The purpose of the present study was to examine the effect of individual and school average achievement on students' self-concept in science. The data of the last four Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) cycles were used, and a two-stage individual data meta-analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between…

This open access book presents original research on effective and equitable teacher practice in mathematics and science education across Nordic countries. It focuses on three key aspects of teacher practice: what teachers teach, how teachers teach, and how teachers assess their students. To provide a comprehensive understanding of teacher…

Using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), this study examines the student and school characteristics that contribute to students' mathematics performance in early elementary school in Chile. Previous research has separately analyzed the association of student and school factors with mathematics performance.…

It is well understood that when students are experiencing hunger, their ability to learn suffers. What is less understood is why this is the case and the role of the learning environment. Using Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 data, this brief examines how student hunger is correlated with how disorderly the…

Bandura's influential theory has been used to argue that teachers with high self-efficacy will be more effective at increasing pupil achievement--and a voluminous empirical literature has repeatedly documented associations consistent with this claim. However, few studies have considered whether these correlations reflect an underlying causal…

We explore the impact of the language of instruction on academic performance of Arabic-speaking students who are expected to learn mathematics and science in and through a second language (L2). Using as a theoretical background Cummins's (1984) framework relating language proficiency to academic achievement, we provide some insights into the…

The quality of education is a predictor of a country's economic performance -- which is why comparative international education surveys are important. South Africa performed poorly in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2019. The score of 374 for mathematics and 324 for science is poor compared to the mid-point of…

It is well-documented that academic achievement is associated with students' self-perceptions of their academic abilities, that is, their academic self-concepts. However, low-achieving students may apply self-protective strategies to maintain a favorable academic self-concept when evaluating their academic abilities. Consequently, the relation…

This study focuses on the relationship between students' early academic skills and academic achievement. In this context, it is aimed to examine the predictors of students' early literacy and numeracy skills on their later math and science achievements across countries. A quantitative research approach using a correlational survey design was…

A wide range of reforms to improve the teaching capacities of pre-service and in-service teachers have been carried out in Kosovo. In assessing the success of these previous interventions, large-scale assessment data is invaluable. In 2019, 4754 students from 145 schools participated in the TIMSS assessment. Results reveal that student's…

This study used mixed methods to investigate the relationships between parental leave policy components and academic achievement measured by TIMSS and PIRLS. Qualitative document analysis was used to analyze the policy documents and available literature on all the parental leave policies that had been implemented early enough to potentially affect…

East Asian students consistently top comparative assessments of academic achievement. Yet, rather than attempting to develop more sophisticated understandings of this difference, the most common reaction is to attribute East Asian performance to longer study hours and/or the attendance at schools focused on academic skill enhancement and test…

It is generally understood that both clear teacher instruction and orderly classroom climates support student achievement in mathematics. However, to what extent does instructional clarity "compensate" for classroom disorder? In this exploratory study, we analyse data from 8,864 Year 8 students sampled by TIMSS 2019 to investigate the…

Results of the TIMSS 2019 reveal that Kosovar students have lower achievement levels in both mathematics and science. In understanding this gap in achievement, it is of value to take a closer look at factors that may influence student learning. Results of this analysis reveal that factors such as home and school resources influence achievement…

Understanding the long-standing educational inequities associated with socioeconomic status remains significant for transforming educational policies and practices. To better understand entanglements among socioeconomic status and students' performance in mathematics, we examined different home factors (including language of the test) that…