Higher-order SEM-PLS Modeling of School Readiness Among Indonesian Senior High School Students

Abstract

Improving the quality of secondary education is a strategic priority in Indonesia due to its impact on human wellbeing. Secondary education faces challenges in improving the quality of learning and students' psychological readiness. School preparation is widely acknowledged as a multifaceted concept that highlights the significance of social-emotional engagement, self-regulation, and cognitive-motivational engagement. Therefore, this study aims to examine the construct of school readiness in Indonesia senior high school students using higher-order SEM-PLS. Results indicate that behavioral regulation is the strongest predictor of academic achievement (0.385) and functions as the central mechanism transmitting social-emotional engagement into academic outcomes. However, cognitive-motivational factors exert a competitive mediating effect, indicating that academic grades do not always improve among students who show strong cognitive-motivational engagement (-0.130). The results of this study highlight the important role of behavioral regulation in academic achievement and indicate that social-emotional engagement exerts the strongest overall influence on cognitive-motivational engagement, thereby supporting a multidimensional integrated model of school readiness.