School-level Variables Research Articles

School leadership fostering mental health in the times of crisis: synthesis of school principals' views and PISA 2022.

Administration and governance of schools including many complex processes like bureaucracy, teaching, and school improvement is responsibility school principals. They are like bridges between micro-level dynamics and macro-level policies. Additionally, Turkey has experienced crises like pandemic and natural disasters in the recent years. These crises negatively affect the mental health of school stakeholders. All of these issues require an effective leadership style. In these aspects, the current study aims to investigate school leadership fostering mental health in times of crises. The design of the study is mixed-method research in which both quantitative and qualitative paradigms are followed. The data sources of the study were school principals and PISA 2022 dataset. PISA 2022 data related to mental health were extracted from dataset. Semi-structured interview forms were administered to school principals. Data coming from interviews are analyzed within content analysis while Hierarchical Linear Modelling (HLM) was run for PISA 2022 data. In terms of student-level variables, the PISA 2022 results showed that stress resistance was positively related to sense of belonging, feeling safe, assertiveness, and emotional control whereas it was negatively related to being bullied and empathy. Considering school-level variables, educational leadership and school diversity and multicultural views predicted stress resistance significantly. The results related to qualitative part showed that themes of perception on crisis, the impact of crises, crisis management actions, mental health support, and ways to improve mental health were effective in leadership style. It is concluded that school leadership fostering mental health depends on holistic perspective and taking action.

An empirical study on the effectiveness of collaborative school implementation in central China: a value-added approach

ABSTRACT School effectiveness refers to an educational institution’s ability to achieve its predetermined goals, especially regarding student learning outcomes, development, and well-being. Although forming and strengthening partnerships between schools is commonly used to improve school effectiveness, empirical evidence on the connection between school collaboration and school effectiveness remains insufficient. This study investigates the relationship between school collaboration and effectiveness by employing a hierarchical linear model based on a value-added analysis of student scores in selected schools in a central Chinese city. We found that some student- and school-level variables significantly influenced students’ achievement. After controlling for both student and school demographic variables, the study results indicated that collaborative schools exhibited greater school effectiveness than non-collaborative schools, and the effectiveness continued improving as collaborative schools continued to grow. In general, it is viable to employ the value-added approach to assess the impact of school collaboration within the Chinese education system.

Context matters: The importance of investigating random effects in hierarchical models for early childhood education researchers

This paper highlights the importance of examining individual, classroom, and school-level variables simultaneously in early childhood education research. While it is well known that Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) in school-based studies can be used to account for the clustering of students within classrooms or schools, less known is that HLM can use random effects to investigate how higher-level factors (e.g., effects that vary by school) moderate associations between lower-level factors. This possible moderation can be detected even if higher-level data are not collected. Despite this important use of HLM, a clear resource explaining how to test this type of effect is not available for early childhood researchers. This paper demonstrates this use of HLM by presenting three analytic examples using empirical early childhood education data. First, we review school-level effects literature and HLM concepts to provide the rationale for testing cross-level moderation effects in education research; next we do a short review of literature on the variables that will be used in our three examples (viz., teacher beliefs and student socioemotional behavior); next we describe the dataset that will be analyzed; and finally we guide the reader step-by-step through analyses that show the presence and absence of fixed effects of teacher beliefs on student social outcomes and the erroneous conclusions that can occur if school-level moderation (i.e., random effects) tests are excluded from analyses. This paper provides evidence for the importance of testing for how teachers and students impact each other as a function of school differences, shows how this can be accomplished, and highlights the need to examine random effects of clustering in educational models to ensure the full context is accounted for when predicting student outcomes.

School-level variation in children's moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity before and after COVID-19: a multilevel model analysis.

Schools play a crucial role in facilitating physical activity among children, but the COVID-19 pandemic has affected both children's physical activity and the school environment. It is essential to understand between-school differences in children's physical activity post lockdown, to determine if and how the role of schools has changed. Active-6 is a natural experiment comparing postlockdown accelerometer-estimated physical activity to a pre-COVID-19 comparator group. Accelerometer and individual data were collected on 1296 children aged 10-11 pre-COVID-19 (2017-8), with school characteristics collected from the 50 schools they attended. Post lockdown, we collected accelerometer, individual and school data from 393 children in 23 of the same schools and 436 children in 27 of the same schools in 2021 (Wave 1) and 2022 (Wave 2), respectively. Sources of variation (between-school, between-pupil and within-pupil) in child weekday moderate to vigorous physical activity at each wave were modelled using linear mixed-effects models with school-level wave random coefficients. We extended the model to estimate the proportion of between-school variation explained by school policy, curriculum and physical environment factors and school-aggregated pupil characteristics. We also explored the extent to which postlockdown differences in moderate to vigorous physical activity were mediated by individual or school factors. Between-school variation comprised 13% of the total variation pre-COVID-19, 7% in Wave 1 and 13% in Wave 2. School factors associated with moderate to vigorous physical activity were the following: whether physical education was compromised due to space (often: 9 minutes lower moderate to vigorous physical activity; sometimes: 5.4 minutes lower); high after-school club attendance (7 minutes higher moderate to vigorous physical activity for each additional club attended on average in the school); cycle training policy (4 minutes higher moderate to vigorous physical activity); and higher prevalence of active travel (1 minute higher moderate to vigorous physical activity for each 10% point increase in prevalence). These factors explained 22% of the between-school variation pre-COVID-19, and 72% at Wave 2. The relative importance changed, with cycle training policy and active travel being the most important pre-COVID-19 and cycle training policy, active after-school clubs and compromised physical education space most important in Wave 2. No factors were found to mediate the postlockdown differences in moderate to vigorous physical activity, except compromised physical education space, which had a suppressor effect in Wave 2. Only 27 of the initial 50 schools participated post lockdown, limiting our ability to make comparisons across waves. Sample sizes were additionally affected by missing data for some variables. While schools continue to play an important role in facilitating children's physical activity, the factors that contribute to this have changed post-COVID-19, with cycle training, active after-school clubs and ensuring physical education is prioritised even when space is limited now explaining nearly three-quarters of the between-school variation in children's moderate to vigorous physical activity. School-level interventions that focus on these areas, and policies that support them, may offer the potential to increase children's physical activity. This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme as award number NIHR131847.

Sekolah versus madrasah: navigating the varied effects of multilevel factors on student English reading performance.

ABSTRACT This study examines multilevel factors shaping Indonesian student performances attending non-madrasah/sekolah and madrasah schools. Using multistratified sample design and grouped based on their school system, data from 30 schools, 64 teachers, and 1,319 students were analysed. Focusing on student, teacher, and school-level variables, hierarchical linear modelling revealed that reading difficulties and anxiety, along with school climates emphasizing achievement pressure and discipline, significantly influenced reading outcomes in both groups. Students grappling with heightened learning complexities and anxiety faced the greatest challenges. Interestingly, madrasah students thrived within competitive environments emphasizing high achievement pressure and minimal disciplinary constraints, while sekolah students who excelled in settings that valued discipline over relentless achievement pressure performed better. Unique influences emerged: peer relationships and anxiety directly affected reading scores in sekolah, while gender was the sole predictor in madrasah. Interaction effects among these multilevel factors in shaping student reading achievement across diverse educational settings were revealed.

The Impacts of Small Teacher-Level Sample Sizes in Cluster-Randomized Trials

Cluster-randomized trials have been widely used to evaluate the treatment effects of interventions on student outcomes. When interventions are implemented by teachers, researchers need to account for the nested structure in schools (i.e., students are nested within teachers nested within schools). Schools usually have a very limited number of teachers in each grade. This limited teacher-level sample size may pose potential challenges for study design, analysis, and reporting. The current study aims to evaluate the impacts of small teacher-level sample sizes on study design, analysis, and reporting in cluster-randomized trials. Through a simulation study, we show that the intraclass correlation coefficients at the teacher and school levels are prone to biased estimates in many cases, especially when the student-level sample size is also small. One design strategy we recommend is to sample a large number of students per teacher as this will alleviate the impacts of small teacher-level sample sizes. We recommend that researchers use the total variance, if available, rather than school-level variance to report standardized treatment effects for a meta-analysis. When the total variance is not available for all studies, researchers should use a school-level variance in two-level models as the base for standardization to reduce biases.

High-quality teachers in low-quality schools: understanding the variation in teaching quality in low-achieving Chilean schools

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of schools and provide inputs to better inform both research and public policies. To address this aim, 258 low-achieving Chilean primary schools and their 1,266 teachers were analysed. On the basis of a multilevel latent class analysis, we found four profiles of teaching practices. The proportion of teachers in the high-quality teacher category is unexpectedly high (38.37%), followed by the low-quality (25.61%), content-oriented (18.91%), and climate-oriented (17.12%) categories. Finally, several school-level variables were tested to explore the link between school practices and teaching quality categories. The results show that the quality of the school’s teaching practices related to their support for behavioural issues is associated with the probability of teachers belonging to the low-quality or climate-oriented categories. These findings can be valuable for policymaking, as they call for the development of strategies that strengthen teachers’ capacities within schools.

Predicting Student Achievement via Machine Learning: Evidence from Turkish Subset of PISA

This study seeks to identify the determinants of academic performance in mathematics, science, and reading among Turkish secondary school students. Using data from the OECD's PISA 2018 survey, which includes several student- and school-level variables as well as test scores, we employed a range of supervised machine learning methods specifically ensemble decision trees to assess their predictive performance. Our results indicate that the boosted regression tree (BRT) method outperforms other methods bagging and random forest regression trees. Notably, the BRT highlights the importance of general secondary education programs over vocational and technical (VAT) education in predicting academic achievement. Moreover, both characteristics specific to student and school environment are demonstrated to be significant predictors of academic performance in all subject areas. These findings contribute to the development of evidence-based educational policies in Turkey.

Impact of a School Trachoma Program Emphasizing Facial Cleanliness and Environmental Improvement in Amhara, Ethiopia.

The SAFE (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, Environmental improvement) strategy is the WHO's endorsed approach for eliminating trachoma as a public health problem; however, not all components have been treated equally. Historically, the F and E components have not been prioritized owing to their perceived complexity. With school enrollment increasing in Ethiopia, development of a national school health program that is focused on the F and E components represents an opportunity to strengthen the SAFE strategy in the country. In 2016, the Trachoma Control Program in Amhara, Ethiopia, along with its partners, developed a School Trachoma Program (STP) that offers grade-specific lessons to improve sanitation and hygiene knowledge and practices among primary school-aged children. To assess its impact, schools were sampled before implementation and then up to 1 year after STP rollout. The aim of this report is to detail STP outcomes and the associations between outcomes and school-level variables. By 2018, adoption of an STP was strong within Amhara, with 85% of the 137 surveyed schools completing their quarterly reports and nearly 80% having at least one teacher trained in the STP. By the end of the third quarter, nearly all schools (86%) had access to a latrine, and 89% of students had a clean face. A schoolwide orientation was associated with increased STP lessons and activities (P = 0.01). Development of an STP, with buy-in from principals and teachers, represents a promising approach for the adoption of a new F- and E-specific curriculum and may help advance efforts to eliminate trachoma.

Teacher Mobility from “Starter School” to “Forever School”: The Impact on Urban Schools and Students

Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Framework was utilized to examine the complexity of the teacher turnover problem in regard to structural inequalities within education that need to be dismantled to create equitable outcomes for all students. Hierarchical cluster analysis was implemented to investigate school report card data of elementary schools in a rural school district ( n = 18) and an urban school district ( n = 41) in geographical proximity in the southeastern United States. Clusters were formed using school level variables including the breakdown of student race/ethnicity, percentage of economically disadvantaged students, teacher turnover rates, years of teaching experience, and a school performance measure. Four clusters emerged from the analysis. Across all variables there were significant differences found between clusters ( p < .001) in the school performance measure, teacher turnover rates, student race/ethnicity, and percentage of students receiving free/reduced price lunch. The percentage of teachers with between 4 and 10 years of experience was statistically equivalent across all cluster groups, differences were found in the number of initially licensed teachers (a low of 9.9% in Cluster 2 to a high of 27.0% in Cluster 4) and teachers with 10 or more years experience (ranging from 46.5% in Cluster 4 to 62.2% in Cluster 2).

Measuring and explaining political tolerance among adolescents: insights from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016

BackgroundTolerance is a prerequisite for deliberative democracies. Therefore, fostering tolerance is an important task for educational systems in democracies. In the present study, the concepts of social and political tolerance were disentangled and applied to the measurement approaches of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2016 (ICCS 2016). A single scale of political tolerance was proposed by identifying items on equal rights of women and men, different racial and ethnic groups and immigrants that capture the support of equal political rights. Previous research indicates different approaches that might be used to foster tolerance in schools.MethodsThis study used the rarely applied alignment method to identify a political tolerance scale that was sufficiently invariant in the 15 participating European educational systems. The alignment method identifies solutions with minimal amounts of non-invariance. Multilevel regression analyses are used to identify which aspects of schooling are predictive of political tolerance at the student and at the school level.ResultsThe alignment analyses revealed a sufficiently invariant solution for the 15 education systems that could be used in regression analyses. While cognitive learning showed only a weak relationship with political tolerance, teacher fairness was relevant at student and school level. An open classroom climate was a positive predictor with relevant strength only at school level. Further multigroup analyses indicated that the results at the student level were stable between countries, while school level indicators varied more strongly between countries.ConclusionsResearchers need to acknowledge the conceptual differences between social and political tolerance in their measurement approaches. The alignment method can be useful to create scales that are comparable between many different educational systems. While educational systems differ strongly in their school level variance of political tolerance, teachers can play an important role in fostering political tolerance at the student level.

잠비아 청소년의 장기결석 관련요인 연구

The purpose of this study was to review student and school-level variables related to long-term absenteeism about Zambia’s adolescents, focusing on the problem in terms of educational opportunities and the risk of school interruption in Africa, and to explore ways to prevent long-term absenteeism. To explore the relationship between student-level and school-level characteristics with Zambia adolescent’s long-term absenteeism experience, a two-level multilevel anaylsis was conducted with HLM 8.2, using data from 2,334 students in 130 schools of Zambia’s PISA-D sample.
 The main findings are, first, Zambia’s adolescents’ long-term absenteeism experience has statistically significant differences between schools. Second, among the characteristics of the school level on the long-term absenteeism experience of Zambia’s adolescents, the number of full-time teachers was found to have a positive effect on long-term absenteeism. Third, among the characteristics on the student level, it was found that the positive perception of school had a negative effect. Fourth, among the characteristics on the student level, school retention experience was found to have a positive effect, and lastly, among the characteristics on the student level, reading achievement was found to have a negative effect.
 When implementing policies to prevent long-term absenteeism in the future, it is necessary to consider the variables that were statistically significant in this study. Also, since the concepts related to long-term absenteeism have not been broadly and clearly agreed upon, it is necessary to meta-analyze domestic and international studies on similar concepts to derive consensus and allow more in-depth discussions. If the discussion is made based on clear concept, a more effective plan for the prevention and intervention strategy for long-term absentee adolescents may be suggested.

Assessment of primary and middle schools’ learning of post-1994 instructional reforms: The organizational learning perspective

Using Organizational Learning (OL) as a theoretical lens, this study examined the perceived level of OL in primary and middle schools in the Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia. To this end, a descriptive survey design involving 785 teachers selected from 48 primary schools was used. Data was collected using standard questionnaires and analyzed using various statistical tools. The results showed that target schools had a mean that is slightly above average in learning the instructional reforms, but the magnitude varies with school level, and level of implementation of continuous professional development. Regarding learning agency, team learning and school-level learning were found higher than learning at personal agency. However, most teacher and school-level variables did not result in significant variation in school as LO probably due to the deep-rooted tradition of top-down reforms. From the results, it is understood that OL in primary schools, especially in Level III schools, is taking root through collective agency, but some fundamental constructs and features of LO were overlooked. This calls for the need to align the schools’ standardization guidelines to the constructs and features of LO. Moreover, it sounds well to revisit the long-held top-down tradition of introducing reforms.

Individual and school correlates of body mass index and cardiorespiratory fitness in primary school children from the REACT project: A multivariate multilevel analysis.

This paper examines the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) using a multivariate multilevel approach and investigates the links between individual and school-related correlates with children's BMI and CRF. This cross-sectional sample included 1014 children (6-10 years) from 25 Portuguese primary schools. BMI was calculated, and CRF was assessed with the PACER test. Fundamental movement skills (FMS) included five object control tasks. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), sleep, and sedentary time were assessed with the ActiGraph wGT3X-BT accelerometer. Socioeconomic status (SES) and school variables were also obtained. A multivariate multilevel model was used, and alpha was set at 5%. BMI and CRF systematically increased with age. Most of the joint variance (94.4%) was explained at the child level, and BMI and CRF were correlated at this level (ρ = -.37). More active children demonstrated higher CRF levels and had lower BMI levels; sedentary and sleep time were not significantly associated with BMI or CRF. FMS were positively associated with CRF but were not significantly associated with BMI. Children at higher SES were more fit and had lower BMI than their peers of lower SES. Finally, school-level variables were not significantly related to BMI and CRF. BMI and CRF had a low but statistically significant negative correlation in this sample of children. Most of the variation in BMI and CRF was explained by child-level characteristics.

Family and school factors related to internalizing and externalizing problems in adolescence

ABSTRACT Family and school factors are among the most important determinants of internalizing and externalizing problem behavior in adolescents. The aim of this study is to explore how certain family and school factors explain internalizing and externalizing problems after one year. In addition to individual-level variables, school level variables are taken into account. This multilevel study was conducted among 507 adolescents (mean age 13.44; 52.3% girls) who reported their internalizing problems (anxiety, depressive symptoms), externalizing problems (aggressive and norm-breaking behavior), parental knowledge of their whereabouts, parental rule setting, school connectedness and teacher support. At the school level, the aggregated scores for school connectedness and teacher support were calculated. The results show that the differences between schools explained 13.4% of the variance in externalizing problem behavior although it did not account for internalizing behavior. Parental knowledge and school connectedness were significant predictors of both internalizing and externalizing problems. At the school level, aggregated teacher support predicted fewer externalizing problems. While some of the results are partially in line with previous findings, others were found to be contradictory. The implications for practice are provided.

Students’ perceptions of school resource officer performance

ABSTRACT In recent years, school resource officers (SROs) and their role in the context of school safety have become a popular topic of research. In this study, we analyze data from 31,156 students from over 100 schools in Kentucky to better understand how students perceive SROs in their school environment. The findings reveal that males, students who liked having an SRO at their school, students who saw their SRO at several locations on campus during the typical school day, and students who viewed their SRO as more than a law enforcer had a higher opinion of the SRO working at their school. Interestingly, school-level variables had no impact on these relationships. Implications for policy and future research are also discussed.

Indifferent, skeptical, ambivalent, moderate, and enthusiastic: What impacts profiles of teachers' technology views

Teachers' views about information and communication technology are a key affordance or barrier to classroom technology adoption and use. However, in determining factors that impact these views, much research has relied on variable-centered approaches that bifurcated teachers' views into mere positive or negative groups. Such approaches oversimplify key information that could serve educational authorities attempting to address low technology integration in schools. Therefore, this large-scale study employed a latent profile analysis with multilevel logistic regression analysis that aimed to (1) identify profiles of teachers' views of information and communication technologies for teaching and learning and (2) explore effects from teacher- and school-level variables on these profiles. Utilizing nationally generalizable data from 2079 full-time eighth-grade teachers from 150 different schools across South Korea from the International Computer and Information literacy study 2018, the analysis revealed five profiles of teachers' views: Indifferent, Skeptical, Ambivalent, Moderate, and Enthusiastic, with Moderate being the largest, and Highly Ambivalent and Indifferent the smallest. The findings from multilevel logistic regression analysis indicated numerous effects from teacher- and school-level antecedents and processes that matched each profile, highlighting school leaders’ ICT views. Notably, there were no effects from regional differences. Implications for leaders and policymakers are discussed in the context of professional development and reform policies.

Collective Self-Control as a Feature of Social Contexts: Theoretical Arguments and a Multilevel Empirical Test

Objectives: We draw from prior theory and research to advance theoretical arguments for how self-control may operate as a collective concept in addition to being a powerful individual quality. Next, we empirically examine hypotheses regarding the potential effects of collective self-control on offending. Methods: We use data from the 2018 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, a statewide survey of Florida middle school and high school students nested within more than 400 schools. Hierarchical Linear Modeling was used to estimate effects of individual- and school-level self-control on substance use and delinquency. Results: Variation in self-control is primarily between individuals rather than between schools, but a statistically significant amount of school-level variation was observed. Moreover, school low self-control was significantly related to substance use and delinquency, and school low self-control amplified the effects of individual low self-control. Conclusions: Self-control is a critical individual-level quality, but a unique contribution also comes from a collective-level conceptualization that considers that social groups and contexts vary in how much they promote the use of self-control.

English teacher competency: a study with different school levels and teaching experience

ABSTRACT This study investigated effects of school levels and years of teaching on the teacher’s perceived competency of teaching English using an English subject-specific competency (ESSC) inventory of five constructs: language proficiency (LP), cultural teaching (CT), grammar translation teaching (GTT), communication skills teaching (CST), student-centred teaching (ST). 614 English teachers in Korea were surveyed. The results showed that English teacher perceived competency seems to be more related to school levels than years of teaching. The result of MANOVA showed the school levels and years of teaching have an effect on English teachers’ competency. The results of ANOVA showed that three constructs (LP, CST, ST) were statistically significant with school levels, but only one construct, CST was statistically significant with years of teaching. Interaction effects showed that the means of LP and GTT increased by years of teaching for primary school teachers, but those for middle and high school teachers fluctuated slightly by years of teaching. These results suggest that the competence of English teachers should be understood in a multidimensional way with school level and experience variables. Pedagogical implications were discussed based on the findings.

Latent class analysis identifies a promising combination of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education interventions for improving student cardiorespiratory fitness

ObjectiveTo inform Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) and other school-based interventions aiming to improve youth cardiorespiratory fitness, this study aimed to identify which SNAP-Ed school-based physical activity intervention combinations were associated with better student cardiorespiratory fitness. MethodsThis study, utilizing cross-sectional secondary data, included 5th and 7th grade students who attended SNAP-Ed-eligible public schools in California (n = 442,743 students; 4271 schools) and had complete 2016–17 state-mandated fitness test results. Latent class analysis was used to identify underlying school-based intervention combinations. Propensity score methods were used to ensure comparability of intervention and comparison schools, by calculating inverse probability weights. Multilevel models, using those inverse probability weights, assessed the associations between the identified intervention combinations and student cardiorespiratory fitness, as measured by VO2max. The models were adjusted for school-level variables (urbanicity, percent of students eligible for free- or reduced-price meals, total enrollment, and school type), child-level variables (age, gender, and race/ethnicity), and for clustering of students within schools. ResultsWe found that students attending schools with interventions focusing on comprehensive policy changes along with improving opportunities for physical activity had, on average, 1.17 mL/kg/min (95% CI: 0.72, 1.62) greater VO2max than students attending schools without any intervention. They also had statistically significantly greater VO2max compared to students attending schools with any other type of intervention combination. ConclusionOur results suggest that comprehensive school-based physical activity interventions that include policy changes along with improving physical activity opportunities may be the most effective approach for improving fitness and may warrant prioritization in SNAP-Ed efforts.