Variation in the Relationship Between Nonschool Factors and Student Achievement on International Assessments

Title:	Variation in the Relationship Between Nonschool Factors and Student Achievement on International Assessments
Description:	This Statistics in Brief uses NCES data to describe differences in nonschool factors that are related to student achievement. The data are from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003, an international assessment of 15-year olds in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy. The report focuses on data from 20 countries that are considered to be the most developed (based on the World Bank High Income Group). The report investigates six nonschool factors that are related to student achievement: highest level of education attained by either of the students’ parents; the highest occupational status of either of the students’ parents; the number of books that students have access to in the home; whether students speak the native language of the country at home; students’ immigrant status; and students’ family structure. The PISA data indicate that the observed variation in the distribution of student characteristics across countries does not place the United States at a disadvantage in international assessments compared with other highly developed countries; students with high levels of socioeconomic status had an educational advantage over their low SES counterparts across all 20 countries, even after considering the differences in the percentage of students who are immigrants, from less-advantaged homes, non-native language speakers, and other factors.
Online Availability:	Download, view and print the report as a pdf file. (474KB) Need Help Viewing PDF files?
Cover Date:	April 2006
Web Release:	April 11, 2006
Print Release:	This Publication will only be available online.
Publication #:	NCES 2006014 General Ordering Information
Center/Program:	NCES
Authors:	Gillian Hampden-Thompson and Jamie Johnston
Type of Product:	Statistics in Brief
Survey/Program Areas:	International Activities Program (IAP) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Keywords:	Achievement (Student) • mathematics International Comparisons • math and science achievement Mathematics Mathematics/Science Education Student Assessment Student Outcomes
Questions:	For questions about the content of this Statistics in Brief, please contact: Samantha Burg.