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The present study provides insights on the influence of family socioeconomic and school resources on principal leadership and, in turn, the influence of principal leadership on the science learning of students. The study uses data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2015 (248,620 students and 9370 principals) from 35 developed countries. Three-level structural equation modeling indicates that family and school contexts influenced the enactment of principal leadership. Specifically, principals were able to exercise leadership (envisioning, conducting instructional management, promoting professional development, and advocating empowerment) in schools with more science resources. In contrast, principals seemingly addressed teacher capacity issues by envisioning and promoting the professional development and empowerment of teachers in schools with low socioeconomic status. The instructional management of principals was positively related to the enjoyment and interest of students in science, and those with high levels of such learning attitudes obtained high levels of science achievement. In contrast, the promotion of the professional development of teachers was negatively related to science enjoyment and interest of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the effects of educational context variables on two types of achievement: cognitive domain and affective domain. To assess the effects of educational context variables at student and school levels, the National Assessment of Educational Achievement data were used, which were collected by the Korea Educational Development Institute. Participants were in the second year of a high school. Multivariate multilevel modeling was employed to model the two related dependent variables: cognitive and affective domains. Results showed that school characteristics were generally more influential for cognitive achievement than for affective achievement. Moreover, it was found that psychological stability and satisfaction with the facilities at school played an important role in predicting affective achievement for the subjects of Korean, English, and mathematics. Korea's Educational Broadcasting System was found to exert a positive effect on affective achievement, but negative effects on cognitive achievement. Shadow education was found to be generally helpful in improving cognitive/affective achievement. Programs aimed at improving academic achievement at school were found to have had very limited success in accomplishing their aim. Teacher climate, in particular, adversely affected students' cognitive achievement. Schools must be equipped with good facilities and counseling centers for student to improve student achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over recent decades, educators have recognized the crucial importance of teaching environment and contextual factors in teaching and learning outcomes. Public and private schools are among those teaching contexts that have been in competition for teaching quality and effectiveness for many years. This study investigated the effectiveness of some English teachers in these two school contexts in a foreign language setting, Iran. Seventy-six public and private high schools in a small city in Iran were selected, and their English teachers' performance was evaluated by an external observer and self-evaluation using a high-inference observation instrument and a questionnaire. The result of the data analysis showed that English teachers who worked in private schools were more effective teachers than their colleagues in public schools. The results also revealed that teacher effectiveness and their years of teaching experience and age were weakly but significantly related. Furthermore, it was found that teachers' type of university degree and the location of schools (disadvantaged vs. privileged areas of the city) were not related to teachers' effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teacher professional development has become one of the most important policy issues in the context of standards-based reform in U.S. However, our understanding of the contexts that influence teacher professional development remains limited. Using a series of 3-level Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM/3L) statistical analyses of a large nationally representative dataset, this article examines the impacts of multi-nested district and school contexts on teacher professional development. This article suggests that diverse and complex relationships among contextual factors at the district- and school-level encourage or limit time for teacher professional development. Finally, some implications are presented for school leaders and educational policy makers in attempting to broaden and enhance teacher professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]