scholarly journals The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludger Woessmann
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
School System ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
School Systems ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
International Differences ◽  
Education Production ◽  
Institutional Structures ◽  
Cross Country

Students in some countries do far better on international achievement tests than students in other countries. Is this all due to differences in what students bring with them to school—socioeconomic background, cultural factors, and the like? Or do school systems make a difference? This essay argues that differences in features of countries' school systems, and in particular their institutional structures, account for a substantial part of the cross-country variation in student achievement. It first documents the size and cross-test consistency of international differences in student achievement. Next, it uses the framework of an education production function to provide descriptive analysis of the extent to which different factors of the school system, as well as factors beyond the school system, account for cross-country achievement differences. Finally, it covers research that goes beyond descriptive associations by addressing leading concerns of bias in cross-country analysis. The available evidence suggests that differences in expenditures and class size play a limited role in explaining cross-country achievement differences, but that differences in teacher quality and instruction time do matter. This suggests that what matters is not so much the amount of inputs that school systems are endowed with, but rather how they use them. Correspondingly, international differences in institutional structures of school systems such as external exams, school autonomy, private competition, and tracking have been found to be important sources of international differences in student achievement.

International Differences in Student Achievement: An Economic Perspective

2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 357-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Jürges ◽  
Kerstin Schneider
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
International Comparisons ◽  
Institutional Characteristics ◽  
Science Study ◽  
International Differences ◽  
Mathematics Test ◽  
Cross Country ◽  
Mathematics And Science

Abstract International comparisons reveal large cross-country differentials in average student performance. Although there is considerable public debate about these differences, their sources are hardly identified. Using school, teacher and student data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the present paper attempts to explain what causes between-country gaps in mathematics test score distributions. Following a three-pronged strategy of microlevel and cross-country regressions as well as bilateral country comparisons, we show how these gaps are explained by differences in school, teacher and student characteristics, or financial resources devoted to the school system. Institutional characteristics, such as competition between schools and the composition of the faculty can also help to understand international differences in student achievement.

Bildungspolitische Lehren aus den internationalen Schülertests: Wettbewerb, Autonomie und externe Leistungsüberprüfung Bildungspolitische Lehren aus den internationalen Schülertests: Wettbewerb, Autonomie und externe Leistungsüberprüfung

2006 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludger Wößmann
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Student Performance ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
International Student ◽  
School Systems ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Micro Data ◽  
Personnel Decisions ◽  
Cross Country

AbstractEvidence using micro data from four international student achievement tests shows that institutional features that ensure competition, autonomy and accountability in school systems are key to high student performance. The lessons that education policy can learn from the cross-country evidence include that students perform better (a) in countries with more competition from privately managed but publicly funded schools, (b) in schools with autonomy in process and personnel decisions, (c) if teachers have both incentives and powers to select appropriate teaching methods, (d) if parents take interest in teaching matters and (e) if students and schools are held accountable by external examinations

Role of Different School Systems in Cognitive Abilities & Academic Achievement of Adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (Spring 2019) ◽  
pp. 25-41
Author(s):  
Sidra Iqbal ◽  
Mah Nazir Riaz
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
School System ◽  
Cognitive Abilities ◽  
Secondary School Student ◽  
School Systems ◽  
Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices ◽  
Post Hoc ◽  
Cambridge School

The present study compared cognitive abilities and academic achievement of adolescents studying in three different school systems namely Urdu medium schools, English medium schools, and Cambridge system schools. The sample comprised of 1001 secondary school student. Cognitive abilities were assessed by Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices (1960) and marks obtained by the students in the last annual examination were used as an index of academic achievement. Results showed that cognitive abilities of the students were positively associated with academic achievement of the respondents. It was further found that cognitive abilities and academic achievement of students studying in Cambridge school system was better as compared to those studying in other systems. Post-hoc comparison revealed that level of academic achievement of Urdu medium schools was lower as compared to English medium and Cambridge system of schools. The findings suggest that difference in schooling system influenced cognitive abilities and academic achievement of the students. Results further demonstrated that gender was a significant predictor of academic achievement in both Urdu and English medium schools. Future implications of the study were also discussed.

scholarly journals Listening for More (Hi)Stories from the Arctic’s Dispersed and Diverse Educational Past

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather E. McGregor
Keyword(s):  
School System ◽  
Student Experience ◽  
Educational Policies ◽  
School Systems ◽  
Residential School ◽  
Regional Variability ◽  
The Past ◽  
Canadian North ◽  
The North ◽  
Educational Histories

RésuméAlors que les marques profondes laissées par le système d’écoles résiduelles du Nord canadien refont surface, il est important de poursuivre l’étude des politiques en matière d’éducation en parallèle avec les expériences vécues par les élèves dans des lieux et des contextes d’instruction variés. Dans le cas des Inuits, cette recherche fut incomplète. L’auteure avance qu’il faut approfondir les études sur l’implication du gouvernement fédéral dans les premiers systèmes d’éducation dans les Territoires. Ces travaux devraient prendre en compte les disparités locales et régionales ainsi que les expériences des élèves. En mettant l’accent sur les contradictions et les différents impacts causés par l’éducation dans ces communautés dans le passé, et notamment sur les enseignants sans expérience de la vie nordique, cela permettrait de trouver des manières pour décoloniser l’éducation de nos jours.   AbstractAs the widespread and deep impressions left on the Canadian North by the residential school system come to light, it is also important to continue examining educational policies alongside the experiences of students throughout a range of schooling sites and forms. Such research on Inuit schooling has been insufficient. I argue that more detailed educational histories of the federal and early territorial school systems should feature local and regional variability in implementation of policy and in student experience. Illuminating the inconsistent and multifaceted ways education affected communities in the past, particularly for teachers new to the North, serves to illustrate the ways education in the present necessitates decolonizing.

On Leadership: Planning for equity

2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 60-61
Author(s):  
Joshua P. Starr
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Curriculum Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
School System ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Hiring Practices ◽  
School Based ◽  
Improvement Planning ◽  
System Leaders

Every year, school-based teams all over the country engage in the ritual known as improvement planning. In theory, the process is designed to identify low-performing students and specify plans for raising their achievement. In practice, though, improvement planning tends to be an empty exercise in compliance, in which school teams aim to do little more than fill out the required paperwork. If school system leaders are truly committed to providing all students with equitable learning opportunities, argues Joshua Starr, they need to focus the improvement planning process on things that actually matter to student achievement, such as budgeting decisions, hiring practices, curriculum development, professional learning, discipline reform, and community engagement.

scholarly journals Between-School Ability Tracking and Ethnic Segregation in Secondary Schooling

Social Forces ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 119-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanno Kruse
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
School System ◽  
Regional Variation ◽  
Unique Feature ◽  
School Reforms ◽  
School Systems ◽  
Ethnic Segregation ◽  
Secondary Schooling ◽  
Spatial Sorting ◽  
Prior Achievement

Abstract Between-school ability tracking—the assignment of students to different school types based on their prior achievement—is usually associated with increased ethnic segregation across schools. This article argues that stronger between-school ability tracking is not only associated with stronger ethnic sorting into school types, thus increasing segregation. At the same time, it hampers majority flight, majority members’ avoidance of exposure to minority members, thus decreasing segregation. To identify the two-fold effect of tracking the article exploits a unique feature of the German secondary school system: regional variation in the strength of between-school ability tracking. Analyses rely on administrative data entailing geocoded information on all secondary schools in Germany in 2008/2009. Results corroborate expectations of a two-fold effect: there is indication that between-school ability tracking increases segregation via more sorting into tracks while at the same time decreasing it via less school sorting within each track and via less spatial sorting. This suggests that school reforms changing tracked school systems into more comprehensive school systems may have a weaker desegregating impact than expected.

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