School-level Variables Research Articles

What Explains Vietnam's Exceptional Performance in Education Relative to Other Countries? Analysis of the 2012, 2015, and 2018 PISA Data

Despite being the poorest or second poorest participant, Vietnam outperformed all other developing countries, and many wealthier countries, on the 2012, 2015, and 2018 PISA assessments. We investigate Vietnam's strong performance, evaluating several possible explanations for this apparent exemplary achievement. After correcting for potentially non-representative PISA samples, including bias from Vietnam's large out-of-school population, Vietnam remains a large positive outlier conditional on its income. Possible higher motivation of, and coaching given to, Vietnamese students can at most only partly explain Vietnam's performance. The child-, household- and school-level variables in the PISA data explain little of Vietnam's strong PISA performance relative to its income level. At most, they explain about 30% of Vietnam's exceptional performance in math and reading. Further research is needed to understand the exceptional performance of Vietnamese students.

Multi-level structural equation modelling for factors affecting science achievement of Korean middle school students before and after COVID-19: based on 2018–2020 national assessment of educational achievement data

ABSTRACT Science academic achievement is a key construct for examining students’ science learning outcomes. While international comparative assessments like TIMSS and PISA have shown high science achievement of Korean middle school students, there is a lack of comprehensive investigation of factors influencing the achievement using domestic data. Additionally, the impact of COVID-19 on science achievement-related factors remains largely unexplored. This study utilises multi-level structural equation modelling to examine the factors affecting science achievement among Korean middle school students. By analysing data from the National Assessment of Educational Achievement (NAEA), we identify individual- and school-level variables that affect student science achievement. The model fitting results were compared before (2018–2019; N = 5771 and N = 5614) and after (2020; N = 4,623) the COVID-19 outbreak. The analysis results reveal that individual-level factors, such as self-efficacy, affective domain of science learning, and self-studying time had significant effects on science achievement consistently throughout years. School-level factors, including principal’s supervision, school climate, and science teacher’s efficacy, demonstrated significantly positive effects on science achievement only in 2020 following the COVID-19 outbreak. This study enhances our understanding of the characteristics of high-achieving Korean middle school students and highlights the role of school community in supporting student learning during uncertain circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic.

School socio-economic context and student achievement in Ireland: an unconditional quantile regression analysis using PISA 2018 data

BackgroundThe existence of a multiplier, compositional or social context effect is debated extensively in the literature on school effectiveness and also relates to the wider issue of equity in educational outcomes. However, comparatively little attention has been given to whether or not the association between student achievement and school socio-economic composition may vary across the achievement distribution. Furthermore, with limited exception, comparatively little use has been made of unconditional quantile modelling approaches in the education literature.MethodsThis paper uses Irish data from the Programme for International Student Assessment 2018 and employs ordinary least squares regression and unconditional quantile regression empirical approaches to examine the association between school socio-economic composition and achievement. Reading and mathematics achievement are used as outcome variables and models control for a rich set of school and student characteristics.ResultsFindings from the ordinary least squares regression show that, on average, there is a significant negative relationship between school socio-economic disadvantage and student achievement in reading and mathematics having controlled from a range of individual and school-level variables. From a distributional perspective, unconditional quantile regression results show variation in the strength of the relationship between school socio-economic disadvantage and student achievement, particularly in reading, with a stronger association at the lower end of the achievement distribution. Findings illustrate the need to give nuanced consideration to how students with varying levels of achievement may experience a socio-economically disadvantaged context at school. Our findings also draw attention to the benefit of examining variation in the association between achievement and explanatory variables across the achievement distribution and underscore the importance of moving beyond an exclusive focus on the mean of the distribution. Finally, we emphasise the importance of drawing population-level inferences when using the unconditional quantile regression method.

A Multilevel Analysis of Factors Influencing School Bullying in 15-Year-Old Students

School bullying causes serious impacts on adolescents' physical and mental health. Few studies have explored the various factors influencing bullying by combining different levels of data. Based on the database of four Chinese provinces and cities of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2018, this study used a multilevel analysis model that combined school-level variables and student-level variables to explore the influencing factors of students being bullied. Students' gender, grade repetition, truancy and arriving late for class, economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS), teacher support, and parent support had significant explanatory power on school bullying on the student-level; on the school-level, school discipline atmosphere and competitive atmosphere among students had significant impacts on school bullying. Boys, students who have repeated grades, truancy and arriving late for class, and students with lower ESCS suffer from more severe school bullying. When developing school bullying interventions, teachers and parents should pay more attention to those students and provide more emotional support and encouragement to them. Meanwhile, students in schools with a lower discipline atmosphere and a higher level of competitive atmosphere experience greater levels of bullying, and schools should create more positive and friendly environments to prevent bullying events.

EXAMINATION OF TEACHERS' ORGANIZATIONAL TRUST LEVELS ACCORDING TO VARIOUS VARIABLES

Trust is the most basic need after nutrition in human life. The most basic need in business life, which is a part of human life, is trust. Employees should feel safe in their work life. Teachers who develop a sense of confidence can raise successful students. For this reason, it is important to determine teachers' organizational trust perceptions. In this study, first of all, teachers' organizational trust levels were examined. Then, the differentiation of teachers' organizational trust levels according to gender, graduation status, seniority and school-level variables was examined. The research was designed in the scanning model. The “Organizational Trust Scale” developed by Yılmaz (2006) was used to determine teachers' perceptions of organizational trust. The data were analyzed with descriptive analysis, t_test and ANOVA analysis. According to the findings, teachers trust their schools at a high level. Accordingly, teachers' gender, educational status and seniority do not affect their organizational trust perceptions. The school-level variable affects teachers' perceptions of organizational trust. This result shows that teachers working in primary schools have higher organizational trust perceptions. As a result, policies should be developed to improve the organizational trust perceptions of teachers working in secondary and high schools.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0098/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Are track recommendations dependent on schools and school boards? A study of trends in the level of track recommendations, number of double recommendations and reconsiderations in Dutch urban and rural areas

AbstractTrack recommendations provided to students in the final grade of primary education lead the allocation to specific school tracks in secondary education in the Netherlands. Where the results of a standardised test indicate that students are able to go to a higher track level, primary schools are required to reconsider and potentially adjust the track recommendation to a higher level. The current research aimed to (1) investigate trends in the level of track recommendations, double track recommendations and reconsiderations over the years 2014–2015 to 2018–2019, (2) explore the variation in (trends of) track recommendations between Dutch primary schools and their school boards, and (3) assess the association between track recommendations and the school level variables degree of urbanisation and type of primary education. We used multilevel growth curve modelling for continuous and count data based on publicly available school‐level population data regarding track recommendations and school leavers tests from 2014–2015 to 2018–2019. The number of double track recommendations has increased over the cohorts, with a slightly decreasing gap between schools in rural and urban areas. The number of reconsiderations first decreased and then increased. The differences in reconsiderations between rural and urban areas are increasing over time. An initial trend towards higher average recommendations stabilising in the later cohorts appeared with no clear pattern for degree of urbanisation. The current study adds to the existing knowledge by assessing longitudinal trends instead of cross‐sectional analyses and including multiple stakeholders and factors simultaneously.

Factors influencing teachers’ grading standards in mathematics

ABSTRACT National assessments can be used to explore the strictness of teachers in grading students by comparing student grades to their scores on standardised tests. Several factors influence teacher-given grades, including student gender, school type, geographical regions, and socioeconomic status. In this paper, we used data from the Italian institute INVALSI, responsible for the organisation of national mathematics assessments, to investigate how these factors influence teachers’ grading standards. We considered a sample of 36,589 Grade 13 Italian students from 2,062 classes at 990 high schools. The relationships between the variables were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling. The findings reveal that teacher-given grades are related to student-level variables (e.g. gender, socioeconomic status, and score on the INVALSI test) and school-level variables (e.g. school type and location). When the difference between teacher-assigned grades and scores on the INVALSI test was considered, only student gender, school type, and location accounted for the gap in student achievements. Therefore, student socioeconomic status has a lower influence on their performance on the INVALSI test, suggesting that using standardised assessments might improve equity in assessment.

PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AMONG HIGH-SCHOOL CHILDREN IN BANGLADESH: A META-SYNTHESIS OF QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

It has been shown that more parental participation in their children's education is successful, even in underprivileged areas of industrialized nations. It demonstrates that this result may be applied to developing countries based on a study of randomized field trials, including frequent, in-person contact between instructors and parents in a rural Bangladesh environment. Parent-teacher conferences regularly encouraged parents to spend more time helping and supervising their kids' schoolwork. Therefore, this study aims to explore the influence of parental involvement on student's academic performance in Bangladeshi secondary schools. This led to changes in student attitudes and conduct, in addition to helping kids' test results. The treatment benefits were consistent regardless of parental, teacher, or school-level variables. Significant policy ramifications emerge from these results for underdeveloped nations where increased school enrollment levels often do not result in better educational outcomes: Parent-teacher engagement programs are affordable, simple to establish, and scalable.

중학생의 학업열의 영향 변인 탐색

Objectives The purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of middle school students' gender, life satisfaction, happiness, self-esteem, attention, cooperation, grit and school location, school life satisfaction, friend relationship, and teacher relationship on academic engagement.
 Methods For this study, 2,329 responses of the 3rd wave(3rd grade of middle school) of the Korean Children & Youth Panel Survey(KCYPS) were analyzed. For applying multi-level modeling(two-level) a basic model and a research model were established, and the influence of variables affecting academic engagement was analyzed by inputting variables at the student level and school level.
 Results First, it was found that 7.3% of the total variance explaining the academic engagement of middle school students was affected by school characteristics. Second, looking at the influence of independent variables at the student-level was male students higher than female students, and the higher life satisfaction, cooperation, and grit, the lower attention, the higher academic engagement. Third, looking ant the influence of school-level variables, it was found that the friend relationship had a negative effect on academic engagement, while the teacher relationship showed a positive effect.
 Conclusions Based on the results of this study, for promoting academic engagement, implications for changes in students' attitudes by improving in the curriculum and the academic atmosphere and follow-up studies that complementary relationships between personal and environmental factors was suggested.

School and Student Factors and Their Influence on Affective Mathematics Engagement

This study examined the student-level (i.e., gender, home language, and immigration status) and school-level (i.e., school economic disadvantage status) variability of the students’ affective mathematics engagement. It was hypothesized that there is a school effect that contributes toward explaining differences in affective mathematics engagement besides the student-level differences. For the sake of the nested structure of the data in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), we used the Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) methodology. There were 10,221 students from 246 schools in the study. The results of this study explained 5.3% of variance in students’ affective mathematics engagement by school-mean economic disadvantage status, where students’ demographic factors explained 1.2%. The present study contributed to a better understanding of the opportunity to learn variables at the student- and school-level in students’ affective mathematics engagement.

Mental health and loneliness in Scottish schools: A multilevel analysis of data from the health behaviour in school-aged children study.

Adolescent loneliness and poor mental health represent dual public health concerns. Yet, associations between loneliness and mental health, and critically, how these associations vary in school settings are less understood. Framed by social-ecological theory, we aimed to identify key predictors of adolescent mental health and examine school-level variation in the relationship between loneliness and mental health. Cross-sectional data on adolescents from the 2018 wave of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study (HBSC) in Scotland were used (N=5286). Mental health was measured as a composite variable containing items assessing nervousness, irritability, sleep difficulties and feeling low. Loneliness was measured via a single item assessing how often adolescents felt 'left out'. Multilevel models were used to identify social-ecological predictors of mental health, associations with loneliness and between-school variation. Loneliness, as well as demographic, social and school factors, was found to be associated with mental health. Mental health varied across schools, with the between-school difference greater among adolescents with high levels of loneliness. Additionally, the negative effect of loneliness on mental health was stronger in schools with lower average mental health scores. The findings suggest that schools can play an important role in shaping adolescent mental health. Our study uniquely identifies that school-based interventions targeting mental health may be especially necessary among lonely adolescents, and programmes aimed at tackling loneliness may be more beneficial in schools with poorer mental health.

School-Level Longitudinal Predictors of Alcohol, Cigarette, and Marijuana Use.

This study analyzed measures aggregated at the school level to identify key predictors of drinking alcohol, binge drinking, smoking cigarettes, and using marijuana. Using data collected from 6th through 12th grade students between 2011 and 2015, we identify school-level variables that predict school-level prevalence in the subsequent year. Data included prior year assessments of: (1) school-wide prevalence, (2) perceived ease of access to drugs, (3) perceived adult disapproval of drug use, (4) perceived peer disapproval of drug use, and (5) perceived prevalence of drug use. We regressed grade-level behaviors on predictor variables from the previous school year. In middle schools, prior grade prevalence and prior grade perceived norms were significant predictors of subsequent grade prevalence. For high schools, prior year prevalence, aggregated peer norms, and perceived ease of access predicted subsequent use. These analyses provide evidence that a school's culture is predictive of changes in prevalence over time.

Doubly latent multilevel analysis of the relationship among collective teacher efficacy, school support, and organizational commitment.

Understanding the sources and the effects of collective teacher efficacy has been one of the central interests to many educational researchers and practitioners, because it is critical to understand how teachers can shape, and are shaped by, the educational processes in schools. Following the social cognitive perspective on the sources and consequences of efficacy beliefs, this study examined how school support influences collective teacher efficacy which in turn affects teachers' organizational commitment. The participants included 969 teachers sampled from 28 primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong. To appropriately address the nature of collective teacher efficacy and school support as school-level variables, the doubly latent multilevel structural equation modeling approach was used to analyze the data. The results revealed the mediation mechanism played by collective teacher efficacy in explaining the effect of school support on teachers' organizational commitment. Schools are suggested to consider fostering a supportive school environment as a strategy to improve teachers' collective efficacy beliefs if it is wished to enhance teachers' commitment to schools.

Student-To-School-Counselor Ratios, School-Level Factors, and Leadership Practices of School Counselors: A National Investigation

Since 1965, the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) has recommended a student-to-school-counselor ratio of 250:1; however, a large disparity exists in school counselor caseloads across the United States. To date, most of the literature highlights the positive impact that lower ratios have on student outcomes, yet literature exploring the potential relationships between school counselor caseload and ecological contextual factors is scant. This study examined the association between student-to-school-counselor ratios and school-level variables, school counselor demographics, perceived school climate, and leadership practices. The results, based on a national sample, revealed that school counselors’ racial identity (i.e., identifying as White), school-level variables (i.e., percentages of students with disabilities, students who are bi/multilingual, White students, and White faculty members) were significantly associated with school counselors’ odds of meeting a 250:1 student-to-school-counselor ratio. School counselors with a ratio of 250:1 or lower scored slightly lower in leadership practices. This article discusses implications for practice, policy, and future research.

Predictors of environmental awareness among primary school students in Serbia

The main goal of environmental education is the development of environmental awareness, which is the basis for pro-environmental behavior. In order to determine the conditions which, favour the development of environmental awareness, a survey was conducted of students in the fourth grade of primary school, based on data from TIMSS 2019. The criterion variable was the score on the Environmental Awareness Scale, while the predictor variables included characteristics which vary at student, class, and school levels. Hierarchical linear modeling indicated the importance of variables at the individual level: home resources, literacy and numeracy readiness for school, confidence in science, usefulness of science lessons, and parent?s perceptions of their child?s school and expected student education level. None of the considered class and school level variables were significant predictors of environmental awareness. Between-school differences were fully explained by the final, retained model, but some variance (approx. 8%) between different classes remained unexplained by the considered predictor variables. We offer suggestions on how to increase the school?s contribution to the development of students? environmental awareness through the application of effective pedagogy and school improvement. Further research is needed into the contribution of the educational environment.

Teacher Sense of Efficacy and Capturing the Initial Transition to Remote Instruction

Schools abruptly ended face-to-face instruction in March 2020 and transitioned to emergency remote teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed teachers across the United States between March and April 2020 to understand their experiences during this time in our history ( n = 249). Linear regression analysis was used to examine relationships that existed between teacher-level, school-level, and learning modality-related variables and teacher self-efficacy. Teachers in Title 1 schools reported lower levels of efficacy. Elementary teachers, as well as those that initially relied on instructional packets during the transition to remote instruction reported significantly lower levels of efficacy for classroom management.

Earth Science course availability, teacher and school-level characteristics as predictors of precollege Earth Science performance

Student performance in high school Earth Science coursework often depends upon access to high quality teaching and resources. This study employed a non-experimental correlational research design to explore teacher-level and school-level variables and their relationship to students’ Earth Science performance. The theoretical framework is derived from studies that suggest both teacher and organizational characteristics influence students’ academic outcomes. Statewide census data were collected from a sample of Earth Science teachers (N = 2457) and Earth Science students (N = 153,749) in New York State during the 2016–2017 academic year. Teacher-level variables included certification status, professional age, course load in Earth science, and teacher isolation; while the school-level variables included Earth Science performance, test-taking percentage, socioeconomic status, locale, ethnicity, and English language proficiency. Results indicated that nearly a quarter of Earth Science teachers were teaching out-of-field, with a higher incidence in urban schools, where nearly half of all Earth Science teachers were not certified in the subject. A multivariable regression model with a subset of isolated Earth Science teachers (n = 528) indicated student performance was predicted by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, English language proficiency, and the prevalence of Earth Science participation in the school. These findings have implications for policy makers to institute reforms in teacher education and precollege Earth Science instruction, particularly in educational contexts that serve historically marginalized students, with the aim of promoting equity in diverse educational contexts. Recommendations include increasing precollege Earth Science access in the United States, improving pedagogical knowledge, and enhancing the teaching of Earth Science through informal settings.

A Meta-Analysis of the Relationship between Attitude toward Mathematics and Mathematics Anxiety: The Sample of Turkey

This study aims to obtain a more comprehensive result for the studies examining the relationship between attitude toward mathematics and mathematics anxiety in Turkey. To this end, this study employed the meta-analysis method, and the results of the independent studies were combined statistically. A meta-analysis was conducted with 19 studies according to the inclusion criteria, and 21 effect-size values were calculated for these 19 different studies. The study revealed that the total sample size of the studies included in the meta-analysis was 8874. In the study, the mean effect size of the relationship between attitude toward mathematics and mathematics anxiety was -.566. This value obtained according to Fisher z corresponded to approximately -.512 when converted to the Pearson r value. This effect size indicated a high-level negative relationship between attitude toward mathematics and mathematics anxiety. The moderator analysis demonstrated that while the effect sizes did not differ in terms of school level, publication type, publication year, and sample size variables, they differed in terms of the research region variable.

Multilevel analysis of teacher professional well-being and its influential factors based on TALIS data

The current study examines how teachers’ professional wellbeing is affected by teacher-level and school-level factors using the TALIS 2018 data. Teacher-level factors consist of teachers’ instructional practices and teachers’ professional practices and school-level factors include school climate, school leadership styles and workload. The Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine whether the principals’ leadership, school climate and workload and teachers’ instructional practices and teachers’ professional practices explain the variation in teacher self-efficacy, teacher job satisfaction, and motivation and perceptions net of several important teacher-level and school-level control variables. The results revealed that both the teacher- and school-level factors were significantly related to teachers’ professional wellbeing. These findings were discussed concerning five countries of Canada, China, Finland, Japan and Singapore. The implications of the findings for improving teachers’ professional wellbeing are discussed.

Longitudinal Changes of Cardiorespiratory Fitness Performance in High School: Association with Individual and School-Based Variables.

This study aimed to model adolescents' cardiorespiratory fitness performance change trajectories longitudinally across high school years and its relation to school- and individual/student-level factors. We employed hierarchical linear modeling to examine longitudinal cardiorespiratory fitness performance changes, as measured by the progressive aerobic capacity endurance run (PACER), over the years, between sexes, and in association with the school-level variables. Participants were 76,227 adolescents from 80 high schools in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. School-level academic performance (SAP), the percent of students eligible for free and reduced-price meals (FARM), and physical education student-faculty ratio were obtained with permission from the school districts. The number of laps completed in PACER test improved throughout the first three years of high school, however, proportions of those within the healthy fitness zone (HFZ) decreased overall from 9th to 11th grade. Furthermore, the number of laps completed by adolescents appeared to have plateaued at 11th grade, with a significant decline during the final year of high school. Sex-based discrepancies in performance in meeting HFZ were evident, where girls significantly outperformed boys during 9th and 10th grades, and boys significantly outperformed girls during 12th grade. Additionally, SAP and FARM were positively and negatively, respectively, significantly associated with PACER performance at the school level. The odds ratio of adolescents performing in the HFZ declined significantly over the years, even though the number of PACER laps improved in the first three years. Concerted efforts should be targeted at improving cardiorespiratory fitness in high school due to its positive relationship to academic achievement in schools, and negative association with cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and all-cause mortality in adulthood.