Background: Grade retention is an educational aspect that concerns teachers, families, and experts. It implies an economic cost for families, as well as a personal cost for the student, who is forced to study one more year. The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of course repetition on math, science and reading competencies, and…

International large-scale assessments (ILSA) are an important source of information for education policymakers across the globe. Despite sponsors' warnings, when results are published, media attention focuses on country rankings and changes in scores. Score changes are evaluated using a two-sided z-statistic, with statistical significance declared…

Globalization and its impact on contemporary societies have gained new impetus with the notions of global citizenship education (GCED) and education for sustainable development (ESD), considered, together with civic and citizenship education (CCE), as a means for promoting students' engagement in global/local issues and providing them with the…

When analyzing large-scale assessments (LSAs) that use complex sampling designs, it is important to account for probability sampling using weights. However, the use of these weights in multilevel models has been widely debated, particularly regarding their application at different levels of the model. Yet, no consensus has been reached on the best…

This paper informs users of data collected in international large-scale assessments (ILSA), by presenting argumentsunderlining the importance of considering two design features employed in these studies. We examine a commonmisconception stating that the uncertainty arising from the assessment design is negligible compared with that arisingfrom the…

Background: Metacognitive reading strategies, such as monitoring and regulating one's reading processes, are critical for enhancing reading comprehension and achievement. However, their effectiveness can vary across different educational contexts and student populations, necessitating flexible instructional approaches. This study examines the…

We analyse the PISA-reported convergence in the performance of private and public schools in Portugal. When PISA sampling weights are used, the number of students enrolled in those types of schools and specific grades/tracks of study differs significantly from official population figures. To account for those differences, we apply a…

Background: Comparative educational research has studied inequality in educational outcomes through large-scale assessments like PISA and TIMSS, by identifying achievement gaps within social groups (e.g., gender, parental education, and immigrant gaps) to inform investment in intervention programs and educational policies. However, the focus of…

Although the COVID-19 pandemic was a major disruptor to K-12 learning and instruction in general, there is particular concern that there was differential impact by student group and instructional mode offered (e.g., in-person versus remote learning). The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Long-Term Trend (LTT) assessment…

Background: Teaching quality is assumed to be an essential prerequisite for student learning outcomes such as mathematics confidence and mathematics achievement. Notwithstanding its significance, empirical research examining the relations between teaching quality and learning outcomes is still limited, particularly among primary school students.…

This study examined changes in student well-being and its relationship with academic performance, in light of concerns about rising inequalities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It utilized PISA student surveys and reading and math assessments from 2018 and 2022 (N = 33,147) among 15-year-old adolescents from Finland, Sweden, and Iceland. Adopting…

Background: While highlighting is one of the most common strategies to enhance reading comprehension, little is known about how highlighting behavior and its relationship with performance varies across cultures. Our purpose was to examine whether the use and the success of highlighting prevalence, quantity, and task relevance vary internationally.…

Positive teacher feedback plays a crucial role in student learning. While previous studies on positive teacher feedback have primarily focused on its relationship with student achievement, much less attention has been given to how such feedback associates with student self-efficacy, particularly reading self-efficacy--a key predictor of both…

This study aimed to evaluate the item model fit by equating the forms of the PISA 2018 mathematics subtest with concurrent common items equating in samples from Türkiye, the UK, and Italy. The answers given in mathematics subtest Forms 2, 8, and 12 were used in this context. Analyzes were performed using the Dichotomous Rasch Model in the WINSTEPS…

Background: In recent years, there has been generalized concern in all countries about increasing the younger population's level of financial literacy. However, there is still little evidence on the key factors explaining financial literacy, as the existing literature is inconclusive about this issue. This paper focuses on exploring whether…