Cultural Diversity in the Classroom and its Effects on Academic Performance

2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 230-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul N’Dri Konan ◽  
Armand Chatard ◽  
Leila Selimbegović ◽  
Gabriel Mugny
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
International Student ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Oecd Pisa ◽  
And Mathematics

Drawing on data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program for International Student Assessment (OECD/PISA), we examined the relationship between the percentage of immigrant students and the reading and mathematics performances of native and immigrant students across nations. In line with research on cultural diversity, results indicated performance benefits as the percentage of immigrant students increased across nations. Interestingly, these effects remained significant for both native and immigrant students, once several other predictors of test performance at the national, school, and individual levels were controlled for. These findings challenge the assumption that the increasing presence of immigrant students in educational institutions represents a threat to native students’ academic performance. Potential mechanisms are proposed and discussed, offering new avenues for research.

Physical activity in and out-of-school and academic performance in Spain

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (7) ◽  
pp. 788-801
Author(s):  
Nerea Gómez-Fernández ◽  
Juan-Francisco Albert
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
Physical Activities ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Relevant Role ◽  
And Mathematics

Background: Academic performance in school stems from an interaction of factors associated with students, families and schools. Among these factors, physical activity could play a very relevant role. Objective: The goal of this study was to determine whether students’ physical activities in and outside school were related to their academic performance. Design, setting and method: We used the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 database for Spain using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models to answer our research questions. Results: Results suggest a positive association between the number of days per week doing moderate physical activities and academic performance in science, reading and mathematics. However, a higher number of days per week doing vigorous physical activities was associated with lower scores in reading and science. We also find a negative association between exercising or practising sports before going to school and the scores achieved in the three competences evaluated. Conclusions: Our results show that physical activity can play an important role in academic performance and that the effects of physical activity on children and teenagers should be further investigated.

scholarly journals Decade of Implantation of the Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering in the Western Amazon

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. 185-197
Author(s):  
Carlos Alberto T. Carvalho Jr. ◽  
Ciro J. Egoavil ◽  
Lucas F. Ramos ◽  
Mauren P. C. Silva ◽  
Priscila L. Vianna ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
International Student ◽  
Technological Development ◽  
Electrical Engineering ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Engineering Department ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Porto Velho

This paper deals with the implementation of the Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering in Western Amazonia, as well as it presents an analysis of the academic performance of students in the Basic and Professional Core. The Federal University of Rondônia Foundation (UNIR), located in Porto Velho, Brazil, started the activities of the course in 2007 and continues to invest in the infrastructure and qualification of human resources in order to stimulate technological development in the region. Analyzing the performance data of the academics regarding the degree of difficulty established from the curricular offer, it is possible to infer some answers. In the course of the analysis, the databases emerged by taking note, such as students who only enroll and do not attend the course, among others. The disciplines diverged into two segments, Basic Core (NB) and Professional Core (NP). The data refers to the grades obtained by the students in all the disciplines studied and offered by the Academic Electrical Engineering Department (DAEE) in the period from 2007/1 to 2016/2. Along the analysis, two graphs demonstrated the evaluation. The analysis of the academic performance of students in the subjects during the NB and NP reinforces the result obtained in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), since Brazil has not obtained progress in science, reading, and mathematics averages. The results obtained indicate the necessity of effective measures in primary and secondary education since the deficit propagated to superior levels.

scholarly journals Evidence and Promises of AI Predictions to Understand Student Approaches to Math Learning in Abu Dhabi K12 Public Schools

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Miao ◽  
Pawan Kumar Mishra ◽  
Ali Nadaf
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
Student Behavior ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Abu Dhabi ◽  
Metacognitive Skills ◽  
Math Learning ◽  
National Education ◽  
International Student Assessment

Transforming the education system and building highly skilled human capital for a sustainable and competitive knowledge economy have been on the UAE’s top policy agendas for the last decade. However, in the UAE, students’ math performance on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) has not been promising. To improve the quality of schooling, a series of malleable predictive factors including the contributions of self-system, metacognitive skills, and instructional language skills are selected and categorized under student approaches to math learning. These factors are hypothesized as both predictors and outcomes of K12 schooling. Through the analysis using machine learning technique, XGBoost, a latent relationship between student approaches to math learning and math diagnostic test performance is uncovered and discussed for students from Grade 5 to Grade 9 in Abu Dhabi public schools. This article details how the analysis results are applied for student behavior and performance prediction, precise diagnosis, and targeted intervention design possibilities. The main purpose of this study is to diagnose challenges that hinder student math learning in Abu Dhabi public schools, uncover R&D initiatives in AI-driven prediction and EdTech interventions to bridge learning gaps, and to counsel on national education policy refinement.

Does student grade contribute to the declining trend in Programme for International Student Assessment reading and mathematics in Australia?

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-226
Author(s):  
John Ainley ◽  
Dan Cloney ◽  
Jessica Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Regression ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
Achievement Scores ◽  
Regression Methods ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
And Gender ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
Reading And Mathematics

Declines in the scores of Australian 15-year-old students from the Programme for International Student Assessment are a matter of policy interest. Some of the declines may have resulted from shifts in the age-grade distributions of students in the Programme for International Student Assessment samples. We use multiple regression methods to model the student-level effects of grade for each Programme for International Student Assessment cycle allowing for the effects of student characteristics (e.g. socioeconomic background and gender) and jurisdiction. We estimate an average net effect of grade over the Programme for International Student Assessment cycles since 2006 as 42 scale points with no difference between reading and mathematics. We explore the extent to which differences between grades in achievement and changes in the grade distributions of students contributed to changes in average Programme for International Student Assessment achievement scores. We conclude that the relatively greater decline in Grade 11, compared to Grade 10 achievement, contributed to the overall decline and that shifts in distributions may have also contributed a little to those declines.

scholarly journals Educational Achievement Gaps between Immigrant and Native Students in Two “New” Immigration Countries

2012 ◽  
Vol 643 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Azzolini ◽  
Philipp Schnell ◽  
John R. B. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
International Student ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Achievement Gaps ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
School Type ◽  
Native Students ◽  
International Student Assessment

The authors use 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data to determine how immigrant children in Italy and Spain compare with native students in reading and mathematics skills. Drawing on the vast empirical literature in countries with traditionally high rates of immigration, the authors test the extent to which the most well-established patterns and hypotheses of immigrant/native educational achievement gaps also apply to these comparatively “new” immigration countries. The authors find that both first- and second-generation immigrant students underperform natives in both countries. Although socioeconomic background and language skills contribute to the explanation of achievement gaps, significant differences remain within the countries even after controlling for those variables. While modeling socioeconomic background reduces the observed gaps to a very similar extent in both countries, language spoken at home is more strongly associated with achievement gaps in Italy. School-type differentiation, such as tracking in Italy and school ownership in Spain, do not reduce immigrant/native gaps, although in Italy tracking is strongly associated with immigrant students’ test scores.

scholarly journals Educational System Assessment: Italy And Finland, Comparative Case Study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Mattarelli ◽  
Cristiana De Santis
Keyword(s):  
Educational System ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
System Assessment

Educational system assessment allows the evaluation of some learningoutcomes and permits the continuous monitoring of educational processes.The aim of this study is to explore the ways used to assess and evaluateschool systems and universities and students’ learning outcomes in Italy andFinland, two important educational realities as shown in PISA (Programmefor International Student Assessment) results (OECD, 2019). The attention isfocused on common and uncommon practices employed in each country andon perceptions that the educational system assessment creates in those whoevaluate and in those evaluated. Ten stakeholders from Italy and Finlandparticipated in focus groups or interviews one to one audio-taped,transcribed and analysed using qualitative methods. The results underlinethat the evaluation of school systems and universities helps build a largedatabase and that the evaluation process have to be made with trust betweenstakeholders involved, with innovation and awareness. The generalacceptance is increasing: stakeholders from two contexts consideredhighlight that, in order to improve efficiency and effectiveness, schoolsystems and universities need a formative assessment and evaluation inwhich everyone is involved from central educational institutions to teachersand students.

scholarly journals Does isolation from immigrant students benefit or harm third-plus generation students?

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 76
Author(s):  
Margarita Pivovarova ◽  
Jeanne M. Powers
Keyword(s):  
Mathematics Achievement ◽  
International Student ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Social Benefits ◽  
School Contexts ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Generation Immigrant ◽  
Research And Policy

Enforcing and expanding immigration restrictions have been at the forefront of the Trump administration’s agenda since his inauguration in January 2017. Underlying these policies is an assumption that immigrants harm U.S. citizens. More specifically, both authorized and undocumented immigrants are framed as consuming a disproportionate share of social benefits. We used data from the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to assess this claim in U.S. high school contexts, focusing on the mathematics achievement of third-plus generation students who did not attend schools with immigrant students. On average, the third-plus-generation students who did not attend schools that enrolled first or second generation immigrant students had lower achievement than their same generation peers attending schools that served immigrant students. We conclude by highlighting the research and policy implications of our findings. 

scholarly journals PISA Performance of Natives and Immigrants: Selection versus Efficiency

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-36
Author(s):  
Andreas Behr ◽  
Gerald Fugger
Keyword(s):  
International Student ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Home Country ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Selection Effects ◽  
Efficient Frontiers ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Educational Efficiency ◽  
Economic Background

AbstractIn most countries, immigrant and native students perform differently in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) due to two main reasons: different immigration regimes and differences in their home-country educational systems. While there is sophisticated literature on the reasons for these performance gaps, it is barely considered in the educational efficiency research. Our approach distinguishes between selection effects caused by immigration policies, and the efficiency of educational systems in integrating immigrant students, given their socio–economic background. Accordingly, we split our sample, which consists of 153,374 students in 20 countries, calculate various different efficient frontiers, and ultimately decompose and interpret the resulting efficiency values. We find large differences in educational system efficiency, when controlling for negative selection effects caused by immigration regimes.

scholarly journals Immigrant Students’ Achievements in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia in Context

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 31-51
Author(s):  
Iztok Šori ◽  
Nika Šušterič ◽  
Slavko Gaber
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
International Student ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Educational Equity ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Labour Immigration ◽  
The Common ◽  
Migration Regimes

Achievement gaps between immigrant and native students indicate failure to assure educational equity in the majority of countries assessed by the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2009 (PISA, 2009). The present article explains disparate achievement results in Europe, first testing the hypothesis of old and new democracies. In further contextualisation of the achievement results, the analysis seeks explanations beyond the common education system explanatory model. Specifically, the article considers results from Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia, highlighting the significance of language distance between native and immigrant students as well as migration regimes as important factors in creating or reducing the achievement gap between native and immigrant students. Evidence has been found that immigrant students score worse in countries with guest labour immigration regimes than in the countries with large scale forced immigration of people of the same ethnic(linguistic) origin. 

scholarly journals Raising the achievement of immigrant students: Towards a multi-layered framework for enhanced student outcomes

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (8) ◽  
pp. 1037-1056
Author(s):  
Louis Volante ◽  
Don A Klinger ◽  
Melissa Siegel ◽  
Leena Yahia
Keyword(s):  
Achievement Gap ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
International Student ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
First And Second Generation

Results of international achievement surveys such as the Programme in International Student Assessment have consistently reported an achievement gap between immigrant and non-immigrant student populations around the world. This paper unpacks this persistent achievement gap by examining key characteristics that influence the performance of first- and second-generation immigrant students as well as the policies and practices that are associated with enhanced educational outcomes. A multi-layered framework is proposed to help policymakers juxtapose key characteristics of their immigrant students’ achievement against individual, family, school, community, and host society characteristics and policies. The discussion also underscores the importance of connecting this multi-layered framework with other important sectors within governments such as those responsible for the economy, health, social protection, and immigration. This paper also examines limitations with current large-scale data sets and the implications for research and policy analysis.

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