The importance of non-cognitive skills for academic achievement and future success has been emphasized but the invariance among the relationships of these constructs across different groups and countries is rarely studied. In this study, we used a novel approach, psychometric network analysis, to analyze the invariance of connections between…

This study investigates the relationships between students' self-concept, self-efficacy, and achievement in mathematics, considering contextual factors such as socioeconomic status, gender, and immigration background, by using Swedish data from PISA 2003 and 2012. Additionally, these relationships between the two types of schools in Sweden are…

Enforcing and expanding immigration restrictions have been at the forefront of the Trump administration's agenda since his inauguration in January 2017. Underlying these policies is an assumption that immigrants harm U.S. citizens. More specifically, both authorized and undocumented immigrants are framed as consuming a disproportionate share of…

This qualitative study on the Finnish basic education curriculum (2016) had two goals. First, to survey the origins of first two new curriculum competences: 1) thinking and learning to learn, and, 2) cultural competences. Second, to analyse the local curricular implementation and comprehension in a rapid socio-cultural change. To reveal the…

This paper studies the contribution of parental influence in accounting for cross-country gaps in human capital achievements. We argue that the cross-country variation in unobserved parental characteristics is at least as important as the one in commonly used observable proxies of parental socio-economic background. We infer this through an…

Certain global leadership forces -- competitiveness, tolerance and creativity -- are so pervasive that they can be illustrated on the part of any country. However, nations also have unique dynamics to consider within our interconnected world. This is the overarching issue being expressed in this essay wherein the Carol Mullen deconstructs Canada's…

How school systems respond to immigration has an enormous impact on the economic and social well-being of all members of the communities they serve, whether they have an immigrant background or not. "Immigrant Students at School: Easing the Journey towards Integration" reveals some of the difficulties immigrant students encounter--and…

Certain global leadership forces -- competitiveness, tolerance, and creativity -- are so pervasive they can be illustrated on the part of any country. However, nations also have unique dynamics to consider within our interconnected world. This is the overarching issue being expressed in this essay wherein the author deconstructs Canada's official…

The stability of educational test results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) over 15 years was examined, and the influence of demographics and social capital was assessed, as was the impact of educational reforms. The test results were remarkably stable, with correlations up to 0.99 for country-level results over 2…

Massive population shift is a current global reality--especially given some of the latest development on European shores; some are calling it a humanitarian crisis. Although the United States (US) receives a large number of immigrants (documented and not) and about 70,000 refugees each year, it is certainly not the only nation to do so.…

The literature on the immigrant-native educational achievement gap is suggestive of a better performance of immigrant students in countries practising selective immigration policies. However, the origin of such differences has not been investigated. I considered both important observed characteristics as well as the role of unobservables in the…

This paper studies the relationship between ethnic school composition and classroom disruption in secondary education in the context of migration policies. We measured classroom disruption using students' reports from 3533 schools in 20 countries provided by cross-national PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2009 data. We employ…

Immigrants to the USA and Western Europe show a disadvantage in academic achievement that persists into the second generation. In contrast, an immigrant advantage is often seen in countries with selective immigration policies. This paper examines whether four countries with selective migration policies continue to show an academic advantage in…

The main aim of the present study was to carry out an in-depth examination of mathematics underperformance in Greece. By applying a binary multilevel model to the PISA 2012 data, this study investigated the factors which were linked to low achievement in mathematics. The multilevel analysis revealed that students' gender, immigration status,…

Geography lessons center on a language-based product with socially relevant geographic content. The subject of geography in secondary schools in Germany faces three major challenges that make a stronger focus on language in the monolingual geography classroom necessary. First, more than 30 percent of German pupils in secondary schools have a…