ERIC ED526952: Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School

2011·3.3 MB·English

by  ERIC

Against the Odds
DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS WHO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL
Many socio-economically disadvantaged students excel in PISA. Students who succeed in school despite a
disadvantaged background, known as resilient students, are the focus of Against the Odds. The book provides Against the Odds
students, parents, policy makers and other stakeholders in education with insights into what enables socio-
economically disadvantaged students to fulfi l their potential.
The more hours disadvantaged students spend learning science at school, the better equipped they are DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS
to close the performance gap with their more advantaged peers. Resilient students are also found to have
positive approaches to learning, including an active interest in science and greater self-confi dence. However, WHO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL
the evidence in PISA shows that positive approaches to learning tend to boost the performance of advantaged
students more than that of disadvantaged young people. From an equity perspective, the PISA results suggest
that policies aimed at fostering positive approaches to learning should target disadvantaged students more than
others.
Chapter 1. PISA as a study of student resilience
Chapter 2. Defi ning and characterising student resilience in PISA
Chapter 3. A profi le of student resilience
Chapter 4. Closing the gap? Enhancing the performance of socio-economically disadvantaged students
Chapter 5. Conclusions and policy implications A
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THE OECD PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT (PISA) s
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PISA focuses on young people’s ability to use their knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges. h
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This orientation refl ects a change in the goals and objectives of curricula themselves, which are increasingly O
concerned with what students can do with what they learn at school and not merely with whether they have d
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mastered specifi c curricular content. PISA’s unique features include its: s
• Policy orientation, which highlights differences in performance patterns and identifi es features common to D
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high-performing students, schools and education systems by linking data on learning outcomes with data on A
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student characteristics and other key factors that shape learning in and outside of school. V
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• Innovative concept of “literacy”, which refers both to students’ capacity to apply knowledge and skills in key T
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subject areas and to their ability to analyse, reason and communicate effectively as they pose, interpret and G
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solve problems in a variety of situations. S
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• Relevance to lifelong learning, which goes beyond assessing students’ competencies in school subjects by U
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asking them to report on their motivation to learn, their beliefs about themselves and their learning strategies. E
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• Regularity, which enables countries to monitor their progress in meeting key learning objectives. S
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• Breadth of geographical coverage and collaborative nature, which, in PISA 2009, encompasses the H
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34 OECD member countries and 41 partner countries and economies. S
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Please cite this publication as: O
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OECD (2011), Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School, PISA, OECD Publishing.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264090873-en
This work is published on the OECD iLibrary, which gathers all OECD books, periodicals and statistical databases.
Visit www.oecd-ilibrary.org, and do not hesitate to contact us for more information.
Programme for International S tudent Assessment
ISBN 978-92-64-08995-2 -:HSTCQE=U]^^ZW:
98 2010 06 1 P

Against the Odds
DisaDvantageD stuDents
Who succeeD in school
this work is published on the responsibility of the secretary-general of the oecD. the opinions
expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the
organisation or of the governments of its member countries.
Please cite this publication as:
oecD (2011), Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School, oecD Publishing.
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Foreword
Most of the students who perform poorly in PISA share a challenging socio-economic background. Some of
their socio-economically disadvantaged peers, however, excel in PISA and beat the odds working against
them. This report focuses on resilient students; those who succeed at school despite a disadvantaged
background. These individuals show what is possible and provide students, parents, policy makers and other
education stakeholders with insights into the drivers of skills and competencies among socio-economically
disadvantaged students.
While the prevalence of resilience is not the same across educational systems, it is possible to identify
substantial numbers of resilient students in practically all OECD countries. Using a comparable definition,
in Australia, Canada, Finland, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Portugal, close to one-half of disadvantaged
students exceed an internationally comparable performance benchmark and can be considered successful
from a global perspective. In other countries, the proportion is more modest.
The evidence from PISA shows that many disadvantaged students do not enjoy as many opportunities to learn
science at school as their more advantaged peers. On average, across OECD countries, disadvantaged students
spent 20% less time learning science at school than their more advantaged peers. Among disadvantaged
students in countries like France, Germany and the Netherlands, resilient students spend over one hour
and 45 minutes more learning science at school than disadvantaged low achievers. The evidence in PISA
suggests that investing into learning time is even more important for disadvantaged students. Opportunities
to learn science at school, measured in courses and hours, allow some disadvantaged students to close the
performance gap with their more advantaged peers.
Positive approaches to learning are naturally associated with better performance for all students. High
levels of self-confidence or interest in science across disadvantaged students are good predictors of student
resilience. However, the evidence from PISA shows that the association between performance and positive
approaches to learning is stronger for more advantaged students than for disadvantaged students. In some
cases, like in Germany, this association simply disappears among disadvantaged students; in other cases,
such as in New Zealand, it is halved. This evidence suggests that from an equity perspective, targeting
disadvantaged students when implementing policies aimed at fostering positive approaches to learning
among students is necessary to avoid widening the performance gap between disadvantaged students and
their more advantaged peers.
This publication was prepared at the OECD Directorate for Education under the direction of Andreas
Schleicher with advice from the PISA Analysis and Dissemination Group of the PISA Governing Board. The
report was completed with the support of the countries participating in PISA, the experts and institutions
working within the framework of the PISA Consortium and the OECD. The initial draft was prepared by
Luke Miller and Gayle Christensen, from the Urban Institute, who conceptualised the report, performed
preliminary analyses and drafted the initial chapters. Francesca Borgonovi, Maciej Jakubowski and Pablo
Zoido, from the OECD, conceptualised and wrote Chapter 4 and edited and wrote the report in its final form.
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Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School © OECD 2011
Soojin Park and Simone Bloem, from the OECD, provided analytical and editorial assistance. Niccolina
Clements, Juliet Evans and Elisabeth Villoutreix provided administrative and editorial input for the report.
Fung Kwan Tam did the layout design. The development of the report was steered by the PISA Governing
Board, which is chaired by Lorna Bertrand (United Kingdom).
The report is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD.
Lorna Bertrand Barbara Ischinger
Chair of the PISA Governing Board Director for Education, OECD
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© OECD 2011 Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School
Table of Contents
ExEcutivE Summary ........................................................................................................................................................................................11
ChapTEr 1 PiSa aS a Study of StudEnt rESiliEncE ........................................................................................................13
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................................14
Socio-economic background and academic success.................................................................................................................14
Student resilience ...................................................................................................................................................................................................16
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as a study of student resilience .............16
Structure of the report ......................................................................................................................................................................................18
ChapTEr 2 dEfining and charactEriSing StudEnt rESiliEncE in PiSa ................................................21
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................................22
Defining resilient and disadvantaged low-achieving students using PISA ...............................................................22
• An international perspective ...................................................................................................................................................................23
• Comparing the shares of resilient students across countries .............................................................................................24
• A within-country perspective .................................................................................................................................................................24
Similarities and differences of resilient students across countries ................................................................................25
Student resilience across science, reading and mathematics ...........................................................................................28
Student resilience among specific demographic groups within countries..............................................................28
• Gender ................................................................................................................................................................................................................29
• Immigrant background ...............................................................................................................................................................................30
• Language spoken at home........................................................................................................................................................................31
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................32
ChapTEr 3 a ProfilE of StudEnt rESiliEncE ........................................................................................................................35
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................................36
Students’ attitudes and behaviours and the learning environment at school:
Definitions and overview .................................................................................................................................................................................36
The analysis: A brief description of the models presented in this chapter .............................................................39
Student approaches to learning ..................................................................................................................................................................39
• Student motivation to learn science ..................................................................................................................................................39
• Student engagement with science activities outside of school ........................................................................................43
• Student confidence in their science ability ...................................................................................................................................46
• Student perspectives towards science-related careers ...........................................................................................................49
Student engagement in science courses at school and time spent learning ..........................................................52
Learning environment at school .................................................................................................................................................................55
Combined effects of student and school factors on student resilience .....................................................................61
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................65
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Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School © OECD 2011
Table of conTenTs
ChapTEr 4 cloSing thE gaP? Enhancing thE PErformancE of Socio-Economically
diSadvantagEd StudEntS .......................................................................................................................................................................67
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................................68
Models of student resilience .........................................................................................................................................................................68
Student approaches to learning .................................................................................................................................................................69
• Improved performance ...............................................................................................................................................................................69
• Closing the gap ................................................................................................................................................................................................70
Hours spent and courses taken to learn science ...........................................................................................................................72
• Improved performance ...............................................................................................................................................................................72
• Closing the gap ................................................................................................................................................................................................73
Learning environment at school .................................................................................................................................................................75
• Improved performance ...............................................................................................................................................................................75
• Closing the gap ................................................................................................................................................................................................75
Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................75
ChapTEr 5 concluSionS and Policy imPlicationS...................................................................................................79
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................................................................80
Findings and implications for educational policy and practice .........................................................................................81
rEfErEncES ................................................................................................................................................................................................................83
annExES ................................................................................................................................................................................................................87
Annex A1: Defining and characterising student resilience in PISA ...............................................................................87
Annex A2: A profile of student resilience ........................................................................................................................................100
Annex A3: Closing the gap? Enhancing the performance of socio-economically
disadvantaged students ..................................................................................................................................................................................149
Annex A4: Conclusions and policy implications ........................................................................................................................160
Annex A5: Technical notes ...........................................................................................................................................................................179
Boxes
Box 1.1 Key features of PISA 2006 ....................................................................................................................................................................15
Box 3.1 Interpreting the PISA indices on students’ approaches to learning .........................................................................................37
Box 3.2 Interpreting the data from schools and their relationship to student performance ............................................................38
Box 3.3 Interpreting predictive models on the likelihood of being resilient ........................................................................................40
Box A5.1 General interest in science ..............................................................................................................................................................186
Box A5.2 Instrumental motivation to learn science ....................................................................................................................................186
Box A5.3 Participation in science-related activities .....................................................................................................................................187
Box A5.4 Self-efficacy ..........................................................................................................................................................................................188
Box A5.5 Self-concept ...........................................................................................................................................................................................188
Box A5.6 School preparation for science careers ........................................................................................................................................189
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© OECD 2011 Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School
Table of conTenTs
Box A5.7 Information on science-related careers ........................................................................................................................................189
Box A5.8 Attendance in compulsory science courses at school ............................................................................................................191
Box A5.9 Number of regular science learning hours ..................................................................................................................................191
Box A5.10 Public and private schools ................................................................................................................................................................192
Box A5.11 School competition .............................................................................................................................................................................192
Box A5.12 Academic selection in student admission policies ...................................................................................................................193
Box A5.13 School activities to promote science learning ............................................................................................................................193
Box A5.14 School's educational resources .......................................................................................................................................................194
Box A5.15 Understanding logistic regression and interpreting odds ratios ............................................................................................197
Figures
Figure 1.1 A map of PISA countries and economies ........................................................................................................................................17
Figure 2.1 Shares of resilient and disadvantaged low achievers among disadvantaged students, by country ...............................24
Figure 2.2 PISA index of economic, social and cultural status for system average, resilient and disadvantaged
low achievers ............................................................................................................................................................................................26
Figure 2.3 Performance in PISA science, system average, resilient and disadvantaged low achievers ............................................26
Figure 2.4 Percentage of resilient and disadvantaged low achievers above and below the basic level of proficiency ...............27
Figure 2.5 Overlap of resilience in different subject domains ......................................................................................................................28
Figure 2.6 Percentage of male students among disadvantaged students and resilient students ..........................................................29
Figure 2.7 Percentage of native students among disadvantaged students and resilient students .......................................................30
Figure 2.8 Percentage of students who speak the test language at home among disadvantaged students
and resilient students ..............................................................................................................................................................................32
Figure 3.1 Internal and external motivation to learn science ........................................................................................................................41
Figure 3.2 Engagement in science- related activities ........................................................................................................................................45
Figure 3.3 Student self-confidence in their science ability ...........................................................................................................................47
Figure 3.4 Students’ perspectives towards science related careers ..............................................................................................................50
Figure 3.5 Student engagement in science courses at school ......................................................................................................................53
Figure 3.6 Hours in science regular lessons at school .....................................................................................................................................54
Figure 3.7 Schools’ competition, and management .........................................................................................................................................57
Figure 3.8 Schools’ academic selectivity .............................................................................................................................................................58
Figure 3.9 School resources and science promotion activities .....................................................................................................................60
Figure 3.10 Combined model ....................................................................................................................................................................................62
Figure 4.1a Association between student approaches to learning and performance in science .........................................................70
Figure 4.1b Differential effect for disadvantaged students of student approaches to learning ..............................................................71
Figure 4.2a Association between students’ participation in science courses and student performance in science .......................73
Figure 4.2b Differential effect for disadvantaged students of students’ participation in science courses .........................................74
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Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School © OECD 2011
Table of conTenTs
Figure 4.3a Association between school characteristics and student performance in science .............................................................76
Figure 4.3b Differential effect for disadvantaged students of school characteristics ................................................................................77
Figure A5.1 Within-country relative definition of resilient and disadvantaged students in comparison to
the internationally comparable definition ..................................................................................................................................182
TaBles
Table A1.1 Shares of resilient and disadvantaged low achievers among all students, by country and gender ...............................88
Table A1.2 PISA index of economic, social and cultural status for system average, resilient and
disadvantaged low achievers ..............................................................................................................................................................89
Table A1.3 Differences in the components of the economic, social and cultural status index ...........................................................90
Table A1.4 Performance in PISA science, system average, resilient and disadvantaged low achievers ............................................93
Table A1.5 Percentage of resilient students and disadvantaged low achievers above and below the basic level of proficiency ...94
Table A1.6 Overlap of student resilience by subject .........................................................................................................................................95
Table A1.7 Percentage of male students among resilient, low achievers and all disadvantaged students ........................................97
Table A1.8 Percentage of native students among disadvantaged students and resilient students .......................................................98
Table A1.9 Percentage of students who speak the test language at home among disadvantaged students
and resilient students ...............................................................................................................................................................................99
Table A2.1 Correlations among key indices ......................................................................................................................................................100
Table A2.1a Interest in science (underlying percentages), by student group ............................................................................................101
Table A2.1b Interest in science (underlying percentages), by student group ............................................................................................103
Table A2.1c Interest in science (underlying percentages), by student group ............................................................................................104
Table A2.2a Instrumental interest in science (underlying percentages), by student group ...................................................................105
Table A2.2b Instrumental motivation by student group ...................................................................................................................................107
Table A2.2c Relationship between being resilient and PISA index of instrumental motivation in science learning ....................108
Table A2.3a Engagement in science-related activities outside school (underlying percentages), by student group .....................109
Table A2.3b Engagement in science-related activities outside school, by student group .....................................................................111
Table A2.3c Relationship between being resilient and PISA index of science activities outside the school ..................................112
Table A2.4a Science self-efficacy (underlying percentages), by student group ........................................................................................113
Table A2.4b Science self-efficacy by student group ..........................................................................................................................................115
Table A2.4c Relationship between being resilient and PISA index of science efficacy .........................................................................116
Table A2.5a Science self-concept (underlying percentages), by student group .......................................................................................117
Table A2.5b Science self-concept by student group .........................................................................................................................................119
Table A2.5c Relationship between being resilient and PISA index of science self-concept ................................................................120
Table A2.6a Science-related careers (underlying percentages), by student group ..................................................................................121
Table A2.6b Science-related careers by country and student group ............................................................................................................122
Table A2.6c Relationship between being resilient and PISA index of school preparation for science career ................................123
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© OECD 2011 Against the Odds: Disadvantaged Students Who Succeed in School