Two key measures to determine the quality of higher education are the performance of students and the accreditation of a programme's quality. We analyse the difference in the distributions of the student's scores in a standardised test of economics knowledge between accredited and non-accredited undergraduate economics programmes in a…

Secretary of Education Duncan (2010) lamented the state of U.S. education in 2010 after the release of the results from the 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). He wrote: "Unfortunately, the 2009 PISA results show that American students are poorly prepared to compete in today's knowledge economy. President Obama has…

The purpose of this study was to examine learning strategies accounted for mathematics achievement across Turkey and neighboring countries. Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Azerbaijan, Russian Federation, Israel, Serbia, Romania and Jordan were involved in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2009) study. Since other neighbors of Turkey…

The aim of the study is to determine the status of Turkey among OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) members and candidate countries through cluster and discriminant analyses according to PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2009 results. The study includes 475460 fifteen year-old students from 65…

In this paper, we investigate the effects of competition on the performance of Italian secondary schools as measured by maths achievement scores (PISA 2006 dataset). Competition is measured by an indicator of "perceived" competition (generated from an answer provided by the schools' principals). The methodology employed is a propensity…

The main aim of the study was to examine students' attribution of performance in learning English as a foreign language at Adama town government high schools and see into its pedagogical implications. It aimed at investigating the perceived causes of success and failure of boys and girls. In order to meet the objectives of the study, data were…

This paper provides evidence on the sources of differences in inequality in educational scores and their evolution over time in four European countries. Using Programme for International Student Assessment data from the 2000 and the 2006 waves, the paper shows that inequality decreased in Germany and Spain (two "decentralised" schooling…

In this article the authors analyze the effect of private voucher education on student academic performance using new data on Chilean students and a novel identification strategy. Most schools in Chile provide either primary or secondary education. The authors analyze the effect of private voucher education on students who are forced to enroll at…

This paper builds upon an earlier analysis presented in this journal. Using official figures for school compositions and for outcomes at KS4 from 1997 to 2007, this paper considers each of the annual cohorts of new Academies in England, from 2002 to 2006. It shows that their level of success in comparison to their predecessors, national averages,…

Many articles and reports have reviewed, researched, and commented on international assessments from the perspective of exploring what is relevant for the United States' education systems. Researchers make claims about whether the top-performing systems have transferable practices or policies that could be applied to the United States. However,…

In most developed countries, research studies that investigate the effects of special education on student outcomes have become conventional practice. However, in developing countries such as the twin-island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, there are no studies about the progress and outcomes of students and youths with disabilities. This…

The data obtained from high-school seniors for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) for the country of Cyprus appear to be contradictory. Although Cypriot students did not perform well in mathematics in elementary school, middle school, and in the non-advanced sectors of high school, students in advanced mathematics…