Instructional quality (INQUA) is claimed to be the most important classroom variable (e.g. Creemers and Kyrikides, 2010), and is known to affect students’ achievement and motivation (e.g. Fauth et al., 2014). Current studies in educational effectiveness suggest a relation between INQUA and school climate (Creemers and Kyrikides 2010; Nilsen et al, 2014). An important aspect of school climate is School Emphasis on Academic Success (SEAS) (Martin et al., 2013). SEAS reflects a clear priority of academic success referring to teachers’ beliefs in their own capabilities, schools trust in parents and students, and teachers’ expectations for students’ success (Hoy et al., 2006; Martin et al., 2013). A climate with high levels of SEAS, where parents, students, and teachers have high ambitions for learning and success, may strengthen the relation between the INQUA and students’ educational outcomes. The main aim is hence to investigate the relation between instructional quality and educational outcomes for low and high levels of SEAS. In the present study, we used the Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish TIMSS 2011 sample of eight graders (N=13701). We specified multi-group multilevel structural equation models and investigated the relation between INQUA and achievement, self-concept, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for low and high levels of SEAS. SEAS was the grouping variable in the two-level model (level 1: students, level 2: classrooms). Our main finding is that the relation between INQUA and all educational outcomes in all three countries is larger for high levels of SEAS. For all three countries, only high levels of SEAS resulted in a significant relation between INQUA and Achievement. The results for the motivational outcomes showed similar results. Besides supporting the importance of classroom instruction for educational outcomes (Fauth et al., 2014), our study advocates the relevance of SEAS for the relation between instructional quality and educational outcomes.

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