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Investigating disadvantaged children is a priority area concerning education and health. However, little attention has been paid to pandemic-specific research in recent years. In the present study, we aim to explore the attitudes toward distance education in a sample (N = 305) of 7-8th grade students studying in disadvantaged settlements concerning the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Attitudes towards distance education were measured using a 16-item tool. Factor analysis was applied to detect the factors of attitudes towards distance education. Variables influencing these factors were measured by linear regression analysis including well-being, perceived stress and support, academic achievement, and sociodemographic background. The results indicate that four factors (learning difficulties, poor health, time saving and safety, and distance learning preference) can be distinguished. The effects of gender, type of settlement, deprivation and objective financial status is significant regarding distance learning preference and perceptions of poor health. Regarding health indicators, a protective role of support from teachers and a hindering role of stress indicators were found. The role academic performance was insignificant. Overall, the factors influencing attitudes towards distance education partly follow the trends of the factors influencing perceptions of traditional education. However, it is necessary to stress the crisis nature of the pandemic.

To estimate the distribution of the number of acquaintances of the members of a society, the network scale-up method asks survey respondents about the number of people they know with features for which national statistics are available. While many features have been used for this purpose, first names have been suggested to produce particularly low levels of transmission error and recall bias. For this method to be precise, a set of names needs to be selected for the survey that jointly represents the population in relevant variables such as gender or age. This article provides a solution approach to finding the optimal set of names. This can be applied to any population for which a joint distribution of first names and relevant variables is available. We show that our approach successfully provides sets of names closely mirroring the population distributions for six countries with different name statistics.

The study systematically assesses the determinants impacting Ph.D. success, amalgamating insights from 38 meticulously curated studies. Through the integration of PRISMA, TCCM, and an 8-step process, it delineates crucial findings and factors influencing successful Ph.D. completion. The PRISMA diagram intricately outlines the data retrieval process, while the TCCM framework systematically organizes discoveries, emphasizing elements crucial to Ph.D. achievement, including timely completion. Previous studies encompassed 17 theories (T), five essential characteristics (C) or factors, nine distinct countries or contexts (C), and diverse methodologies (M) encompassing qualitative, quantitative, and mixed approaches. Institutional factors emerge as the most prominent within the corpus of 38 studies at 65.79%, followed by demographic, financial, and psychological factors at varying degrees, with social factors contributing minimally at 7.89% to Ph.D. progression. The research meticulously follows an 8-step process throughout its developmental trajectory, underscoring critical determinants impacting Ph.D. candidates' satisfaction, advancement, and persistence. The study's limitation lies in including 38 studies based on specific criteria. By consolidating prior works, conducting critical analysis, and comparing findings, it offers insights into factors affecting successful Ph.D. attainment, guiding institutions, policymakers, funders, and Ph.D. students. Additionally, it pioneers the field by advancing methodologies through integrating PRISMA, TCCM framework, and 8-step approaches, paving the way for future research endeavors.

Purpose: Increasing the need for education for sustainable development in universities requires an understanding of the predictors of students' environmental concern (EC). In this paper, the authors focus on the EC of business students because of their future responsibility for business operations regarding the exploitation of natural resources. The aim of the study is to examine the predictors of business students' environmental concern. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the Norm Activation Model as the theoretical framework, this study hypothesizes the model of EC with two main predictors: ascription of responsibility for the environment (AOR), driven by locus of control and self-efficacy (LC/SE), and awareness of positive consequences of consumption reduction on the environment (AOC), driven by perceived environmental knowledge. Structural equation modelling was applied to confirm the conceptual model based on the responses of business students from six countries (Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Spain) collected through an online survey. Findings: The environmental concern of business students is predicted both by the ascription of responsibility and by awareness of consequences; however, the ascription of responsibility is a stronger predictor of EC. A strong impact was found for internal locus of control and self-efficacy on AOR, as well as a weaker influence of perceived environmental knowledge on AOC. Originality/value: Sustainability education dedicated to business students should provide environmental knowledge and strengthen their internal locus of control and self-efficacy in an environmental context.

Performing a stay in a country where the L2 is the official language can provide the perfect immersion for L2 development (traditional study abroad). In the case of English learners, internationalization and the role of English as a lingua franca make it unnecessary to perform the stay in an English-speaking country. Hence, an increasing number of students decide to study abroad in countries where English is used as a lingua franca (ELFSA). This study compares a group of Catalan/Spanish undergraduates learning English in a traditional study abroad setting (n = 31) to one doing so in ELFSA countries (n = 20) in order to examine differences concerning (a) reading comprehension and fluency, (b) receptive and productive vocabulary, and (c) L2 use. Participants were administered a reading text, the Updated Vocabulary Levels Test, a written task, and a questionnaire before and after their sojourns. Findings indicate that, subject to individual differences, both contexts provide similar outcomes in reading and vocabulary, and opportunities for L2 practice.

Although concepts such as research without borders have become more commonplace in recent decades, few studies have investigated the capabilities that global researchers require to cross both cultural and disciplinary borders. This paper explores global capabilities along with strategies and spaces that may facilitate academic researchers' acquisition and development of global research competence. The study's dataset comprises responses of 26 participants across 15 countries -- all of whom are members of a specific comparative education society -- who contributed their views via e-questionnaire. Findings indicate that research capacity building is a dynamic process and global competence calls for complex skills and conscious attitudes. Commitment to expand scientific curiosity beyond one's own culture and academic discipline appears to be a main criterion in achieving global competence. Results of this study are not meant to be prescriptive but rather exploratory and informative for a broad group of academic stakeholders.

We analyze the role of institutional founding conditions and institutional legacy for universities' self-representation in terms of diversity. Based on 374 universities located in the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Poland, we can differentiate between a more idealistic understanding (logic of inclusion and equality) and a more market-oriented understanding (market logic) of diversity. Our findings show that the founding phase has no significant effect on the likelihood of a university focusing on a market-oriented understanding of diversity--however, we observe an imprinting effect with respect to the adoption of a diversity statement in general and an equity-oriented statement. Moreover, our findings show that there is a socialistic heritage for universities in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries that is at work and still influences universities' understandings of diversity today.

The growth and competitiveness of any business, especially micro and SMEs, will increasingly depend on the ability to apply new knowledge, organisation and working methods, as well as the capacity to engage in the commercialisation of research and development to develop new products, services, or processes. In the information society, the development of new products, services, and processes requires the use of innovations resulting from the intellectual activity of creative people. For creators and successors in title of intellectual property rights (various projects, trademarks, inventions, computer programs, etc.) to be able to successfully develop and market their products, they need a functioning IPR protection system. The research found that it is essential for the company to acquire the rights to the works created during the employment contract, and it would be necessary to reasonably limit the author's right to withdraw the work created during the employment relationship.

International student mobility has been rising as a global phenomenon in the last few decades, while its impact could be various in different contexts. For the European Union (EU), studying in another EU member country could be regarded as an important factor for the solidarity and integrity of the Union. The current study elaborates on the role of studying abroad regarding the attitudes of people toward immigration in the EU. It shows that people who are studying in an EU member country, belonging to higher social classes and from EU15 countries, are more likely to have positive attitudes toward immigration. But after controlling several socio-demographic variables studying abroad still contributes positively to the attitudes of EU citizens toward immigration. Accordingly, current study provides promising pieces of evidence on the social contribution of studying abroad for both future research and policymakers.

The article uses a multi-faceted approach to present the major challenges to vocational education and training (VET) that Hungary and Poland have been facing during the transformation of their economic systems in 1989 and integration into the EU in 2004. The evolution of VET is examined according to historical traditions, its declining prestige, the introduction of dual training, governance, and the involvement of social partners. We also look at recent changes in the two countries as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss the current situation in the light of VET scenarios recently developed by Cedefop.

Teaching geography creates an opportunity for the transfer of knowledge about environmental problems and ways of solving them. Teachers from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Turkey, and the United Kingdom indicated strengths and weaknesses of physical geography as well as the selected geographical concepts of: Maps/Cartography, Astronomy/The Earth in the Universe, Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Endogenic processes, Exogenic processes, and Soils and biosphere. There was a variety in how confident students were around these topic areas. The main types of difficulties identified by the study were: too little time for implementation, difficult terminology, and lack of tools for the proper transfer of knowledge. Moreover, the attractiveness of individual issues for students also varies. The research clearly shows that students lack an awareness of problems related to the environment. There are considerable differences between the level of students' knowledge about climate change or air and water pollution (relatively high awareness of global warming) and issues related to soil and vegetation cover (low awareness of soil depletion, soil pollution, changing the boundaries of the occurrence of plant zones, etc.). To make people aware of the importance of environment, we should take care of education in relation to global challenge and sustainable development.

The study investigates the reforms of university governing boards in Hungary and Poland. It seeks to fill that void and advance existing knowledge about the implementation of boards (councils) in CEE countries despite the great interest in HE dynamics in the region. The juxtaposition of the two countries is intentional because both share key characteristics, such as a common historical background (e.g. a communist past), geopolitical location (Central and Eastern Europe), the same institutional foundation for universities (i.e. the Humboldtian tradition) and domestic politics dominated by right-wing populism. With this in mind, it is interesting to note that the two countries, which are inspired by the same hegemonic policy ideas of NPM and had considerable similarities with respect to HE, arrived at different outcomes. This study therefore focuses on the process of policy translation and attempts to identify critical junctures that have led to structural divergence in the university governance model in the two countries. To achieve this, the research examines two parallel reforming processes that led to the introduction of new university governing bodies: consistories (2015) in Hungary and university councils (2018) in Poland.

The aim of this study was to determine the examination of the researches about the use of technology by fine arts teachers. The study was conducted according to the content and citation analysis model. In this context, Web of Science (WOS) Core Collection indexes were included. In the document scanning in the WOS environment, the keywords 'Fine arts', 'Teachers' and 'Technology' were searched. In total, 169 documents were examined and analysed one by one. They were analysed according to year, document type, WOS content category, country, source title, organisation and citation, authors, publication language and categories. As a result of this research, the first study was conducted in 2004, while the most studies were conducted in 2016. It was concluded that the published studies had the most Proceedings papers as the document type. The area where the studies of fine arts teachers on the use of technology are mostly carried out is Education Educational Research, according to the Web of Science content category. The most researched title in the distribution according to the Source Title field is 'International Multidisciplinary Scientific Conferences on Social Sciences and Arts.' The university with the most studies is Kazan Federal University. The 19 authors who conducted the studies have a large number of studies in this field. It was concluded that other authors had only one study in the field. Again, when we look at the distribution of the countries and documents according to the language of writing, the country with the most studies is China and the language of the documents is English. The area continues to evolve.

Several studies have been published on disengaged test respondents, and others have analyzed disengaged survey respondents separately. For many large-scale assessments, students answer questionnaire and test items in succession. This study examines the percentage of students who continuously engage in disengaged responding behaviors across sections in a low-stakes assessment. The effects on calculated scores of filtering students, based on their responding behaviors, are also analyzed. Data of this study came from the 2015 administration of PISA. For data analysis, frequencies and percentages of engaged students in the sessions were initially calculated using students' response times. To investigate the impact of filtering disengaged respondents on parameter estimation, three groups were created, namely engaged in both measures, engaged only in the test, and engaged only in the questionnaire. Next, several validity checks were performed on each group to verify the accuracy of the classifications and the impact of filtering student groups based on their responding behavior. The results indicate that students who are disengaged in tests tend to continue this behavior when responding to the questionnaire items in PISA. Moreover, the rate of continuity of disengaged responding is non-negligible as can be seen from the effect sizes. On the other hand, removing disengaged students in both measures led to higher or nearly the same performance ratings compared to the other groups. Researchers analyzing the dataset including achievement tests and survey items are recommended to review disengaged responses and filter out students who are continuously showing disengaged responding before performing further statistical analysis.

Globalisation and policy transfer in education make it incumbent upon decision makers to prioritise among competing policy options, select policy initiatives that are appropriate for their national contexts, and understand how system-specific factors moderate the relationship between those policies and student outcomes. This study used qualitative comparative analysis and correlational analyses to explore these relationships with publicly available data on socio-economic, cultural, and education conditions, and their association with PISA 2015 results in 49 countries. Findings show that gender and income equality, human development, and individualism were outcome-enabling conditions for PISA 2015 results, and gender equality was the most consistent of these conditions. These factors significantly moderated the relationships between education policy and PISA results. Implications for the identification of meaningful peer countries for comparative educational research, policy transfer, and the future expansion of PISA are discussed.

The world has witnessed a democratic decline in 29 countries worldwide during the last decade in the context of rising nationalism and right-wing populism. Political transformations of this scale can reshape the higher education field because governments have legislative power, financial tools, and control over political and economic environments. My research investigates the effect of democratic backsliding on the university autonomy in countries with worsening democratic conditions. This study employs the comparative case study method of Turkey, Hungary, and Poland. The friction between external political pressure and university autonomy offers a unique opportunity to observe how the universities change owing to slow and steady political transformations and represents an essential field for current and future research. This study contributes to the emerging literature of crisis and precarity in higher education by offering interdisciplinary analysis of institutional change and resistance.

Although there is consensus that second language grammar instruction is needed, some controversial issues remain. Whatever instructional options are selected, it is vital that they allow the development of not only explicit knowledge but also implicit or at least automatized knowledge that can be used in real-time interaction. Since this aim is difficult to achieve, students need to learn this subsystem on their own and this process can be aided by adept use of grammar learning strategies (GLS). However, research in this area is scarce, existing tools have not been validated in different contexts, and no cross-country comparisons have been made. The study addresses these gaps by examining the use of GLS by university students majoring in English in Hungary (N = 205) and Poland (N = 173). Data were collected by means of a standardized questionnaire and subjected to principal component analysis and correlational analysis. Independent- and paired-samples t-tests as well as regression analyses were also run. Some differences were found between the two contexts but overall patterns of GLS use were strikingly similar.

This empirical article presents student affairs and services practitioners' perceptions regarding the sense of accomplishment they feel in their job. Results show helping students, collaborating among colleagues, contributing positively to a broader community, and the autonomous and engaging nature of the work itself provided SAS staff across countries and regions with a sense of accomplishment. Authors discuss findings in terms of supporting SAS practitioners in light of changes globally in higher education's expectations and culture.

This article presents the origins, development and perspectives of history of education in Central and Eastern Europe. Both the issues and the region are very broad, as they concern many countries with quite large cultural and identity differences, but also with a relative geopolitical similarity. This similarity has created and continues to create similar conditions for researching activities in and teaching of the history of education. Moreover, after 1990, the opening up and development of the history of education in the international space can be observed in the region. To explore the presented issues, three countries in this region of Europe are presented as individual case studies: Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. A stroll down the path of the history of education in the countries indicated allows for a close and in-depth look at the genesis, development and perspective of the history of education.

The Imitation Game is a new method and, as such, it is important to show that its results are plausible and replicable. We tested this by conducting Imitation Games on religion in a range of European countries, returning approximately 12 months later to repeat the research. The idea was that non-Christian members of strongly Christian countries would find it easy to pass as members of the practicing majority because Christian beliefs and practices would be ubiquitous. In more secular countries, the expectation was that non-Christians would find it harder to pass as Christian because religious practices are less visible. We show that, despite some anomalous results, the data are consistent with expectations derived from survey data and that the claim to have replicated the results can be supported. We also suggest that our experiences show that questions of replication in the social sciences cannot be resolved by statistical meta-analysis alone.

In the long history of the Catholic school in Europe, it has taken various forms, linked to local cultures and to the history, particularly religious but also political, of each state. While it is possible to account for this diversity, it is also important to highlight common features and challenges, such as secularisation and globalisation, which question the identity of Catholic schools. It is by addressing these challenges that Catholic schools will maintain an original school model that inspires the public schools of the different educational systems present in Europe.

Academic libraries, apart from their main function, which is to provide information services to academic communities, may also perform a number of social roles in the broad meaning of the term. Accordingly, they now tend to serve as the third place offering inclusion and animation activities to academic as well as local communities (including potential students) and to groups in risk of social exclusion (immigrants, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, etc.) or in need of various kinds of care and support. However, for libraries to be able to fulfil those tasks, they need properly trained staff who not only have the required competencies but also the right social attitudes. The paper presents an analysis of the social attitudes of academic librarians from twenty countries across the world as compared to the personnel of other types of libraries. The level of individual social capital, activity in social networks, aspirations in life and social and civic engagement were investigated. It was noted that the respondents tend to undervalue the importance of the work done by libraries for local communities. At the same time, the research showed that academic librarians have a somewhat lower level of individual social capital and trust than public librarians and less extensive social networks. Nonetheless, they are open to relationships with others, which enables them to engage in various social projects.

Purpose: This paper aimed to examine moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels in physical education. Method: A review of reviews was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The screening process, data extraction, assessment of the risk of bias, and analysis of the results were carried out independently by two reviewers. A total of eight systematic reviews from six databases, which included 224 studies, involving more than 80,000 students (elementary, middle, and high school), enrolled in more than 450 schools worldwide were unpacked. Results: Students fail to meet the 50% recommendation of MVPA lesson time, irrespective of country, school stage, gender, or MVPA measures. Physical education-based interventions increased students' MVPA during lessons (range 14.3%-24%) compared with control groups. Conclusion: Physical education is uniquely positioned to provide physical activity opportunities for students, but teachers must target the provision of adequate MVPA levels, which is not currently happening.

The purpose of higher education is to produce active and intellectually well-rounded individuals yet, the transition to higher education seems to have deleterious effects on university and college students' (UCS) fitness levels and physical activity (PA). The aim of this quantitative research was to analyse the influences of organisational factors on the implementation of physical education (PE) among UCS in European tertiary institutions. A purposive sampling method was employed. Seven academic peers gathered information on characteristics of tertiary institutions, sport and leisure facilities, types and characteristics of PA programs available for UCS in 66 European tertiary institutions. The results suggested that the curricula requirements for PE in public tertiary institutions were similar to private establishments, with minor administrative variations. Public tertiary institutions had significantly higher number of PE hours and PE sessions per semester, PE minutes per academic hour, duration of PE session, number PE teachers and number of students per one PE teacher. Universities had significantly higher number of PE semesters, PE minutes per academic hour, and hired more PE teachers. The organizational differences between public and private institutions might be explained by a lack of clear guidelines regarding PE curricula in higher education across European countries, and greater autonomy of the private tertiary institutions. Moreover, PA programs in higher education adhere to minimum requirements of the syllabi, which restrict total amounts of PE among UCS. Thus, it is recommended PE classes should become obligatory, with extended hours, appropriately qualified teachers and improved financing.

In this study, we investigated factors predictive of disconnection, or not being in education, employment, or training (NEET), among young adults with at least a 2-year college degree. We also explored the extent to which disconnection influences civic participation and well-being among NEETs with and without college degrees. The authors used 2012 and 2015 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) data from the Survey of Adult Skills in the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) for 29 countries, including the United States, along with US 2012 data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), collected by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Results highlight that college-educated individuals whose parents have low levels of educational attainment actually have a higher likelihood of becoming NEET relative to college-educated individuals whose parents are more highly educated. Study findings also emphasize the influence of economic and geographic differences (country-level for OECD and county-level for United States) on NEET rates, in addition to the extent to which mothers have a higher likelihood and fathers have a lower likelihood of being NEET relative to their childless peers and the influence of country-level family leave policies on the odds of being NEET across the OECD. College field of study also emerges as an important influence on disconnection across the 29 OECD countries in the study, but not in the United States separately. Finally, comparing results for college-educated NEETs and NEETs without degrees, we found that higher education appears to reduce the likelihood of community disengagement and reports of poor health among NEETs across the OECD countries. However, this is not the case within the United States where NEETs are less likely to be engaged in their communities and more likely to describe themselves as in poor health regardless of their educational attainment.

The purpose of our contribution is to discuss shortcomings of purely descriptive quantitative evaluation of research policies -- based either on inputs (public investment, number of researchers), or outputs (publications, EU grants, number of patents). To give an example, we compare selected indicators across Visegrad countries in the period between 2006 and 2015. We conclude that both quantitative and qualitative perspectives as well as societal and political contexts should be taken into account when the performance of any R&D system and the impact of public investments into a public R&D sector are scrutinized.

There is a growing body of literature that recognizes the importance of volunteering. The economic impact of volunteering has been studied in previous decades, but scientists have not examined that of international students' volunteer activities fully. Therefore, the current paper aims to identify the economic potential of ingoing Erasmus students volunteering in Visegrad 4 countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia). The study uses a quantitative method to investigate Erasmus students' economic potential for volunteering, which is estimated by using two hypothetical situations. First, 90% of the international students shall volunteer for 4 h per month of their stay. Second, only 10% of the international students shall volunteer for 4 h per month. Replacement median wages were used to quantify the economic value of volunteering. This value is represented by an interval estimate with upper and lower bound. Results indicate the importance of international students' volunteer activity, as the potential volunteer hours and their economic value is calculated.

The study subject in this article is aims to educate the concepts of judiciary principles in Eastern eroup. We substantiated the conclusion on constitutional structuring of the formalization of judiciary principles in the sections devoted to the state foundations (constitutional system); human and civil rights and freedoms; judiciary; higher judicial authorities (usually the constitutional court). A comparative legal study of the norms of special sections on judiciary contained in the constitutions of Eastern European countries allowed the author forming a list of principles that organize and constitute the basis of activity of this kind of judiciary; identify the specific nature of their consolidation; present quantitative and qualitative features of the declared fundamental principles.

The purpose of this study is to examine if school principals' roles and responsibilities in China, Ghana, Hungary, Turkey, Poland and the United States are significantly different from one another. This study adopts a survey design which provides a quantitative or qualitative description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of that population. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected from school principals in these six countries by using a researcher designed survey questionnaire. The quantitative data derived from principals' responses were analyzed by country and by total average according to the subsets of character, professional knowledge, professional skill, administrative style, administrative duties, personnel management, and student affairs management. The principals' roles and responsibilities of the six countries were compared by using Multivariate Analysis of Variance. Answers to the three open-ended questions provide qualitative data for analysis. Emerging themes and patterns were observed among the principals' responses. Results of data analysis show that principals of the six countries confront many similar problems in their daily school functions. The unique political infrastructures of their locations determine how they address these problems to meet the individual demands of their own societies. Understanding of common challenges and emerging roles of principals in changing social and political settings provide educational leaders of these countries the opportunities to share their unique experiences and success stories.

Epidemiological studies on the prevalence of cyberbullying and cybervictimization in different countries, using the same procedure and the same measures, are of relevance in understanding differences in results that are not due to methodological factors. The current study was conducted in 8 European countries (Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, and Spain), involving a total of 4,847 students, using an online anonymous questionnaire (the Tabby online questionnaire). The results were analyzed by comparing differences between countries and between genders. Cyberbullying and cybervictimization were most prevalent in Bulgaria and Hungary and least prevalent in Spain. Boys committed more cyberbullying than girls in all countries, but there were no overall gender differences in cybervictimization. However, girls were more often cybervictims in four countries and boys were more often cybervictims in the other four countries. The results are discussed with regard to the importance of cross-national studies of cyberbullying and cybervictimization and the use of online data collection in order to reduce methodological bias.

Education is the core of the factors that improved people for a better lifestyle and increases the level of society' development. Quality education is one of the most vital goals of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) due to actualizing these factors. Using relational network data envelopment analysis (DEA), which have three interrelated substages, this current paper computes the educational economy efficiency of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries bearing in mind the characteristics related to SDGs. The contribution of our study is the use of a novel approach to computing the educational economy efficiency using relational network DEA with GAMS. Even though some interesting differences reveal in the efficiency of the countries, the findings show that countries with high-efficiency scores are clustered around countries like Latvia, Slovenia, and Korea.

The Visegrad Group is an alliance of four Central European countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia, founded by the Visegrad Declaration in 1991. The historical, political, and cultural similarities, highlighted by their shared experiences with economic transformation, make the Visegrad Group countries well suited for comparison. The article analyses and compares the performance of Visegrad Four (V4) countries in the recent editions of the most established individual university rankings as well as in the recent rankings of national higher education systems. Czech Republic ranks highest, followed by Poland and Hungary at approximately the same level, while Slovakia falls behind other V4 countries. Relevant socioeconomic factors influencing the country's performance in university rankings are considered and discussed. The results confirm the leading position of the Czech Republic in the region, and they are in line with the recently conducted studies comparing the economic attributes, R&D expenditures and quality of life in the V4 countries. The results thus also prove and confirm the strong interconnection between the economic performance, R&D expenditures and the performance of the higher education sector.

The aim of this study is to determine how effectively different countries use educational inputs in the process of science education. The study is in the descriptive model and the data is derived from the PISA 2015 data set, which provides information to countries on secondary education programs. Data from 70 countries, including Turkey, were used in the study. The effectiveness of Turkey in the process of science teaching in secondary education has been compared with other countries and suggestions have been made to increase the effectiveness of secondary education science teaching. The data for this study are grouped into training inputs and training outputs. --Student behaviour hindering learning", "teacher behaviour hindering learning", "shortage of educational material", "shortage of educational staff", "professional development", "teachers participation", "curricular development", "total number of science teachers at school", "index science-specific resources (sum)" were defined as the educational inputs. The science achievements of students have been taken into account in determining which countries have more effective management of educational inputs accepted in this study. Secondary scholl level education inputs while nearby countries respectively to use effectively Slovakia (97.30%), Slovenia (91.16%), Brazil (90.50%), Turkey (89.75%), Finland (84.65%), Greece (83.31%), Denmark ( 83.25%), and Czech Republic (80.61%). education outcomes in Turkey is ranked as 20th in science teaching secrets to use it effectively.