School Effectiveness Studies Research Articles

Differences in school effectiveness between resilient and struggling Russian schools

ABSTRACT Our research is dedicated to identifying what allows schools operating in difficult social conditions to show good academic results. We answer this question through the conjugation of two theoretical frameworks: academic resilience and school effectiveness. We analyze several models of school effectiveness and compare resilient and struggling schools through them. The study uses a quantitative and qualitative mixed-methods design. Our main arguments are based on an analysis of interviews conducted with students, parents, teachers, and principals in different schools—3 resilient and 3 struggling. We conclude that the schools differ in the strategies they implement; the main problem facing struggling schools is not the lack of effective elements, but the presence of negative ones; in further studies of school effectiveness, it would be worth using an integrative model that combines both poles.

Foreword

In the past decades, a large body of literature has been produced by researchers interested in the relationships between schools, teachers and parents (or families). This literature includes analyses and reflections on parental involvement from myriad research disciplines, theoretical and policy perspectives and research methodologies. However, closer scrutiny reveals that the label of “parental involvement” is an umbrella term, under which many different concepts and practices find a place. In this special issue we invited authors to delve more deeply into controversies and dilemmas that result from the variety of perspectives on parental involvement. Some examples of such controversies and dilemmas are: the use of parental involvement as a predictor of academic achievement in school effectiveness studies, parents’ rights and teachers’ stress, critiques on the neoliberal agenda that dictates effective parenting practices, inequality of access to diverse forms of parental resources, and the marginalizing effects of particular frameworks of parental involvement. The purpose of this special issue was aimed to provide a basis for future research and policies on family-school-partnership relations. We invited authors to formulate implications of their analyses and reflections for research, policy and practice. The title itself of the issue, a calque borrowed from "What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver, was an invitation towards a deeper understanding of the meaning of “parental involvement”. Topics discussed in this special issue are: teachers’ students’ and parents’ perspectives, teacher education, teacher students, teachers’ beliefs; homework, all day school, trust, parental engagement; comparative studies in education, also for what concerns National educational policies and diverse ethnic and linguistic families; emotional work, frontstage and backstage, stigma. Have a good read

Neighborhood–School Structures: A New Approach to the Joint Study of Social Contexts

Robust literatures separately estimate school effects and neighborhood effects on children's educational, economic, health, and other outcomes that measure well-being. A growing body of research acknowledges that both contexts matter and considers neighborhoods and schools jointly. In this review, we synthesize the array of results that emerge from these studies and critique the tendency for researchers to evaluate which matters more, neighborhoods versus schools. We propose a reorientation of this scholarship that incorporates research on neighborhood and school selection and segregation processes. We argue that contextual effects research would be enriched by considering local neighborhood–school structures: the ways that families choose neighborhoods and schools and that neighborhoods and schools mutually and cyclically constitute one another. We conclude with recommendations for bringing neighborhood–school structures to bear on both outcomes-oriented studies of neighborhood and school effects as well as studies of contextual selection and segregation.

Exploiting the linked teaching and learning international survey and programme for international student assessment data in examining school effects: A case study of Singapore

This paper attempts to demonstrate the usefulness of the linkage data from two international large-scale assessment studies, Teaching and Learning International Survey 2013 (TALIS) 2013 and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012, in examining the effects of schools. Data from seven educational systems are used to link, and four critical issues with five selection criteria are applied to the data selected. The linking dataset facilitates the investigation of mathematics performance while considering individual learner characteristics, mathematics teacher variables in the classroom environment and the school-level variables. We extend the new avenue of research by developing a linked database geared to the specific mathematics teaching and learning domain to reflect the school mathematics educational environment. The case study using Singapore linkage data demonstrated the feasibility and potential of exploring school effectiveness. In Singapore, schools with teachers of a higher level of education and self-efficacy in teaching mathematics related to a higher level of school mathematics performance. The study offers a guideline and inspiration to the research community to exploit the rich information in both TALIS and PISA studies to facilitate school effectiveness studies.

The Impacts on College Enrollment of a Charter Network Serving Disadvantaged Students: Evidence From KIPP Middle School Lotteries

Recent studies of charter school effectiveness have questioned whether charter school networks can produce a lasting impact on students’ long-term outcomes. Our study is the first to examine this issue at the network of Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) schools, which primarily serve disadvantaged students of color and constitute the nation’s largest charter school network. Using admission lotteries as a random assignment instrument, we estimate the impacts of 13 KIPP middle schools on college enrollment and persistence in college over the first two postsecondary years. Building on prior studies of KIPP that show KIPP middle schools have strong positive effects on middle school achievement, we find that KIPP middle schools also positively affect rates of enrollment in 4-year college programs. The magnitude of the estimated impact of a middle school admission offer (6.9%) and enrollment at a KIPP school (12.9%) is substantial relative to nationwide disparities in college enrollment across racial groups.

Estimating the Importance of Families in Modeling Educational Achievement Using Linked Swedish Administrative Data

While the family is a critical determinant of educational achievement, methodological difficulties and the availability of data limit estimation of the family contribution in school effectiveness models. This study uses multilevel modeling to estimate the proportion of variation in student educational achievement between families, family-level intraclass correlation coefficients, and specific family structure effects (family size, birth order, birth spacing, sibling sex ratio). We use cross-classified random effects to account for school and neighborhood variation. We analyze Swedish administrative education records linked with birth records for four academic cohorts of students, with siblings identified from a wider pool of 21 cohorts. We show that almost half of the variation in student achievement described as “between students” in traditional school effectiveness studies would be better described as variation “between families,” suggesting effectiveness research might give greater consideration to family-based interventions in tandem with existing student- and school-based approaches to raising low achievement.

Equal opportunities for all? Analyzing within-country variation in school effectiveness

BackgroundThe present study addresses the equality of school effectiveness across schools. One central aim of compulsory education is for students to learn equally well at all schools in a country even if these schools differ in terms of student composition. However, measuring equality of learning gains independently from selection effects usually requires longitudinal data. This study suggests a different approach and proposes a new measure for the equality of school effectiveness across schools.MethodsWe applied a two-level regression discontinuity approach to estimate the between-school variation in added-year effects on mathematics and science achievement that result from an additional year of schooling, after controlling for the effects of age and student selection—i.e., between-school differences in achievement levels. We utilized data from a total of 13 samples. These stemmed from Nordic and other European countries, which assessed students from two adjacent grades at the same schools. The samples stemmed from TIMSS 1995 and 2015 and both primary and secondary school levels.ResultsThe main findings indicated that although schools differed in initial achievement levels in all samples, schools in some countries, such as Norway and Cyprus, attained a high degree of equality of school effectiveness—i.e., of the effect of an additional year of schooling. Despite the fact that schools with a more privileged student composition had higher achievement levels than less privileged schools, their school effectiveness did not usually differ significantly. Both age and an additional year of schooling resulted in positive effects on mathematics and science achievement, however, effect sizes differed considerably between the 13 samples.ConclusionsWe discuss the implications of the proposed school effectiveness measure, which is based on a regression discontinuity approach. We conclude that countries, such as Nordic ones, should consider extending their participation in international large-scale assessments with additional grades from the same schools in future cycles. This design would enable a multitude of robust school effectiveness studies in the future.

Effectiveness of psychosocial school interventions in Finnish schools for refugee and immigrant children, \u201cRefugees Well School\u201d in Finland (RWS-FI): a protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

BackgroundSchools are natural environments in which to enhance young people’s social and emotional skills, mental health, and contact between diverse groups, including students from refugee and immigrant backgrounds. A layered or tiered provision of services is recommended as it can be effective to meet the needs of war-affected adolescents who variably show mental health problems (such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)). The current protocol describes the study design for a multi-layered intervention model. The study will test the effectiveness of two interventions: a teacher-training intervention In-Service Teacher Training (INSETT) combined with targeted cognitive-behavioral treatment-based Teaching Recovery Techniques (TRT) and a classroom-focused preventive intervention Peer Integration and Enhancement Resources (PIER). We analyze, first, whether the interventions are effective in decreasing psychological distress and increasing positive resources, i.e., prosocial behavior and resilience among refugee and immigrant students. Second, we analyze which student-, school-, and parent-related factors mediate the possible beneficial changes. Third, we look at which groups the interventions are most beneficial to.MethodsA three-arm cluster RCT with parallel assignment, with a 1:1:1 allocation ratio, is applied in 16 schools that agreed to participate in the Refugees Well School interventions and effectiveness study. Schools were randomized to three conditions of two active interventions and a waiting list control condition. Students, their parents, and teachers in intervention and control schools participated in the study at baseline before the interventions, after the interventions, and at 6 to 12 months after the interventions. The primary effectiveness criterion variables are psychological distress (SDQ) symptoms, resilience (CYRM-12), and prosocial behavior (SDQ).DiscussionThe current study presents a recommended universal approach of layered interventions aiming to reduce psychological distress and increase resilience among refugee and immigrant students. A combination of promotive, preventive, and targeted interventions may offer a holistic, ecological intervention package for schools to better address the needs of the whole group.Trial registrationISRCTN ISRCTN64245549. Retrospectively registered on 10 June 2020

Exploring Salient Issues in School Effectiveness Studies: A Systematic Review

Exploring Salient Issues in School Effectiveness Studies: A Systematic Review

How group composition affects gifted students: Theory and evidence from school effectiveness studies

ABSTRACT In this paper, I analyze the theoretical and empirical foundations for how class composition affects gifted students’ academic outcomes. First, I define the term composition effect and distinguish it from other context effects. Based on this definition, I present the mechanisms behind composition effects while drawing distinctions between resource-related, peer-related and teacher-related composition effects. Subsequently, I discuss theories and empirical results of international school effectiveness studies in terms of their relevance to increasing equity in gifted education. Ability groups, especially gifted classes, have an advantage for the promotion of gifted students. However, due to selection mechanisms, low-income students drop out of these support programs very early in their school careers. Behind the supposed negative influence of ethnic composition on school performance, a socioeconomic effect can be assumed. This is thus the most important composition effect in regard to inequality in talent development. However, there are ongoing efforts to ensure greater equity specifically in gifted education.

Differences in School Effectiveness Between Resilient and Struggling Russian Schools

Our research is dedicated to identifying what allows schools operating in difficult social conditions to show good academic results. We answer this question through the conjugation of two theoretical frameworks: academic resilience and school effectiveness. We analyze several models of school effectiveness and compare resilient and struggling schools through them. The study uses a quantitative and qualitative mixed-methods design. Our main arguments are based on an analysis of interviews conducted with students, parents, teachers, and principals in different schools—3 resilient and 3 struggling. We conclude that the schools differ in the strategies they implement; the main problem facing struggling schools is not the lack of effective elements, but the presence of negative ones; in further studies of school effectiveness, it would be worth using an integrative model that combines both poles.

High School Principals’ Leadership Roles and Use of Time

Time is the most valuable currency in schools. This study describes how successful high school principals reported spending and allocating their time to various leadership tasks using selected items from a study of principal-time use and school effectiveness in Miami-Dade County Public Schools in Florida US. Public high school principals were selected based on their 2019 Missouri School Improvement Program performance indicators and asked to complete either a paper or online survey. Findings show that principals spend more time on management-related activities than curriculum and instruction-related activities. There is a strong association between time-use on curriculum and instruction with both gender and school size. The more leadership experience a principal has, the less time they are likely to spend on school management activities. Time-use on organization management is strongly associated with school size. If instructional leadership is a fundamental priority for principals, then development and support of successful principalship will require a redesign of their roles to free time for instructional leadership. School districts that hire principals from a pool of assistant principals (AP) or invest in principal pipelines, need to develop a strategy to build APs’ instructional and leadership skills. Keywords : High school principals, principals’ time-use, principals’ roles, successful principals, instructional leadership. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-18-01 Publication date: June 30th 2020

School of golden touch? A study of school effectiveness in improving student academic performance

This paper explores whether different schools exhibit varying levels of effectiveness in improving student academic performance and, if so, which factors might affect school effectiveness. Using data from the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS), this research examines the influence of various school features on dynamic changes in middle school student academic performance. It finds that schools of higher socioeconomic status, with more academically proficient students and with more complete school facilities, are more effective in improving students’ academic performance. Meanwhile, the work shows that local community school rankings, the average quality of school teachers, and academically related practices do not have a significant impact on a school’s effectiveness. In summary, this research extends previous studies on student education attainment from a focus on student performance to a focus on changes in performance. It illustrates the essential roles played by the capacities of enrolled students and of individual/aggregated family socioeconomic status in improving student academic performance.

Identification of Factors Associated With School Effectiveness With Data Mining Techniques: Testing a New Approach.

The study of school effectiveness and the identification of factors associated with it are growing fields of research in the education sciences. Moreover, from the perspective of data mining, great progress has been made in the development of algorithms for the modeling and identification of non-trivial information from massive databases. This work, which falls within this context, proposes an innovative approach for the identification and characterization of educational and organizational factors associated with high school effectiveness. Under a perspective of basic research, our aim is to study the suitability of decision trees, techniques inherent to data mining, to establish predictive models for school effectiveness. Based on the available Spanish sample of the PISA 2015 assessment, an indicator of the school effectiveness was obtained from the application of multilevel models with predictor variables of a contextual nature. After selecting high- and low-effectiveness schools in this first phase, the second phase of the study was carried out and consisted of the application of decision trees to identify school, teacher, and student factors associated with high and low effectiveness. The C4.5 algorithm was calculated and, as a result, we obtained 120 different decision trees based on five determining factors (database used; stratification in the initial selection of schools; significance of the predictor variables of the models; use of items and/or scales; and use of the training or validated samples). The results show that the use of this kind of technique could be appropriate if mainly used with correctly pre-processed data that include the combined information available from all educational agents. This study represents a major breakthrough in the study of the factors associated with school effectiveness from a quantitative approach, since it proposes and provides a simple and appropriate procedure for modeling and establishing patterns. In doing so, it contributes to the development of knowledge in the field of school effectiveness that can help in educational decision-making.

Is adjusting for prior achievement sufficient for school effectiveness studies?

ABSTRACTThe consensus among education researchers is that value-added models are most appropriate for assessing the relative effectiveness of schools, teachers, or programmes for student learning. The preferred value-added model adjusts for prior achievement, but there is a variety of other specifications that may or may not include prior achievement. This paper investigates how estimates of school effects under different model specifications compare to the same-domain prior achievement model for 5 domains of student achievement. The models compared adjust for students’ socioeconomic status (SES), student aptitude, prior achievement in multiple domains, and prior achievement plus student aptitude. It found that school-effects models that adjust for SES or student aptitude produce upwardly biased estimates and dissimilar distributions of school effects. Adjusting for prior achievement is sufficient to estimate school effects for student achievement in primary school, except for writing, which is less reliably measured. In secondary school, prior achievement is a sufficient control only for numeracy and spelling. The reasons for these differences between domains are discussed.

The Determination of Effective Educational Institution at Undergraduate Program of North Sumatra State Islamic University

Higher Education is an effective educational institution in determining and producing the next scientific generation in the future. There are some factors that can transform the higher education institutions, such as: commitment owned by the organizers, trust, interpersonal communication, leadership and organizational culture. This research was conducted from October 2015 until October 2016. The sample for this research is all lecturers in UIN North Sumatera amounted to 419 lecturers spread across 38 departments under eight faculties. This research aims to analyze the influence of one variable on other variables, either direct influence of 0.241, 0.273 and 0.212 or indirect influence of 0.097, 0.219, 0.120 and 0.472, those are: (culture of undergraduate school (X1), leadership (X2), and interpersonal communication (X3) and exogenous variables are trust (X4), commitment (X5) and effectiveness of undergraduate school (X6). This research use analysis technique of PATH ANALYSYS. Regarding the development model of an effective undergraduate school, it can also be assessed based on system approach techniques, ranging from inputs (to school effectiveness study); Processes/ throughputs; Outputs (of school effectiveness study); and outcomes (longer-term results of study).

A Meta-analysis of School Effectiveness Studies

A meta-analysis was carried out on the basis of 155 research studies on school effectiveness, comprising a total of 1.211 associations between school effectiveness enhancing factors and student outcome variables. The original studies were carried out between 1984 and 2005. The school effectiveness enhancing conditions that were included were: cooperation between staff, an orderly school climate, monitoring, curriculum quality, homework, learning time, parental involvement, achievement orientation, educational leadership and differentiation. The outcome variables were student achievement results in Mathematics, mother tongue language and other subject matter domains, including Science. A multi level approach to meta-analysis was used, on the basis of which numerical effect sizes (Fischer’s Z coefficients) were calculated. Effect sizes for the curriculum related factors, curriculum quality and teaching time were relatively the highest (,15), closely followed by the school climate factors (orderly climate and achievement orientation (,14). According to widely accepted standards (Cohen, 1969), these effects are to be considered as small effects; although in the discussion some arguments are provided that might lead to an upgrading of what one could call the “practical significance” of these effect sizes. The analyses included moderator variables representing study characteristics that were analyzed for their influence on the effect sizes of the various school effectiveness enhancing factors. For most factors, effect sizes were slightly higher for studies carried out in primary schools as compared to secondary schools. For other moderator variables, such as subject matter area, the results were less straightforward. Results are discussed for their substantive educational implications, and their meaning for the field of empirical school effectiveness research.

Success or failure? Presenting a case selection strategy for studies of school improvement

ABSTRACTIn this article we propose a case selection strategy for comparative studies of school improvement. The strategy is based on two assumptions. First, we emphasize the importance of a strategic selection of cases (schools), which allows systematic comparisons between successful and failing schools. We claim that cases should be selected on the dependent variable, and, more specifically, on the variation in the dependent variable (i.e. school success or no school success). Second, we recognize the importance of a longitudinal perspective in the case selection process. We argue that quantitative longitudinal data should be used to identify consistently succeeding and consistently failing schools. Furthermore, we demonstrate the fruitfulness of the strategy by using it in a case selection process of successful and failing schools in Sweden. In sum, the strategy addresses the demand for research designs, which allow causal inference, in school improvement and school effectiveness studies. Systematic comparisons between successful and failing schools are essential to elaborate our insights of the mechanisms behind school success.

The Effects of Social Context on Youth Outcomes: Studying Neighborhoods and Schools Simultaneously

Background/ContextA long line of research has empirically examined the effects of social context on child and adolescent well-being. Scholars have paid particular attention to two specific levels of social context: the school and neighborhood. Although youths occupy these social contexts simultaneously, empirical research on schools and neighborhoods has largely been conducted independently of one another.Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of StudyThis study reviews neighborhood and school effects studies conducted between 2005 and 2013 to determine the degree to which these research domains have exclusively examined a single context. The study then uses nationally representative data to compare estimates of school and neighborhood effects across a variety of youth outcomes. The comparison reveals how much estimates of school and neighborhood effects change after accounting for both levels of context.Research DesignCross-classified random effects models are used to estimate the effects of school and neighborhood disadvantage on a variety of youth outcomes. For each youth outcome, I compare the effects of concentrated disadvantage and the percent of variation explained at the school and neighborhood levels across two models: a single context effects model that includes only the school or neighborhood and a model including characteristics of both contexts.Findings/ResultsOf the 238 school and neighborhood effects studies examined in the review, only 46, or 21%, account for both neighborhoods and schools in the analysis. The multivariate regression results indicate that excluding a level of context has greater consequences on the estimates of neighborhood effects than on school effects. However, ignoring the neighborhood obscures its independent effects on key adolescent outcomes.Conclusions/RecommendationsAn empirical analysis of context effects on youth well-being should account for both neighborhoods and schools in order to minimize bias in parameter estimates. Furthermore, simultaneously analyzing schools and neighborhoods will move the study of school and neighborhood effects forward by illuminating policies and strategies in which neighborhoods and schools can work together to increase the overall well-being of children and adolescents.

Multilevel design of school effectiveness studies in sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACTSchool-based improvement programs represent a core strategy in improving education because they can leverage pre-existing social and organizational structures to promote coordinated and comprehensive change across multiple facets of schooling. School-based programs are generally designed to be implemented by intact schools/districts, frequently making it infeasible or atheoretical to assign students within the same school to different conditions while ensuring study validity. Rather, studies frequently assign intact schools/districts to treatment conditions to accommodate the multilevel structure of schooling and the theory of action underlying many school-based programs. In planning such studies, effective and efficient design requires plausible values of the variance partition coefficients and the variance explained by covariates during the design stage. Using representative samples of each country, we develop empirical estimates of design parameters within and across 15 countries that are intended to inform and facilitate the efficient design of multisite cluster-randomized studies of school improvement in sub-Saharan Africa.