| Mark Beasley
University of Alabama
Effects of educational opportunity on the intraschool distribution of eighth grade mathematics achievement in the U.S. and Korea: Multilevel analyses of TIMSS
FINAL REPORT:
School policies and practices related to educational opportunity influence a range of meaningful eighth grade mathematics achievement outcomes, an area of national concern. The current study assessed and compared the effects of school policies, curricular practices, and contextual factors in both Korean and US schools on (a) average mathematics achievement within a school and the relationships between student background characteristics and individual achievement; (b) the intraschool dispersion individual achievement scores (i.e., disequalizing organizational effects); and (c) the intraschool dispersion in achievement residuals of the students in a school, after controlling for individual student characteristics (i.e., educational mobility). This was accomplished by applying hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to data from US and Korean eighth grade students collected as part of the 1995 Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).
US schools had lower average school achievement than Korean schools. Also, US schools were more heterogeneous in their average achievement outcomes. In both the US and Korea, school contextual variables (e.g., average parental education) were associated with average mathematics achievement. By contrast, school policy variables (e.g., instructional time, tracking) were related to the relationships between student characteristics and individual mathematics achievement. However, the strength and significance of effects varied between the two nations. For example, in US schools, tracking and increased class size favored the achievement of males whereas content coverage in algebra within tracked classes mitigated the differentiating effect of gender. Within Korean schools, instructional time and a lack of instructional materials were associated with a stronger relationship between parental education and student achievement.
Although on average US schools demonstrated less within school dispersion in achievement than Korean schools, increased dispersion was associated with average achievement in US schools and variability in parental education in Korean schools. Yet, within Korean schools, average interest and text usage were related to less intraschool dispersion in achievement. After accounting for student characteristics that influence achievement, US students performed closer to what their background would have predicted (i.e., demonstrated less educational mobility and there was less within school heterogeneity in the discrepancies between predicted and actual achievement scores. In Korean schools, average prior achievement and average parental education were associated with less student mobility. In US schools, tracking, lack of instructional materials, and urban location were associated with less student mobility; whereas, instructional time and content coverage in algebra within tracked classes enhanced student mobility.
In support of the effort to develop middle-level mathematics education that is challenging and effective for all students, this study explicates the effects of specific dimensions of educational opportunity within both US and Korean schools to allow policy makers to identify alterable organizational policies and practices that can enhance both the average level and equity of outcomes in middle level mathematics achievement. Interestingly, school policy variables (e.g., tracking) seemed to have little direct effect on average achievement but rather had influence on (a) the relationship between student characteristics and achievement, (b) intraschool dispersion (i.e., disequalizing organizational effects), and (c) educational mobility. Thus, changes in educational policy are more likely to change the environment for learning and not directly influence achievement levels; however, this implies that school policies can be used to influence variation in achievement levels and thus "level the playing field." Therefore, policy makers must consider the causes for and relative importance of the differentiating effects in the implementation of policies to simultaneously enhance achievement and equity.
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