ImplicationsThe results of this project give evidence on how prior attainment and student background characteristics are related to performance in admissions tests. This understanding is essential for Universities’ policies on equality. For the University of Oxford, specifically, the results have direct implications for its outreach work, as they provide clear evidence that admissions tests and support in preparing for them is a higher hurdle for applicants from under-represented groups–especially those in state schools and from socio-economically deprived areas–for whom advice and support for taking these tests is essential. In addition, test providers may re-evaluate available preparation materials as not all of them are used with similar frequency or are perceived as helpful by all students.

Based on social network theories, outgroup contact does not only improve intergroup relations, but can also facilitate the academic development of students due to the social capital and the uniquely supportive information and resources it provides. In the present study, 12,376 students (14.42 years; 50% girls; 38% immigrant students) from 591 classes across three countries (Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden) provided information on social network data, academic achievement, socioeconomic status (SES), and cognitive ability. Social network analysis determined the intergroup network connectedness of students. As expected, country-specific multilevel models reveal a positive linear relationship between outgroup contact and academic achievement for immigrant students in all models, and a negative curvilinear (i.e., concave) relationship between outgroup contact and academic achievement for nonimmigrant students in 2 out of 3 models, while controlling for SES, cognitive abilities, and total network integration. These findings suggest the academic value of outgroup contact for immigrant students and signal its potential for nonimmigrant students.

Since 2000, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has provided evidence on students, schools, and education systems that contributes to the discussion and fuels the debate on ed...

The authors are grateful to Simon Eason (AQA) for providing valuable and continuing guidance for understanding the data characteristics. Additionally, the teachers who participated in the qualitative research provided invaluable insights into the use of linear and modular examinations in schools. We are also grateful to the following people for their contribution to the research process: Carol Brown, Jessica Chan, Therese Hopfenbeck, Steve Holmes and Jane McNicholl.

This paper examines the mediating role of parental literacy and numeracy involvement before the child entered school in the relationship between family socio-economic status (SES) and students’ interest in reading and mathematics. Causal mediation analysis is applied to international assessment data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study-Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2011 combined study. Results provide weak support for the subject-specific parental cognitive involvement mediating mechanism in the association between family SES and subject-specific interest. In general, the total association with family SES is not strong and the direct role of parental cognitive involvement in students’ interest appears to be more relevant than its role via family SES.

Omitted prior achievement bias is pervasive in international assessment studies and precludes causal inference. For example, reported negative associations between student-oriented teaching strategies and student performance are against expectations and might actually reflect omitted prior achievement bias. Namely, that these teaching strategies are negatively correlated with unobserved prior achievement performance, because teachers offer more support to lower performing students, and not that these strategies cause lower performance. This paper examines omitted prior achievement bias in teaching effects with prior achievement data available for students in England participating in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study. Further, it proposes an analytical approach to account for omitted prior achievement bias in international estimates. The paper argues that the bias is not simply a technical artefact, but reflects educational mechanisms unobserved in international assessment studies, which can be captured with matched assessment data-sets or with evidence from previous studies. Estimates of these mechanisms can be used to postulate scenarios of the bias across education systems and thereby adjust international estimates of teaching effects as if prior achievement were observed. Potentials and limitations of this approach for studying educational effectiveness with international assessment data are discussed.

The present study investigates the effects of participation in academic extracurricular activities on student achievement in mathematics and reading in the course of secondary schooling. We use 2 samples of nonmandatory all-day schools that are part of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS): N = 1,131 fifth graders at 43 schools were followed until Grade 7 and N = 1,545 seventh graders at 64 schools until Grade 9. We compare students participating in all-day schools' extracurricular activities homework support, remedial education, and subject-specific programs to nonparticipating students. After controlling for prior achievement and further student background variables as well as estimating school fixed effects, we find no effects of participation in extracurricular activities on student achievement for both samples and both outcomes. The study contributes to the evidence base on the effects of extracurricular activities. We discuss the findings in light of the international discourse on effective extracurricular activities.

This study evaluated rater accuracy with rater-monitoring data from high stakes examinations in England. Rater accuracy was estimated with cross-classified multilevel modelling. The data included face-to-face training and monitoring of 567 raters in 110 teams, across 22 examinations, giving a total of 5500 data points. Two rater-monitoring systems (Expert consensus scores and Supervisor judgement of correct scores) were utilised for all raters. Results showed significant group training (table leader) effects upon rater accuracy and these were greater in the expert consensus score monitoring system. When supervisor judgement methods of monitoring were used, differences between training teams (table leader effects) were underestimated. Supervisor-based judgements of raters' accuracies were more widely dispersed than in the Expert consensus monitoring system. Supervisors not only influenced their teams' scoring accuracies, they overestimated differences between raters' accuracies, compared with the Expert consensus system. Systems using supervisor judgements of correct scores and face-to-face rater training are, therefore, likely to underestimate table leader effects and overestimate rater effects.

This paper introduces intsvy, an R package for working with international assessment data (e.g., PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS). The package includes functions for importing data, performing data analysis, and visualizing results. The paper describes the underlying methodology and provides real data examples. Tools for importing data allow useRs to select variables from student, home, school, and teacher survey instruments as well as for specific countries. Data analysis functions take into account the complex sample design (with replicate weights) and rotated test forms (with plausible values of achievement scores) in the calculation of point estimates and standard errors of means, standard deviations, regression coefficients, correlation coefficients, and frequency tables. Visualization tools present data aggregates in standardized graphical form.

Entirely predictable examinations are ones for which the questions are known in advance. Some assessments are designed this way, but in public examinations, predictability is subtler. Students familiarise themselves with the requirements broadly: likely topics that will come up, question formats and how to maximise their marks. If students can predict what they have to do, they can memorise performances, such as essays, and restrict their learning to fit only with examination requirements. The danger is that this focus could undermine curriculum aims. Further, examinations that are overly predictable might produce results that do not generalise to other performances or have predictive validity. This paper presents part of a broader project investigating whether the Higher Level Irish Leaving Certificate (LC) examinations were too predictable. Here, the development of a rating scale for students' views of examination predictability is described. Data were collected from 1002 Irish LC students taking higher level examinations in biology (n = 536), English (n = 749) and geography (n = 387). Students' views on predictability of the examination could be grouped consistently across subject areas into three factors: valuable learning, predictability and narrowing of the curriculum. Belief that narrowing of the curriculum was a good examination preparation tactic had a negative relationship with examination scores and perceived learning value of examinations was positively associated with students' scores in biology and English. These findings indicate that the scoring system rewards students who believe they must study the discipline broadly.

Modern educational theories emphasise effectiveness enhancing factors at the classroom level and differential effectiveness for sub-groups of students. and across different learning contexts. Theoretical developments, however, are generally based on national evidence and have been criticised for lacking cross-cultural perspectives. This study used PISA 2012 data to examine how subject-specific teaching strategies related to mathematics performance of students across education systems whilst considering curvilinear associations and interactions with the socio-economic and instructional context. The results provide consistent evidence of a positive curvilinear relationship between cognitive activation strategies and mathematics performance. The association tends to be stronger in schools with a positive disciplinary climate and for students from advantaged socio-economic backgrounds, but not in every education system. Teacher-directed strategies are positively related to mathematics performance, but the association tends to become negative for high levels of teacher-directed instruction. Associations of student-oriented strategies with mathematics performance are inconsistent. The cross-national evidence contributes to the knowledge base of educational theory. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

This paper applies the causal mediation framework proposed by Kosuke Imai and colleagues (Imai, Keele, & Tingley, 2010) to educational research by examining the causal mediating role of early literacy activities in parental education influences on reading performance. The paper argues that the study of causal mediation is particularly relevant in educational settings because learning outcomes result from complex interactions involving multiple actors. The analyses use retrospective longitudinal data from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2011. The value of international assessment data for producing evidence of causation is discussed. The paper aims to contribute to the study of causation with observational data from educational studies.

This paper examines the long-term association of family socioeconomic status (SES), educational, and labor force outcomes in a regional US longitudinal sample (N = 2264). The results offer insights into the mechanisms underlying the role of family SES in transitions from secondary schooling to early work experiences. It was found that the academic achievement gap associated with SES widens during secondary schooling due in part to course-level tracking. Family SES relates to college enrollment mainly via its association with academic gains in school, but also through family income and father's occupational status. Family SES is weakly but significantly related to adult offspring's earnings but more strongly related to occupational status. Educational qualifications and cognitive skills make independent contributions to the explanation of labor force outcomes.

In England, students with immigrant background exhibit lower educational attainment than those without immigrant background. Family socioeconomic status (SES) helps explain differences in educational attainment, but a gap remains that differs in size for students with different immigrant backgrounds. While the explanatory repertoire for the remaining gap is broad, it has been neglected to comprehensively investigate whether family SES constructs are equivalent across students with different immigrant backgrounds. Using data from the first wave of the Children of Immigrants Longitudinal Survey in Four European Countries (CILS4EU) for England (n - 4,315), the paper applies exploratory structural equation modelling (ESEM) to evaluate measurement invariance of family background constructs across students without and with immigrant background, specifically Pakistani/Bangladeshi immigrant background. Results suggest differences in the structure of family SES indicators across groups and in their association with educational attainment. Complementary variables are suggested to enhance family SES indicators. Findings are relevant to researchers investigating educational inequalities related to immigrant background.

European countries were economically and politically separated during the Cold War, but since its end processes of globalization and the formation of the European Union have contributed to blur the borders. Previous studies suggest that the social transformations have affected differently civic participation of youths, but shortage of more recent data has precluded researchers from examining the differences in a country-comparative fashion. Along these lines, this paper has two main objectives: to explore the differences in the levels of expected civic participation across Europe, and to evaluate the fit of a theoretical model of civic participation in regard to the different points in time their democracies were established. To achieve these goals, data from 22 European educational systems (9 post-communist and 13 established democracies) participating in the International Civic and Citizenship Study (2009) conducted by International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement is used. The results, in accordance with the literature, suggest differentiated patterns of future civic participation between the new and established democracies, but they are not that clear, suggesting that convergence between the two groups is ongoing. However, the tested empirical model of civic participation functions in a better way in the established than in the new democracies. In contrast with previous findings, differences in levels of expected civic participation seem to be related not only with the countries' experience with democracy, but also with their cultural similarities and common history.

This research was, therefore, broad in its approach to the question of predictability. We did not observe classroom practice, so we report students’ and teachers’ views rather than empirical work on behaviour. As we suspected that predictability could have different effects across subjects, we focused upon six: biology, economics, English, French, geography and design and communication graphics (DCG). Mathematics did not form part of the research due to ongoing work on Project Maths. To make the questionnaire manageable for respondents, the survey of students’ views reduced the number of subjects included to three: biology, English and geography.In this summary, we bring together the research findings across the chapters to address the research questions we identified. Predictability and teaching to the test are fundamental concerns about examinations in many countries, including England, the US, 2 Australia, India and Malaysia. 3 Critiques of high-stakes testing systems internationally share the following common features: