A Dynamic Perspective on School Learning Environment and Its Impact on Student Learning Outcomes

Abstract

In this chapter, a brief review of studies looking at various psychological dimensions of the School Learning Environment (SLE) is provided, and the methods used to measure these dimensions of SLE are presented. Since the focus of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 was on student achievement in science, the second part of this chapter refers to studies measuring the SLE in science and its impact on student learning outcomes. The proposition that SLE should be treated as a generic factor is supported, as quantitative syntheses of studies searching for the effect of SLE on student learning outcomes seem to reveal. It is argued that researchers should investigate the actions that schools take to improve the SLE. In this way a dynamic perspective could be adopted, and researchers could study how changes in the SLE can contribute to changes in the effectiveness status of schools. Finally, implications for the reporting and analysing of PISA 2015 study data are drawn; it is claimed that data emerging from PISA 2015 may help policy makers identify ways to provide support to school staff in order to improve their learning environment, especially in science, and to raise student achievement in science.