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Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of Albanian secondary schools, which are associated with reading achievement and the effects of gender and socio-economic status on reading performance of 15-year-old students. This study used data on the background and achievement of 4,596 students in 181 Albanian schools from the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Given the nested structure of the data, two-level Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) methods were used to address multilevel research questions. About a third of the total variance in reading performance lies between schools, indicating that school characteristics are important in predicting student achievement. The results clearly reveal the significant relationships of socio-economic status (SES) and gender with student achievement, even after controlling for family structure (two parent families versus others), learning strategies use, and reading engagement. There is also a substantial variability among schools on gender difference in student performance and the effect of SES on student performance. The results from the between-school model suggest that school type, school SES and classroom environment are significant predictors of school performance. Moreover, gender gap in reading performance is associated with school sector (public/private), school location (urban/rural), and average reading engagement; and SES effect on student performance is associated with school type (general/vocational), school location and average reading engagement. The characteristics of schools that make them excellent and more equitable are summarized.
Highlights
During the past decade, education reform in Albania has focused on improving student learning outcomes and equality of educational outcomes and opportunities
The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics of Albanian secondary schools, which are associated with reading achievement and the effects of gender and socio-economic status on reading performance of 15-year-old students
The results clearly reveal the significant relationships of socio-economic status (SES) and gender with student achievement, even after controlling for family structure, learning strategies use, and reading engagement
Summary
Education reform in Albania has focused on improving student learning outcomes and equality of educational outcomes and opportunities. Evidence from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has revealed low achievement levels of Albanian schools and stark inequalities in educational achievements. It is of great interest for researchers to investigate questions and provide insight on the quality and equity of education in Albania. Identifying factors associated with achievement levels and achievement gaps has been of increasing need among educators and policy makers recently in Albania. Considerable research has recently accumulated on the effects of school characteristics on academic achievement. In one of the most cited works, Coleman et al (1966) found that school effects on student achievement existed but were less important than student backgrounds. The importance of school structure variables, such as location and sector (e.g., Lubienski, 2006; Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2010a), school composition variables, such as school socioeconomic status (SES)
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