Across the world, numerous students are being bullied at school. Bullying is often caused by a power imbalance between students. Therefore, identifying potential sources of such a power imbalance can prevent school bullying from happening. Based on the labelling theory, we expect that grade retention can lead to such a power imbalance and,…

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…

The education of children with disabilities in the regular educational environment has long been an expectation of legislation in many countries. Yet some children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are educated outside regular classes. Despite the obvious importance that educational placement holds for any child, there is limited research on how…

Bullying victimisation is a reality in most schools around the world, with thousands of students being victimised on a daily basis. Given the prevalence of bullying victimisation at school, examination of what might prompt or prevent such behaviours is required. Therefore, this study examined the relationship of a number of individual and…

Previous studies found that girls have higher academic achievement than boys in most school subjects. Teachers' grading of academic achievement seems to be based not only on students' knowledge but also their social skills, and teachers tend to assess girls as having better social skills than boys. The main aim of this study was to examine through…

Background: Large-scale cross-national studies designed to measure student achievement use different social, cultural, economic and other background variables to explain observed differences in that achievement. Prior to their inclusion into a prediction model, these variables are commonly scaled into latent background indices. To allow…

We examined the effects of mathematics self-concept (MSC) and MSC calibration on mathematics achievement through multilevel analyses of the mathematics tests and questionnaire responses of 88,590 15-year olds who participated in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).…

The call for practice on the basis of evidence is slowly impacting the link between research and practice. Accompanying the call for evidence-based practice, concerns have been raised about constructing research questions that address the reality of applied settings, as well as arguments for including additional measures to ensure the internal and…

A gender gap in mathematics achievement persists in some nations but not in others. In light of the underrepresentation of women in careers in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering, increasing research attention is being devoted to understanding gender differences in mathematics achievement, attitudes, and affect. The gender…

This paper makes an in-depth comparison of the PISA (OECD) and TIMSS (IEA) mathematics assessments conducted in 2003. First, a comparison of survey methodologies is presented, followed by an examination of the mathematics frameworks in the two studies. The methodologies and the frameworks in the two studies form the basis for providing…

This note examines the effectiveness of a program in Spain that uses the Jigsaw learning technique as an educational intervention. We used a quasi-experimental research design with two groups, two measures and an independent variable (the program). Use of the Jigsaw technique is shown to have been fairly effective on a series of measures.

Many studies have commented that culture has an influence on gender inequality. However, few studies have provided data that could be used to investigate how culture actually influences female inequality. One of the aims of this study is to investigate whether Hofstede's cultural dimensions have an impact on female inequality in education in terms…

The influence of culture on learning and motivation has been the topic of much research in recent years. Educational and psychological researchers are now aware that the findings of their studies may not apply to other cultures, and that in this age of globalization and multiculturalism it is very important to examine the applicability of…