Differences in the educational achievement of schools in urban, suburban and rural areas have been  the subject of a considerable number of studies. Most of them have focused on the processes that occur in suburban and urban areas of highly developed and industrialized countries (e.g. Pink & Noblit, 2007). As indicated by some authors, these processes may not be replicated in less developed countries, where the school educational achievement and its predictors are structured differently (e.g. Marks, Cresswell, & Ainley, 2006). Croatian territorial units, either at the regional or the municipality level, are marked by considerable developmental differences. A higher level of social, economical, and human capital is clearly associated with urban areas while rural areas are generally deprived of this kind of resources. Socio-economical deprivation has proved to be an important aggravating factor in academic performance of Croatian primary schools (Burusic, Babarovic, Sakic, 2009) and it is typically inherent in rural districts. Therefore, it is possible that the observed achievement differences among Croatian primary schools attributed to the level of urbanization, are partially, or even completely, mediated by socio-economic status of school municipality.

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