Prediction of Achievement of Primary School Pupils: Results of the First External Evaluation of Education in Croatia

Author(s):

Toni BabarovicJosip Burusic Marija Sakic Ivan Devic

Conference:

ECER 2010

Network:

9. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement

Format:

Paper

Session Information

09 SES 06 C, Assessing and Evaluating Student Achievement in Different Contexts

Paper Session

Time:

2010-08-26

10:30-12:00

Room:

P617, Porthania

Chair:

Priit Reiska

Contribution

In the last decade, many changes have taken place in primary education in Croatia. There have been changes in the school curriculum, new teaching methods have been introduced and new investments in schools’ infrastructure have been carried out. One important innovation was the introduction of external evaluation of primary education and related educational outcomes. This paper presents the first empirical results of external evaluation conducted during the school year 2006/2007. The aim of the study was to examine to what extent school achievement at the end of primary schooling could be determined by certain student characteristics and characteristics of their environment, teachers' education level, teaching process and methods, as well as specific school attributes and characteristics of school management.

Method

The sample included 44 801 students from 842 regular primary schools. School achievement was measured by objective exams in Croatian, English, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Geography and History and explored for each subject separately. In addition to results from these tests, socio-demographic data about pupils, data about school facilities, educational processes at school, and teachers’ characteristics were also obtained. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted with student exam results as criterion variables, while predictor variables were structured into three independent blocks. The first block contained socio-demographic data about pupils; the second block included data about educational processes in class and teachers’ characteristics; and the third block consisted of data about school facilities and characteristics of school principal.

Expected Outcomes

The results of multiple regression analyses showed that 5.3 to 15.9% variance of knowledge in different subjects could be accounted for by student characteristics. Teacher and teaching process characteristics explained 0.2 to 1.1%, and school and principal characteristics 0.2 to 0.8% of additional variance. At the student level, significant predictors were gender, parents’ education and family structure. At the teacher level, significant predictors were teacher’s gender, qualifications and continuity of teaching the same students. The significant predictors at the school level were school size and founder, personnel competence and principal’s experience. The problem of measurement and conceptualization of academic achievements is discussed in the context of the obtained results.

References

Marzano, R. J. (2000). A new era of school reform: Going where the research takes us. Aurora, CO: Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning.

Author Information

Toni Babarovic

Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences

Zagreb

Josip Burusic

Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Croatia, Republic of

Marija Sakic

Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Croatia, Republic of

Ivan Devic

Ivo Pilar Institute of Social Sciences, Croatia, Republic of

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