Characteristics of Principals and Schools in the Dinaric Region

Abstract

AbstractThe principal in a school is a manager and school leader who is responsible for advancement and implementation of various processes in the school. They take responsibility for compliance and accountability, support the teaching staff in their professional activities, and aim to build and maintain a school environment that promotes student achievement and good school-community relations. An important element of IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is the research into the home, community, school, and student factors associated with student achievement in mathematics and science. To accomplish this, data about the contexts for learning are collected through questionnaires completed by students and their parents/guardians, teachers, and school principals. Analysis of data from TIMSS 2019 for participants in the Dinaric region (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia) was used to determine whether the level of education, years of experience of the principal, the location of the school, and/or school composition have significant effects on student achievement and thus potentially identify elements that facilitate academic achievement among students. The TIMSS school questionnaire asks principals to provide assessments of the literacy and numeracy skills of students when they first start schooling, the socioeconomic background of the students attending the school, the availability of instructional resources, the school’s emphasis on academic success, and discipline and school safety. While previous research has suggested that principals’ years of experience and educational attainment are positively related to student achievement, there was little evidence for this in this regional sample of education systems. In three of the seven TIMSS participants in the Dinaric region, students from schools with a socioeconomically more affluent student body tended to achieve higher scores in mathematics and science. In four of the seven TIMSS participants, schools that placed strong emphasis on academic success tended to have higher levels of student achievement. The findings suggest that school principals in the region can best improve their students’ achievement by focusing on encouraging student motivation and providing additional instructional resources for socioeconomically disadvantaged children.KeywordsAchievementLeadershipMathematicsSchool educationSchool principalsScienceTrends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)