identified as predictors of school performance for both Native and non-Native youngsters. Children's assessments of their competence, which appear to be, in part, a product of interactions with teachers, were found to be independent predictors of classroom performance. Results suggest that verbal IQ and compromised self-assessments contribute to the difficulties many Native children experience in majority-culture schools.