In response to the significant increase in science achievement observed among Fourth grade students in Ireland since 2011 (Clerkin, Perkins & Cunningham, 2016), the changing policy landscape, and the relatively limited research focus that science achievement has tended to receive in comparison with reading and mathematics, we will present a multilevel analysis of science achievement using data gathered for TIMSS in 2015. The analysis further extends previous work (e.g., Cosgrove & Creaven, 2013) by considering variation in outcomes across a range of school contexts.

Cosgrove and Creaven (2013) have provided a multilevel analysis of science achievement among primary school students in Ireland. They used data gathered for TIMSS 2011 to identify a number of variables that were significantly associated with students’ science achievement, including aspects of the home environment (e.g., parental educational attainment), school-level factors (e.g., principals’ perceptions of parental support for learning across the school), and student characteristics (e.g., expressing liking for science lessons). Overall, the model accounted for about one-quarter (27%) of the observed variance in achievement.

Addressing educational inequality remains an important theme of educational policy in Ireland. In Ireland, schools with the highest concentrations of students experiencing social marginalisation receive additional resources under the DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) programme, which was introduced in 2007. The focus of the DEIS programme, and earlier programmes, has been on improving literacy and numeracy skills. However, despite improvements in the average reading and mathematics performance of students in these schools in recent years, performance in both subject areas is still below the national average (Weir, 2016). The evaluation of schools that are part of the DEIS programme has not examined performance in science and while the recent revision of the action plan for the DEIS programme includes specific targets to improve performance in the areas of literacy and numeracy, science performance is not referenced (DES, 2017).

By considering variation in science achievement across different social school contexts for the current study, we addressed the following research questions. First, we want to gain knowledge about what factors are associated with science achievement among Fourth grade students (Question 1). Second, we are interested in the differences in the factors that are associated with achievement in schools serving student bodies with differing levls of socioeconomic disadvantage (minor, moderate, or high levels of disadvantage) at the individual level (Question 2). Third, we will analyse differences in the factors that are associated with achievement across different school contexts (minor, moderate, or high levels of disadvantage) at the school level (Question 3).

Data is drawn from the Fourth grade sample of the TIMSS 2015 database for Ireland. The average age at time of testing for Irish students is 10.4. The representative sample consists of 4 242 students within 206 classes (47.4% female). Based on information provided by school principals in the school questionnaire, the sample is split into three subgroups of schools. Schools where the principal reported that 0 to 10% of students come from economically disadvantaged homes were classified as minor socially disadvantaged (n = 1 298 students), schools with 11 to 49% were classified as moderate socially disadvantaged (n = 1 622), and schools with more than 50% of students from economically disadvantaged homes were classified as highly socially disadvantaged (n = 543 students). Data were gathered using standardized school, home and curriculum questionnaires for students, parents, teachers and school principals (Mullis & Martin, 2013). The outcome variable is students’ science achievement. Five plausible values were calculated (EAP/PV reliability is .77 for Ireland; Martin, Mullis & Hooper, 2016). Driven by previous research, individual as well as contextual variables have been implemented in multilevel modelling in a stepwise manner. We concentrate on a set of nine covariates on the individual (herein student-) level and six variables on context-level (classes within schools). The IEA IDB Analyzer (Version 3.2; IEA, 2016) is used for merging data files and descriptives. The multilevel analysis is implemented with Mplus 7.11 (Muthén & Muthén, 1998–2012). Missing data is handled by using full information maximum likelihood (FIML). Plausible values are pooled based on the option “type = imputation”. We decided to use a two-level approach (student- and class-level). In a first step, we calculated a set of overall models to investigate the relationship of covariates on student- and class-level in a stepwise manner (Q1). In a second step, we applied a multigroup framework to analyse within- and between- group differences for economically minor, moderate or highly disadvantaged school context with regard to science achievement at the individual (Q2) and school levels (Q3). Multilevel analyses are calculated simultaneously for all three subgroups of schools.

Schools from various social contexts in Ireland differ remarkably in terms of students' socioeconomic status and parent’s indication of doing ‘Early Numeracy Tasks’ with their child before they attended school. On the class level, teachers’ perception of ‘Parental Involvement’ seems to be lower in highly disadvantaged schools than in schools with moderate or minor levels of disadvantage. Teachers also report a higher number of ‘Students Lacking Prerequisite Knowledge’ in highly disadvantaged schools compared to moderate or minor disadvantaged schools. Moreover, highly and moderately disadvantaged schools are more likely to be situated in an urban region than minor disadvantaged schools. In multilevel-multigroup analysis, only the number of books at home, parents’ reports of the extent to which they had engaged in early numeracy activities at home before their child started school, and parents’ estimates of their child’s ability to demonstrate various numeracy-related skills before beginning school showed significant associations with science achievement in all school contexts. Moreover, students in highly disadvantaged schools who reported a stronger liking for science achieved significant higher scores on the TIMSS assessment than peers who reported less positive attitudes. Students in minor or moderately disadvantaged contexts who reported higher confidence in science achieved higher scores than students who were less confident. Further results will be presented and discussed.

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