Abstract
Socioeconomic status (SES) is considered a major predictor of student and school achievement. In most cases, SES is not malleable or available for manipulation to improve students’ learning and achievement. Therefore, we explored other student and school-related factors that may be malleable to reduce achievement differences between students and schools in Turkey. We used the TIMSS 2015 fourth-grade mathematics data and analyzed it using hierarchical linear modeling. We found that SES at both student and school levels is a dominant factor related to mathematics achievement and a much stronger predictor at the school level. Early literacy and numeracy activities, preschool education, intrinsic motivation, and engagement in instruction were found to be significantly and positively associated with higher achievement within schools. Similarly, among the school-level variables, we found significant and positive associations between schools’ mathematics scores and instruction quality and school readiness, in the presence of SES. We recommend that preschool education and early literacy and numeracy activities at home should be promoted. Additionally, although the findings of this study indicate possible SES-based school segregation; parents, teachers, and school leaders, as well as students, should work toward a more positive school climate to reduce achievement disparities due to SES.
Highlights
In Turkey, public education is fully financed by the government, including textbooks and educational technologies used in classrooms
Descriptive analyses According to the original Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2015 Turkish fourth-grade mathematics datasets, there were 6456 students and 242 schools in the sample; cases with missing values were excluded from this sample
To conclude, socioeconomic status (SES) is a strong predictor of mathematics achievement between schools
Summary
In Turkey, public education is fully financed by the government, including textbooks and educational technologies used in classrooms. Turkey’s participation in international large-scale assessments at the fourth-grade level is relatively recent; items regarding family SES and school readiness have become available in the TIMSS 2015 assessment for the first time allowing researchers to build more comprehensive models (IEA, 2013, 2017). Another motivation for this study was to investigate the association between school environment and achievement differences for students and schools, beyond SES. In a society such as Turkey, where national exams and future job opportunities are highly competitive, the privilege of spending extra resources for education (e.g., private tutors, test preparation courses, educational technologies) is one of the major contributors to future success (Bakış et al, 2009; Education Reform Initiative, 2009)
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