Mathematics Achievement of Immigrant Students PDF
Preview Mathematics Achievement of Immigrant Students
Dirk Hastedt Mathematics Achievement of Immigrant Students Mathematics Achievement of Immigrant Students Dirk Hastedt Mathematics Achievement of Immigrant Students Dirk Hastedt IEA Amsterdam , The Netherlands ISBN 978-3-319-29310-3 ISBN 978-3-319-29311-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-29311-0 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016931290 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 T his work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. T he use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. T he publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland Pref ace This book is a modifi ed version of a dissertation prepared at the University of Vienna for a PhD in education. When I started working on this undertaking, I aimed to examine changes of populations in international large-scale assessments where the populations of countries are usually assumed to be constant in most research. This topic was brought to my attention by Hans Wagemaker, to whom I am indebted not only for this inspiration but also for his encouragement while I was working on the dissertation. In view of current events in Europe and the Middle East, the topic of immigrants, and immigrants in education systems, has provoked keen interest and gained rele- vance – especially in these regions. I hope that this publication helps to better under- stand the situation of immigrant students and that it inspires researchers as well as policy makers to improve the situation of immigrants and education systems that face severe challenges due to high immigration rates. The examples of Singapore and Canada show that improving the situation for immigrants in schools is not only a matter of education policies. It also seems to be infl uenced by the opinions toward immigrants and by policies fostering positive attitudes toward immigrants in general. S ome of the results presented, such as the differences between immigrant boys and girls, will hopefully encourage some study participants, e.g., Eastern European countries where the differences are particularly pronounced, to analyze this aspect more in depth. The importance of school safety – especially for immigrant students – will hopefully also be acknowledged. I expect that the results regarding the peer effect might change the current perspective that the presence of immigrant students in class always has a negative impact on their peers’ achievement. Supporting immigrant students is also an indirect means to help their native peers because high- achieving immigrant students seem to have a positive effect on their peers’ achievement. I would like to conclude these remarks by thanking all the people who helped me conduct this research, and I would like to mention a few of them who played a very important role. v vi Preface I would like to thank Stefan Hopmann for serving as my doctoral father and for his manifold support during the preparation of this dissertation. My thanks also go to Henning Schluß and Tamara Katschnig and many others at the University of Vienna for their continuous help. I am deeply grateful for the feedback and support I got from Seamus Hegarty and David Rutkowski that helped improve this publication tremendously. The task of layout and editing was done wonderfully by Viola Hingst – thanks! F inally, my deepest thanks goes to my wife Maren and my kids Helen, Hannah, and Emily who tolerated me being stressed when writing this dissertation and who always encouraged me to continue working on it. Moreover, my mother’s trust in me was of tremendous value throughout my whole life but especially during the busy times of writing this piece of research. Amsterdam, The Netherlands Dirk Hastedt Contents 1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 Globalization ............................................................................................. 2 What Matters to Immigrant Students ........................................................ 7 Outline ....................................................................................................... 7 2 Review ...................................................................................................... 11 Effects of Age and Schooling.................................................................... 12 Differences Between Girls and Boys ........................................................ 14 Language Diffi culties ................................................................................ 15 Socioeconomic Background and Parental Education ............................... 16 Attitudes and Aspiration ........................................................................... 17 Differences Between Country Regions ..................................................... 18 School Attendance .................................................................................... 20 The Effect of School Resources ................................................................ 21 The School Climate ................................................................................... 22 School Safety ............................................................................................ 24 Class Size .................................................................................................. 25 Homework ................................................................................................. 25 Peer Effects ............................................................................................... 27 3 Data and Methods ................................................................................... 31 TIMSS ....................................................................................................... 31 The TIMSS Assessment ............................................................................ 32 TIMSS Questionnaires .............................................................................. 34 The TIMSS Sample ................................................................................... 35 The TIMSS Scores .................................................................................... 37 Analyzing TIMSS Data ............................................................................. 40 Methods of Analysis ................................................................................. 40 Signifi cance and Relevance of Differences ............................................... 40 Focus on Mathematics .............................................................................. 43 vii viii Contents 4A Immigrant Students in TIMSS .............................................................. 47 Trends in Percentages of First-Generation Immigrant Students in Grade Eight .......................................................... 47 Trends in Percentages of First-Generation Immigrant Students in Grade Four ........................................................... 53 Trends in Percentages of Second-Generation Immigrant Grade Eight Students .............................................................. 53 Trends in Mathematics Achievement for Immigrant Students ................. 60 Trends in Science Achievement for Immigrant Students ......................... 67 Summary ................................................................................................... 73 4B Immigrant Students’ Background in TIMSS 2007 .............................. 75 Students’ Age ............................................................................................ 75 Age at Immigration ................................................................................... 78 Differences Between Girls and Boys ........................................................ 81 Language Spoken by Immigrant Students ................................................ 87 Parents’ Education .................................................................................... 94 Home Possessions .................................................................................... 102 Students’ Attitudes .................................................................................... 108 Students’ Attitudes to School .................................................................... 108 Students’ Attitude Towards Mathematics ................................................. 111 Students’ Attitudes: Self-Effi cacy ............................................................. 116 Summary ................................................................................................... 121 4C School Factors ......................................................................................... 123 Distribution of Immigrants Within Countries ........................................... 123 School Attendance .................................................................................... 133 School Resources ...................................................................................... 138 School Climate ......................................................................................... 150 School Safety ............................................................................................ 154 Summary ................................................................................................... 159 4D Class Level and Teacher Level Factors ................................................. 161 Class Size .................................................................................................. 161 Homework ................................................................................................ 167 Concentration of Immigrant Students ...................................................... 174 Summary ................................................................................................... 185 5A Immigrant Students in Singapore ......................................................... 187 The History of the Educational System in Singapore............................... 187 Immigration in Singapore ......................................................................... 188 Singapore’s Education System in International Comparison ................... 189 Immigrant Students in Singapore ............................................................. 189 Access to Schools in Singapore ................................................................ 192 Support Programs in Singapore ................................................................ 192 Summary ................................................................................................... 193 Contents ix 5B Immigrant Students in Canada ............................................................. 195 The Educational System of Canada .......................................................... 195 Immigration in Canada ............................................................................. 196 Immigrant Students in Canada ................................................................. 201 Factors Found in the Quantitative Research ............................................. 202 Promoting an Inclusive and Supportive School Environment .............. 203 Summary ................................................................................................... 206 6 Discussion and Conclusion ..................................................................... 209 Summary of the Results ............................................................................ 210 Discussion ................................................................................................. 216 Limitations ................................................................................................ 218 Further Research ....................................................................................... 219 References ........................................................................................................ 221
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