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Students in Confucian culture are typically high-achieving on international assessments such as PISA and TIMSS. To explore factors that may explain the high performance of Confucian students, the present study compared the latent subpopulations of school resources and disciplinary climate in two Confucian countries and two Anglo countries. Using Latent Profile Analysis, the results identified the same number of school profiles in the two countries in the two cultures, and these profiles were similar in their levels of disciplinary climate and school resources. The percentage of high-discipline school profiles is about 11.72% higher in Confucian countries than in Anglo countries. In addition, in both cultures, students who attended high-discipline schools were from higher socioeconomic status (SES) families and performed better in science. These results revealed the importance of the disciplinary climate for a school to be effective and provided evidence indicating that Confucian culture has more schools with a positive disciplinary climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines potential assessment bias based on students' primary language status in PISA 2018. Specifically, multilingual (MLs) and nonmultilingual (non‐MLs) students in the United States are compared with regard to their response time as well as scored responses across three cognitive domains (reading, mathematics, and science). Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis reveals that 7–14% of items exhibit DIF‐related problems in scored responses between the two groups, aligning with PISA technical report results. While MLs generally spend more time on the test than non‐MLs across cognitive levels, differential response time (DRT) functioning identifies significant time differences in 7–10% of items for students with similar cognitive levels. It was noticeable that items with DIF and DRT issues show limited overlap, suggesting diverse reasons for student struggles in the assessment. A deeper examination of item characteristics is recommended for test developers and teachers to gain a better understanding of these nuances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractIn this study, we take a critical look at the degree to which the measurement of bullying and sense of belonging at school is invariant across groups of students defined by immigrant status. Our study focuses on the invariance of these constructs as measured on a recent PISA administration and includes a discussion of two statistical methods for assessing measurement invariance—multiple-group confirmatory factor analysis (MGCFA) and alignment optimization—. We discuss and illustrate how the alignment optimization method is optimal for handling data from large-scale international assessments like PISA. An acceptable degree of noninvariance was achieved for the two scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers' support and positive teacher–student bonds are key factors in promoting a sense of school belonging (SB) among adolescents. Previous research shows that immigrant‐origin adolescents (IOA's) report lower SB than their non‐immigrant peers do. This study examines if positive teacher–student bonds are equally beneficial for the SB of immigrant‐origin and non‐immigrant adolescents. Using PISA 2022 data, the moderating role of immigrant status in this relationship was assessed in European countries by multi‐level models (NStudents = 151,211, NSchools = 21,629, NCountries = 19). Country‐level analyses revealed that IOA's benefited less from positive teacher–student relations in 6 out of 19 countries. In Sweden, Belgium, and Portugal this moderation effect was conditional on the moderating role of school diversity promotion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Independent of overall achievement, girls' intraindividual academic strength is typically reading, whereas boys' strength is typically mathematics or science. Sex differences in intraindividual strengths are associated with educational and occupational sex disparities in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Paradoxically, these sex differences are larger in more gender-equal countries, but the stability of this paradox is debated. We assessed the stability of the gender-equality paradox in intraindividual strengths, and its relation to wealth, by analyzing the academic achievement of nearly 2.5 million adolescents across 85 countries and regions in five waves (from 2006 to 2018) of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Girls' intraindividual strength in reading and boys' strength in mathematics and science were stable across countries and waves. Boys' advantage in science as an intraindividual strength was larger in more gender-equal countries, whereas girls' advantage in reading was larger in wealthier countries. The results have implications for reducing sex disparities in STEM fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how the OECD acts a broker of knowledge-making in the development of PISA, the most widely known International Large-Scale Assessment. Drawing on the work of Bandola-Gill, Grek, and Tichenor (2022) and analysing empirical data gathered through interviews with OECD staff and PISA contractors and experts, the paper analyses how the OECD brokers the making of comparative knowledge on learning outcomes. The paper does this by unpacking what counts as expertise in the making of PISA, and how the OECD manages and uses this expertise. Exploring the ways that international organizations broker experts and utilize expertise reveals how IOs first select experts and then delegate their expert-brokering role; they then seek to share the delegated process; and finally, take back expert-brokering and knowledge-production by creating, or decreeing, consensus. The paper also shows how expertise – beyond informing on a technical level – is used to shift scientific responsibilities and build global consensus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of e-Education Research is the property of Northwest Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Large-scale survey assessments (LSAs) are important tools for measuring educational outcomes and shaping policy decisions. We present a framework for comparing LSAs to facilitate studying the impact of design choice on the precision of results, contrasting India's National Achievement Survey (NAS), the United States' National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Our framework focuses on four key elements: sampling design, assessment design, analysis methodology, and reporting. The notion of total survey error, which is the accumulation of errors across the four key elements, can be used for both designing and evaluating LSAs. As example, we compare statistics that are commonly (but not always) reported from NAS, NAEP, and PISA to summarize outcomes related to sampling, measurement, and reporting. Our examination reveals several key similarities and differences among the three assessments, thereby highlighting the nuanced ways in which each LSA is tailored to meet the specific needs of their purpose and the challenges they face. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, reversible addition‐fragmentation chain‐ transfer (RAFT) polymerization combined with the polymerization‐induced self‐assembly (PISA) technique is used to synthesize polyisoprene (PI)‐based block and random copolymers with polystyrene (PS), aiming for high molecular weight and monomer conversion. The focus is to optimize the polymerization conditions to overcome the existing challenge of cross‐linking and Diels‐Alder reactions during the polymerization of isoprene, which typically constrain the reaction conversion and molecular weight of the final polymers. Using a poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) macroRAFT agent synthesized in ethanol at 80 °C, random and block copolymers of PS‐PI with a target molecular weight of 50 000 g mole−1 and a high monomer conversion of ≈80% are achieved under optimized conditions in water‐emulsion at 35 °C. 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) verified the successful synthesis as well as the high content of 1,4 microstructure in polyisoprene. The thermal analysis via differential scanning calorimetry indicated distinct glass transitions for the microphase‐separated PI‐PS block copolymer, while a single transition for PI‐PS random copolymer, indicating no microphase separation. Furthermore, dynamic light scattering analysis together with transmission electron microscopy provided further insight into the self‐assembled emulsion nanoparticles of the polymers indicating a particle size in the range 70 to 130 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most studies have explored how information and communication technology (ICT) factors impact adolescents' schooling, but often ignore the potential influences on their well-being; no research has further scrutinized the moderating role of self-regulated learning (SRL) as a multi-dimensional combination, that is, different types of SRL learners. This cross-cultural study simultaneously scrutinized how distinct outside-of-school ICT factors influenced adolescents' digital reading and multi-dimensional well-being. It also took a person-centered approach to identify different types of SRL learners and examined whether the influences varied across the learner types. Data were based on 10,527 students in 308 schools from one East Asian region and one Western country participating in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018. Multivariate multiple regression analysis revealed that overall, outside-of-school ICT factors impacted adolescents' digital reading and well-being differently, which also varied across cultures. Latent profile analysis detected culturally-mixed four profiles of SRL learners: High Profile (high in all indicators), Metacognitive Profile (in-between, optimal metacognition), Cognitive Profile (in-between, optimal cognition), and Low Profile (all low). It was the relatively weaker SRL learners in the East but the stronger SRL learners in the West that were particularly susceptible to the influences, either in a beneficial or detrimental way. Moreover, the cognitive, eudemonic, emotional and social dimensions of adolescents' well-being were all affected by ICT factors, without recurring trends in patterns. The findings provide implications to strictly monitor and guide adolescents' Internet use to enhance their academic and subjective well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International & Comparative Education is the property of International & Comparative Education Editorial, Beijing Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This methods paper describes the methodological and statistical underpinnings of the highly adaptive testing design (HAT), which was developed for the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The aim of HAT is to allow for a maximum of adaptivity in selecting items while taking the constraints of PISA into account with appropriate computer algorithms. HAT combines established methods from the area of computerized adaptive testing (a) to improve item selection when items are nested in units, (b) to make use of the correlation between the dimensions measured, (c) to efficiently accomplish constraint management, (d) to control for item position effects, and (e) to foster students' test-taking experience. The algorithm is implemented using the programming language R and readers are provided with the necessary code. This should facilitate future implementations of the HAT design and inspire other adaptive testing designs that aim to maximize adaptivity while meeting constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wide range of abilities beyond cognitive skills, including motivation, effort, and perseverance, plays an important role in shaping one's prospects in the labor market and overall life outcomes. However, little is known about the role of education in improving these abilities, especially among teenagers for whom they are observed to be particularly malleable. We address two questions: can remedial educational interventions improve perseverance during adolescence? And, can we expect heterogeneous effects by gender? We take advantage of an education program for under-performing secondary school students implemented in Spain, and we consider testing behaviors and, in particular test endurance, as a measure of perseverance. We find that the program had a substantial positive effect on test endurance, with effects ranging from 0.04 to 0.05 of one standard deviation. This effect is particularly pronounced for girls, where the corresponding figure is 0.09 of one standard deviation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of REICE. Ibero-American Journal on Quality, Effectiveness & Change in Education / REICE. Revista Iberoamericana Sobre Calidad, Eficacia y Cambio en Educación is the property of Red Iberoamericana de Investigacion sobre Cambio y Eficacia en Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the school-related factors that influence students' global citizenship. To explore both student-level and school-level factors that influence students' global citizenship, we applied a hierarchical linear model using PISA 2018 data from Korea. The results showed that factors related to teacher's GCED practices and school climate can play an important role in fostering students' global citizenship. Based on these findings, we suggest that a whole-school approach is needed to promote the inclusion of GCED-related topics in various school curricula and to integrate GCED values into the overall school culture to enhance students' global citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An emergent literature has shown that some students overcome adversities related to their low Socio-Economic Status (SES) by attaining high academic achievement. One of the aims of this literature is to identify the factors that explain the capacity of students from low SES backgrounds to attain high academic achievement. However, upon reviewing this literature, I observed that few studies have comparatively investigated the associations between the capacity of students from low SES backgrounds to attain high achievement in reading and school climate characteristics. Additionally, I found that not many studies have researched whether student SES moderates these associations. This paper contributes to fill these two gaps by estimating associations between high achievement in reading and school climate characteristics. Moreover, it examines whether student SES moderates these associations. To do this, this research estimated logit and heterogeneous choice models using representative samples of students from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay who participated in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results show that high achievement in reading is positively correlated to certain teaching practices, such as perceived teacher enthusiasm during the instruction and adapting instruction to students' needs. Conversely, it is negatively correlated to teacher feedback and teacher-directed instruction. Furthermore, the findings indicate that high achievement in reading is negatively correlated to the scarcity and low quality of educational material. Interestingly, the results show that student SES does not moderate these associations. In conclusion, these findings indicate that interventions targeting these areas of school climate may help to increase students' probability of attaining high achievement in reading, regardless of their SES. Likewise, these results suggest that if these interventions are focused in low SES schools, they may contribute to bridge the gap in reading skills between students from low and middle or high socioeconomic backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Cardiac glycosides (CGs), traditionally used for heart failure, have shown potential as anti‐cancer agents. This study aims to explore their multifaceted mechanisms in cancer cell biology using proteome integral solubility alteration (PISA), focusing on the interaction with key proteins implicated in cellular metabolism and mitochondrial function. Methods: We conducted lysate‐based and intact‐cell PISA assays on cancer cells treated with CGs (Digoxin, Digitoxin, Ouabain) to analyze protein solubility changes. This was followed by mass spectrometric analysis and bioinformatics to identify differentially soluble proteins (DSPs). Molecular docking simulations were performed to predict protein‐CG interactions. Public data including gene expression changes upon CG treatment were re‐analyzed for validation. Results: The PISA assays revealed CGs' broad‐spectrum interactions, particularly affecting proteins like PKM2, ANXA2, SLC16A1, GOT2 and GLUD1. Molecular docking confirmed stable interactions between CGs and these DSPs. Re‐analysis of public data supported the impact of CGs on cancer metabolism and cell signaling pathways. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that CGs could be repurposed for cancer therapy by modulating cellular processes. The PISA data provide insights into the polypharmacological effects of CGs, warranting further exploration of their mechanisms and clinical potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationships between students' self-concept, self-efficacy, and achievement in mathematics, considering contextual factors such as socioeconomic status, gender, and immigration background, by using Swedish data from PISA 2003 and 2012. Additionally, these relationships between the two types of schools in Sweden are compared. In Sweden, the school system generally includes municipally-run schools (public) and independent schools (also funded by the state but run privately). Findings indicate a positive correlation between robust mathematics self-concept and self-efficacy and enhanced mathematics performance. Notably, students with better socioeconomic status exhibit heightened levels of mathematical self-concept and self-efficacy, corresponding to superior mathematics outcomes. Gender nuances reveal that, despite superior mathematical performance, girls report less positive self-concept and self-efficacy in mathematics than boys. Surprisingly, mathematics self-concept tends to have a closer association with achievement in independent schools than in public schools, while mathematics self-efficacy influences achievement more in public schools than in independent schools. Besides, independent school students' mathematics achievement is more associated with socioeconomic status and gender compared to their public-school peers. Immigration background seems to play a more important role in predicting mathematics achievement in public schools than in independent schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The rate of grade repetition is excessively high in Spain despite being a controversial measure. In order to obtain evidence to contribute to reducing it in compulsory education, the present work is an in-depth study of the PISA 2018 context indices that are most closely linked to this phenomenon. Method: With the sample of Spanish students (n = 35 943), we used an automatic machine learning method to select and order the predictors, and multilevel logistic regression (students and centres) to quantify the contribution of each one. Results: For each educational stage we obtained the 30 most significant contextual variables, which explain 65.5% of the grade repetition variance in primary education and almost 55.7% in secondary education. Conclusions: The main indicators are principally at student level, which suggests the suitability of psychoeducational interventions based more on individual support than general policies. This gives rise to potentially more efficient and equitable measures than grade repetition, aimed at, for example, the management of learning time or academic/professional guidance, and predictors with specific differential significance at each stage. Methodologically, the study contributes to improving the specification of predictive models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Sweden has been struggling with issues of educational inequity as the influence of students' socioeconomic status on their academic achievements has amplified. Nonetheless, academically resilient students who demonstrate high achievement despite socioeconomic disadvantages offer hope for a more equitable future. Previous research has primarily focused on the relationship between well-being and academic achievement, with less emphasis on the connection between academic resilience and well-being. Thus, this study investigates the extent to which students' well-being predicts their academic achievement and resilience, with a special focus on the social well-being of socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Using the Swedish PISA 2018 dataset and structural equation modeling technique, the measurement properties of social well-being were first tested, and its dimensions were then related to students' academic resilience and achievement. The findings reveal that student-reported teacher support positively predicts their academic resilience and achievement, whereas exposure to bullying is detrimental to their academic achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The OECD's PISA is seen as a 'global yardstick' against which countries measure the quality of their education systems. In 2018 PISA included an assessment of global competence. This paper starts with the premise that in using a single global instrument to 'measure' this phenomenon, PISA claims standardisation over contextually rich data that can then inform policy and, arguably, in turn practice. Data for this study is based on tracking 'global competence' through documentary analysis, interviews, and then 'survey encounters' where PISA global competence questionnaire items were discussed by principals and teachers in three schools in Victoria, Australia. The analysis illustrates that schools and teachers variously educate for global competence according to the specific cultural context, policy and curriculum in ways that highlight the inadequacy of a global metric. With the growing attention to educating for global citizenship and the OECD's development of global measures, this investigation of localised understandings of global competence magnifies the 'situatedness' of knowledge (and therefore assessment practices). Questions are raised about what is ignored in metrics when such a contested concept is operationalised, and points to the lack of validity of this metric because it de-contextualises how global competence is understood by teachers and enacted in curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to explore the intricate relationship between students' response times, item characteristics, and the effort invested during the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 and 2018 cycles. Through the analysis of data obtained from 69 mathematics trend items, administered in a computer-based format across both PISA 2015 and 2018 cycles with a focus on the Türkiye sample, this research investigates the dynamics of students' response times and their implications on effort and item characteristics. The findings reveal a significant increase in students' mean response times in the 2018 cycle compared to 2015, indicating potentially heightened effort and solution behavior. Notably, item formats exerted a substantial influence on response times, with openended items consistently eliciting longer response times compared to multiple-choice items. Additionally, a correlation between response times and item difficulty emerged, suggesting that more challenging items tend to consume more time, possibly due to the complexity of involved cognitive processes. Item-based effort, assessed through Response Time Fidelity (RTF) indices, highlighted that the majority of students exhibited solution behavior across both cycles to the items. Moreover, a decrease in the proportion of students displaying rapidguessing behavior was observed in the 2018 cycle, potentially reflecting increased engagement with the assessment. While providing insights into the interplay of response times, item characteristics, and effort, this study emphasizes the need for further exploration into the multifaceted nature of effort in educational assessments. Overall, this research contributes valuable perspectives on nuances surrounding test performance and effort evaluation within PISA mathematics assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the mediating role of intellectual curiosity (IC) in the relationship between teacher–student relationship quality (TSR) and science achievement among Emirati early adolescents. The objectives were to assess TSR's predictive power on science achievement, evaluate IC's impact on science achievement, examine the combined effect of TSR and IC, and investigate IC's mediating role. Data from 17,475 valid cases in the PISA dataset were analyzed using Jeremy Hayes' PROCESS macro, multiple regression models, and bootstrapping with 5000 resamples. The results indicated that TSR significantly and directly affects IC, which in turn positively influences science achievement. TSR's direct effects on science achievement varied across cases, but IC consistently showed strong positive effects on science achievement, underscoring its critical role as a predictor of academic success. IC was found to significantly mediate the relationship between TSR and student performance. The findings suggest that enhancing both TSR and IC is essential for student success in science. The study's implications for educational practices and policies include developing teacher training programs focused on building strong relationships with students and fostering intellectual curiosity through questioning and problem-solving. Specifically, educators should focus on skills and strategies for interacting with students, showing empathy, and forming strong relationships. Implementing ongoing practices that emphasize the intellectual aspects of learning can help students build curiosity, thereby improving their academic performance. The study provides valuable insights into the interactions between TSR and IC and their impact on students' academic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policymakers and educational researchers have grown increasingly interested in the extent to which study results generalize across different groups of students. Current generalization research in education has largely focused on the compositional similarity among students based on a set of observable characteristics. However, generalization is defined differently across various disciplines. While the concept of compositional similarity is prominent in causal research, generalization among the statistical learning community refers to the extent to which a model produces accurate predictions across samples and populations. The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which concepts related to contextual generalization (based on compositional similarity) are associated with the ideas related to model generalization (based on accuracy of prediction). We use observational data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 wave as a case study to examine the conditions under which contextual and model generalization are aligned. We assess the correlations between statistical measures that quantify compositional similarity and prediction accuracy and discuss the implications for generalization research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diagnostic classification models (DCMs) have seen wide applications in educational and psychological measurement, especially in formative assessment. DCMs in the presence of testlets have been studied in recent literature. A key ingredient in the statistical modeling and analysis of testlet-based DCMs is the superposition of two latent structures, the attribute profile and the testlet effect. This paper extends the standard testlet DINA (T-DINA) model to accommodate the potential correlation between the two latent structures. Model identifiability is studied and a set of sufficient conditions are proposed. As a byproduct, the identifiability of the standard T-DINA is also established. The proposed model is applied to a dataset from the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment. Comparisons are made with DINA and T-DINA, showing that there is substantial improvement in terms of the goodness of fit. Simulations are conducted to assess the performance of the new method under various settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analyzing education does not only involve years of schooling, quality matters! This paper aims at providing better data on schooling with a focus on learning outcomes. It provides the largest dataset on learning outcomes, years of schooling and learning-adjusted year of schooling (LAYS) with comparable data between 1970 and 2020. The quantity dimension is measured by years of schooling and uses the latest data from Barro and Lee (J Dev Econ 104:184–198, 2013), while the quality dimension is taken from linking standardized, psychometrically robust international achievement tests and hybrid tests. The data are available for more than 120 countries between 1970 and 2020. Several findings can be highlighted. A global convergence on both learning outcomes and enrollment has occurred since 1970, but a breakdown can be found after 1990. A very low number of countries perform better after 2000 regarding the quality of schooling, while most countries have a stable level of learning outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Erzincan University Journal of Education Faculty / Erzincan Üniversitesi Egitim Fakültesi Dergisi is the property of Erzincan University Faculty of Education Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Students in Confucian culture are typically high-achieving on international assessments such as PISA and TIMSS. To explore factors that may explain the high performance of Confucian students, the present study compared the latent subpopulations of school resources and disciplinary climate in two Confucian countries and two Anglo countries. Using Latent Profile Analysis, the results identified the same number of school profiles in the two countries in the two cultures, and these profiles were similar in their levels of disciplinary climate and school resources. The percentage of high-discipline school profiles is about 11.72% higher in Confucian countries than in Anglo countries. In addition, in both cultures, students who attended high-discipline schools were from higher socioeconomic status (SES) families and performed better in science. These results revealed the importance of the disciplinary climate for a school to be effective and provided evidence indicating that Confucian culture has more schools with a positive disciplinary climate.

Introduction: The rate of grade repetition is excessively high in Spain despite being a controversial measure. In order to obtain evidence to contribute to reducing it in compulsory education, the present work is an in-depth study of the PISA 2018 context indices that are most closely linked to this phenomenon. Method: With the sample of Spanish students (n = 35 943), we used an automatic machine learning method to select and order the predictors, and multilevel logistic regression (students and centres) to quantify the contribution of each one. Results: For each educational stage we obtained the 30 most significant contextual variables, which explain 65.5% of the grade repetition variance in primary education and almost 55.7% in secondary education. Conclusions: The main indicators are principally at student level, which suggests the suitability of psychoeducational interventions based more on individual support than general policies. This gives rise to potentially more efficient and equitable measures than grade repetition, aimed at, for example, the management of learning time or academic/professional guidance, and predictors with specific differential significance at each stage. Methodologically, the study contributes to improving the specification of predictive models.

Abstract An emergent literature has shown that some students overcome adversities related to their low Socio-Economic Status (SES) by attaining high academic achievement. One of the aims of this literature is to identify the factors that explain the capacity of students from low SES backgrounds to attain high academic achievement. However, upon reviewing this literature, I observed that few studies have comparatively investigated the associations between the capacity of students from low SES backgrounds to attain high achievement in reading and school climate characteristics. Additionally, I found that not many studies have researched whether student SES moderates these associations. This paper contributes to fill these two gaps by estimating associations between high achievement in reading and school climate characteristics. Moreover, it examines whether student SES moderates these associations. To do this, this research estimated logit and heterogeneous choice models using representative samples of students from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay who participated in the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results show that high achievement in reading is positively correlated to certain teaching practices, such as perceived teacher enthusiasm during the instruction and adapting instruction to students’ needs. Conversely, it is negatively correlated to teacher feedback and teacher-directed instruction. Furthermore, the findings indicate that high achievement in reading is negatively correlated to the scarcity and low quality of educational material. Interestingly, the results show that student SES does not moderate these associations. In conclusion, these findings indicate that interventions targeting these areas of school climate may help to increase students’ probability of attaining high achievement in reading, regardless of their SES. Likewise, these results suggest that if these interventions are focused in low SES schools, they may contribute to bridge the gap in reading skills between students from low and middle or high socioeconomic backgrounds.

Scientific literacy is the ability that students must have to analyze and apply science concepts in solving everyday life problems. Students' scientific literacy on peatlands can be acquired by students from daily interaction with peatlands, understanding that comes from parents and the community, as well as from learning in the classroom. This study aims to analyze the scientific literacy skills of students from several campuses in Borneo on the topic of peatlands. In this study, scientific literacy is described into scientific knowledge and scientific competencies domain. The research was conducted using a survey method with 528 respondents from several universities in Borneo, Indonesia. Research results show that even half of the respondents live around the peatland area, students' scientific literacy is in the low category. The students' scientific competencies need serious attention. A proper learning resources and comprehensive learning is needed to improve student overall scientific literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grade retention is at the core of the education debate in Spain, to the extent that its impact on students' competences has not been assessed beyond correlation. Because of that, in the present study, we analyse the influence of grade retention on students' competences, using more than 146,000 students from 6 PISA cycles (2003–2018) and an instrumental variable approach, in order to approach a causal influence. Our results show that repeating a grade in Spain seems to reduce students' competences between 1.5 and 1.7 standard deviations. Based on these results, we conclude that the Spanish educational authorities should find an alternative to grade retention, in order to prevent students from attaining a lower competence level due to repetition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Their ubiquity is particularly notable as video games become increasingly intertwined with the technological revolution. Despite this prominence, gender disparities in adolescent video gaming remain under‐explored. Objectives: This research aims to determine the frequency classes of video game playing based on gender, analyse the variables (age of first digital device/internet use, weekday/weekend internet frequency in and out of school, economic, social, and cultural status) that might influence assignment to these classes, and reveal the differences in PISA scores among these classes. Methods: Our study utilises multiple group latent class analysis and multinomial logistic regression to investigate the video gaming frequencies of 6890 Turkish students (49.1% female, 50.9% male) from the PISA‐2018 exam. A three‐step multiple logistic regression was employed to identify the effect of the variables on assignment probabilities. Also, the multivariate Delta method tested mean differences between classes for PISA scores. Results and Conclusions: This study classifies Turkish students from PISA 2018 into four video gaming preference frequency classes (frequent, regular, casual, and non‐video game players) based on gender. Our study reveals that frequent male gamers begin using digital devices and the internet earlier than their female counterparts, spending more time gaming outside school. Notably, the frequency of video game play, which varies by gender, was found to have a significant effect on academic achievement. Lay Description: What is already known about this topic: Video games have an important place in children's entertainment preferences and game time is increasing.Digitalisation is increasing in Turkey with a large youth population and affects game usage.Gender roles affect gaming habits and learning styles. What this paper adds: The study identifies four classes of gamers according to frequency of play: frequent, regular, casual and non‐video game players.Video game playing frequency can affect academic performance by gender.Males are more likely to be placed in the frequent and regular gamer classes, while women are placed in the casual and Non‐VGPs.Early internet access and internet use during school hours affect females more in the classification according to the frequency of playing video games. Implications for practice and/or policy: Educators can use students' gaming habits in their teaching strategies.Future research should also examine game types and sociocultural contexts.The motivations and challenges faced by female gamers should be analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a new measure of human capital, calculated as a cohort-weighted average of the quality of education (PISA scores) and the quantity of education (mean years of schooling). Contrary to the existing studies, the relative weights of quality and quantity are estimated (and not calibrated). The quality of education is estimated to be three to four times more important for education than the quantity of education. The new measure has a strong link to productivity, which materialises with long lags. Productivity gains are much greater from improvements in the quality than quantity component of human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Given that students from socio‐economically disadvantaged family backgrounds are more likely to suffer from low academic performance, there is an interest in identifying features of academic resilience, which may mitigate the relationship between disadvantaged socio‐economic status and academic performance. Aims: This study sought to combine machine learning and explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) technique to identify key features of academic resilience in mathematics learning during COVID‐19. Materials and Methods: Based on PISA 2022 data in 79 countries/economies, the random forest model coupled with Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) value technique not only uncovered the key features of academic resilience but also examined the contributions of each key feature. Results: Findings indicated that 35 features were identified in the classification of academically resilient and non‐academically resilient students, which largely validated the previous academic resilient framework. Notably, gender differences were shown in the distribution of some key features. Research findings also indicated that resilient students tended to have a stable emotional state, high levels of self‐efficacy, low levels of truancy and positive future aspirations. Discussion: This study has established a research paradigm essentially methodological in nature to bridge the gap between psychological theories and big data in the field of educational psychology. Conclusion: To sum up, our study shed light on the issues of education equity and quality from a global perspective in the times of the COVID‐19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Learning is working with a variety of educational texts based on reading, understanding, evaluating and interpreting information. To identify the result of reading an educational mathematical text and the quality of understanding the meaning of the text space created by educational materials, it is necessary to diagnose reading, namely, the level of semantic reading. In the modern study of reading, the PISA international monitoring, the concept of reading literacy, its components and levels are defined. The success of understanding more complex educational mathematical texts will depend on the level of reader literacy. If the levels of reading literacy have evaluation criteria and diagnostic apparatus, then how to assess the level of semantic reading? The article examines the relationship between the levels of reading literacy and text comprehension, models for assessing the semantic complexity of the text and semantic reading skills, various level structures for diagnosing the understanding of a mathematical educational text. Based on the studied scientific material, the complexity of the educational mathematical text "Triangle" was assessed according to criteria such as the number of words, simple words, scientific terms and their complexity, the number of mentions of scientific terms in each paragraph. Diagnostic material has also been created to check the understanding of this text, each task of which is aimed at determining the understanding of each information block and assessing the degree of development of semantic reading.

Research has consistently demonstrated that the prevalence of school bullying in Aotearoa New Zealand exceeds those observed in other developed countries. Despite the need to understand the risk and protective factors for bullying victimisation, there remains a paucity of research in the New Zealand context. The present study aimed to investigate the risk factors for bullying victimisation by conducting a secondary data analysis on a large and representative sample of 15-year-olds from New Zealand using data collected during the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (N = 4137). A multiple regression analysis identified eight risk factors which were significantly associated with at least one form of school bullying. The strongest effects indicated that increased parental support and school belonging were associated with lower victimisation, while classroom disorder and school competitiveness were associated with greater victimisation risk. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.

The era of information and communication technology (ICT) has popularized adolescents' digital reading activities in their daily lives. Most prior studies focused on identifying significant factors that foster digital reading performance. Although educational quality is of great concern, it is crucial to consider the issue of educational equity in the digital world. Our study aims to unfold the mediating roles of ICT-related psychological needs between economic, social, and cultural status (ESCS) and digital reading performance. A multilevel mediation analysis was adopted for 36,490 students from six high-performing Asian regions participating in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The results indicated that perceived ICT autonomy significantly mediated the relationship in most Asian regions, while perceived ICT competence yielded mixed roles. Interestingly, the suppression effects were detected between ESCS, ICT in social interaction, and digital reading. Our research findings offer fresh insights into narrowing the digital divide in the online reading environment for adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In any field, effective teaching and learning are greatly aided by information and communication technology, or ICT. ICT integration in education has received significant attention in educational system reforms, which emphasized it as an essential component in improving the learning process. Educational organizations have been particularly concerned about how ICT use would affect students' academic achievement (Alhusein, 2021). Since information and communication technology (ICT) is so prevalent in today's digital world, the current study has focused on the connections between ICT and Turkish students' science performance on the PISA 2018 assessment. To assess the impact of ICT use on students' science performance, this study used structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze PISA 2018 data (Türkiye, n = 6890, 186 schools) while taking the students' socioeconomic status into consideration. Results showed that: (i) ICT use in and outside of the classroom was found to be statistically significantly correlated with science achievement; (ii) there was also a statistically significant correlation between science achievement and students' attitudes toward ICT. This research can increase theoretical understanding of technology, learning, and cultural context as well as actual applications of ICT in science classes that consider the differences between ICT effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sizeable literature – spanning education, sociology and economics – has investigated the issue of parental school preferences and school choice. A notable gap in the existing evidence base is an exploration of how such preferences differ between mothers and fathers. We present new cross-national findings on this matter, drawing on survey data collected from more than 300,000 parents across 25 countries. Our findings suggest that mothers rate the school environment – whether the school is safe and has a pleasant atmosphere – to be more important than fathers. Differences are also observed with respect to the school's reputation and whether it has a high level of achievement. Clearer evidence of such differences emerges for industrialised Western nations than for countries that are not members of the OECD. In most countries, mothers' and fathers' preferences do not vary substantially between sons and daughters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the media coverage of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) by progressive and conservative media outlets in South Korea from 2000 to 2018. Through systemic content analysis, the study reveals that the tones and content of PISA-related articles were largely influenced by the political alignment between the media outlet and the government in power, rather than the actual PISA results. This finding highlights the opportunistic and circumstantial nature of Korean media coverage of PISA, guided by their contrasting educational agendas towards excellence and equity. This research reveals PISA's function as a projection screen for reflecting local political intentions and as ammunition data to protect specific agendas from criticism. By uncovering the political expediency inherent in media reports on PISA, this study illuminates the role of PISA as a politicised science that shapes educational agendas and strengthens the OECD governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Standardised International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs) have gained prominence in global and national educational discussions. ILSAs claim to offer valuable insights for improving education systems, but their impact on educational policy varies and has become a contested arena. This article analyses how these assessments fed educational policymaking in six Latin American countries based on a review of policy documents; the article advances three theses on how ILSAs are used by policymakers: First, there is a tokenistic usage of ILSAs; second, ILSAs must be considered more as political devices bolstering national reputation rather than studies in the academic sense; third, ILSAs can serve as leverage tools that can be mobilised for broader political ends. The study shows that the promises, designs and reporting of ILSAs are not necessarily aligned, that participation in ILSAs has become a symbolic gesture, and that ILSAs' data are often cherry-picked to support pre-existing diagnoses and policy agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses evidence from a longitudinal survey (PISA Plus, Germany) to examine the potential of bias in international large-scale assessments (ILSAs). In PISA Plus, participation was mandatory at the first measurement point, but voluntary at the second measurement point. The study provides evidence for relevant selection bias regarding student competencies and background variables when participation is voluntary. Sample dropout at the second measurement point was related to characteristics such as family background, achievement in mathematics, reading and science, and other student and school demographic variables at both the student and school levels, with lower performing students and those with less favorable background characteristics having higher dropout frequencies, from which higher dropout probabilities of such students can be inferred. We further contrast the possibilities for addressing non-response through weight adjustments in longitudinal surveys with those in cross-sectional surveys. Considering our results, we evaluate and confirm the validity and appropriateness of strict participation rate requirements in ILSAs. Likely magnitudes of bias in cross-sectional studies in varying scenarios are illustrated. Accordingly, if combined participation rates drop below 70%, a difference of at least one-fifth of a standard deviation in an achievement score between non-respondents and participants leads to relevant bias. When participation drops below 50%, even a very small difference (one-tenth of a standard deviation) will cause non-negligible bias. Finally, we conclude that the stringent participation rate requirements established in most ILSAs are fully valid, reasonable, and important since they ensure a relatively low risk of biased results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender differences in item nonresponse are well-documented in high-stakes achievement tests, where female students are shown to omit more items than male students. These gender differences in item nonresponse are often linked to differential risk-taking strategies, with females being risk-averse and unwilling to guess on an item, even if it could gain them credits. In low-stakes settings, similar trends should not apply, as the students carry no consequence for their performance. Instead, test-taking motivation is argued to be the pivoting factor, with female students seen as more motivated and omitting fewer items than male students. In contrast to the high- and low-stakes achievement tests, less is known about gender differences in item nonresponse in student background questionnaires. Using cross-classified mixed effects models, we examined gender differences in item nonresponse on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 student questionnaire across 80 countries and 71 scales. On average, the odds of male students omitting a questionnaire item were double the odds of female students, consistent with the expected trend in the low-stakes setting. However, we show that gender differences in item nonresponse are not merely a function of the stakes involved for individual students but a more complex phenomenon that is context-dependent and not necessarily stable across countries, scales' formats, and contents. We argue that examining differences in item nonresponse patterns could serve as a source of additional information about the students' test-taking behaviour and the quality of the questionnaire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how private tutoring relates to students’ transitions to demanding post-compulsory schools and their success there, considering their competencies after tutoring but before the transition. Analyzing PISA and linked register data from Switzerland, we find that students who received private tutoring before the transition are more likely to struggle in selective schools compared to non-tutored peers with similar competencies. While our results are not causal due to the non-random nature of private tutoring uptake, our findings underscore a potential concern regarding selection mechanisms for entry into selective education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein–polymer conjugates and polymeric nanomaterials hold great promise in many applications including biomaterials, medicine, or nanoelectronics. In this work, the first polymerization‐induced self‐assembly (PISA) approach performed in aqueous medium enabling protein–polymer conjugates and nanoparticles entirely composed of amino acids is presented by using ring‐opening polymerization (ROP). It is indeed shown that aqueous ring‐opening polymerization‐induced self‐assembly (ROPISA) can be used with protein or peptidic macroinitiators without prior chemical modification and afford the simple preparation of nanomaterials with protein‐like property, for example, to implement biomimetic thermoresponsivity in drug delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementation of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in education is defined as the incorporation of ICTs into teaching and learning activities, both inside and outside the classroom. Despite widely studied, there is still no consensus on how it affects student performance. However, before evaluating this, it is crucial to identify which factors impact students' use of ICT for educational purposes. This understanding can help educational institutions to effectively implement ICT, potentially improving student results. Thus, adapting the conceptual framework proposed by Biagi and Loi (2013) and using the 2018 database of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and a decision tree classification model developed based on CRISP-DM framework, we aim to determine which socio-demographic factors influence students' use of ICT for educational purposes. First, we categorized students according to their use of ICT for educational purposes in two situations: during lessons and outside lessons. Then, we developed a decision tree model to distinguish these categories and find patterns in each group. The model was able to accurately distinguish different levels of ICT adoption and demonstrate that ICT use for entertainment and ICT access at school and at home are among the most influential variables to predict ICT use for educational purposes. Moreover, the model showed that variables related to teaching best practices of Internet utilization at school are not significant predictors of such use. Some results were found to be country-specific, leading to the recommendation that each country adapts the measures to improve ICT use according to its context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThe Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) student questionnaire, despite being designed for low cognitive demand, may induce test burden due to its 306-item length, resulting in increased item nonresponse toward the questionnaire’s end. Using the PISA 2018 response data from 80 countries and a cross-classified mixed effects model, this study explored the average, cross-country, and individual nonresponse trends throughout the questionnaire. The average nonresponse probability increased from 2% at the questionnaire’s start to 11% at its end. East Asian countries displayed the flattest nonresponse trends, while South American countries showed the steepest. Individual differences were also prominent: students with a lower initial nonresponse propensity experienced a steeper increase in their nonresponse propensity as they progressed through the questionnaire, whereas those with a higher initial propensity remained at a relatively constant level. Our findings highlight the importance of the questionnaire design, the context in which it is administered, and its interaction with individual and cultural factors in shaping student response behavior. We discuss the implications for questionnaire design and researchers using PISA student questionnaire data for secondary analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates the potential of using international large-scale assessment studies for conducting follow-up studies testing models of educational effectiveness. The impact of teacher factors coming from the dynamic model of educational effectiveness and the dialogic education theory on student literacy achievement is examined. Modern Greek teachers from secondary schools that participated in PISA 2018 (Accessed on ) in Cyprus were recruited. Two Grade 11 classes per teacher were selected, giving 392 students in total. Observation data from Greek lessons and student literacy achievement data were collected. Two multilevel regression analyses were conducted: one with the whole student sample and one with only students from whom PISA prior achievement measure was identified. When prior achievement (i.e., PISA measure) was considered, additional and larger effects of factors on student final achievement were detected. Both analyses reveal that when factors from both frameworks were considered, larger variance in student achievement was explained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]