Academic Resilience in Mathematics and Science: Europe TIMSS-2019 Data.

BACKGROUND: Academically resilient students are those who exhibit high performance starting from a disadvantaged socioeconomic situation. This study aims to identify the personal, school, and national factors that are associated with that resilience in the European Union (EU). METHOD: The sample comprised 96556 fourth grade students from 21 EU countries participating in TIMSS-2019. Two three-level logistic regression models were specified for the overall sample. RESULTS: The EU has an average of 25.67% resilient students in mathematics and 24.16% in science. Student confidence and having done prior linguistic tasks at school were the variables with the most predictive power after accounting for gender and students' immigrant background. The European countries analyzed largely compensated for the doubly-disadvantaged situation of immigrant students. Those countries with higher proportions of low-performing students had fewer resilient students. CONCLUSIONS: The educational policies in the EU member states are able to largely compensate for unfavorable starting positions; fundamentally, policies of a social nature such as support for immigrant students, families, or schools.

Should we Help our Children with Homework? A Meta-Analysis Using PISA Data.

BACKGROUND: The role of homework in students' academic performance is a widely debated topic about which there is no definitive answer. The objective of this study was to analyse the importance of parental help with homework in academic achievement, testing its cultural invariance (by country), academic invariance (by subject), and the stability of its effects over time. METHOD: A meta-analysis was performed using the results of PISA evaluations from 2009, 2012, 2015, and 2018 from countries which applied the family PISA questionnaire. We analysed 180 effects and confirmed the fit of the model and the heterogeneity of the effects, performing an analysis of moderators and multimodal inference. RESULTS: Students who had more help with homework had lower academic achievement, with an overall effect (d) = 0.23, 95% CI [0.21, 0.25]. The effects were greater in Europe than in Asia. We did not find differences by subject type, and the results were stable over time. CONCLUSIONS: Family help with homework does not ensure students' academic success, and it is more important how that help is given than how much. This conclusion is valid for different types of subjects and is stable over time, with some variation between cultures.

El uso de las nuevas tecnologías en las evaluaciones educativas: la lectura en un mundo digital / The use of new technologies in educational assessments: reading in a digital world

Ser un lector competente en un mundo digital requiere una base sólida de Lectura, pero también la capacidad para pensar críticamente; una tarea pendiente para muchos estudiantes españoles. Las pruebas adaptativas informatizadas y los datos de proceso (información sobre las acciones que realizan los estudiantes al responder a la prueba) son especialmente importantes cuando se evalúan competencias como la Lectura. El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar cómo el uso de la tecnología está cambiando el concepto de Lectura y las formas para evaluarlo. Esto tiene implicaciones tanto para el alumnado español como para cualquier profesional encargado de interpretar y diseñar evaluaciones educativas. El investigador debe asegurar que el uso de los datos y la tecnología sea el adecuado para los objetivos de la evaluación y sirva de forma fiable, válida y justa a las personas involucradas, pero también del usuario saber cuándo, cómo y para qué utilizar los datos.(AU)

Being a proficient reader in a digital world requires a strong reading foundation, but also the ability to think critically, which is a challenge for many students in Spain. Computerized adaptive tests and process data (information about students’ actions when responding to the test) are especially important when assessing skills such as reading. This work aims to analyze how the use of technology is changing the concept of reading and the ways to evaluate it. This has implications for Spanish students and any professional in charge of interpreting and designing educational evaluations. The researcher must ensure that the use of data and technology is adequate for the objectives of the evaluation and that it works in a reliable, valid, and fair way for the people involved, but also the user must know when, how, and for what purposes to use the data.(AU)

Academic resilience in European countries: The role of teachers, families, and student profiles.

Academic resilience is a student's ability to achieve academic results significantly higher than would be expected according to their socioeconomic level. In this study, we aimed to identify the characteristics of students, families, and teacher activities which had the greatest impact on academic resilience. The sample comprised 117,539 fourth grade students and 6,222 teachers from 4,324 schools in member states of the European Union that participated in the PIRLS 2016 study. We specified a two-level hierarchical linear model in two phases: in the first level we used the students' personal and family background variables, in the second level we used the variables related to teaching activity. In the first phase we used the complete model for all countries and regions, in the second phase we produced a model for each country with the highest possible number of statistically significant variables. The results indicated that the students' personal and family variables that best predicted resilience were the reading self-confidence index, which increased the probability of student resilience by between 62 and 130 percentage points, a feeling of belonging to the school, which increased the chances of being resilient by up to 40 percentage points, and support from the family before starting primary school (Students from Lithuania who had done early literary activities in the family setting were twice as likely to be resilient than those who had not). The teaching-related factors best predicting resilience were keeping order in the classroom, a safe and orderly school environment (increasing chances of resilience by up to 62 percentage points), and teaching focused on comprehension and reflection, which could increase the probability of resilience by up to 61 percentage points.

Resilient and low performer students: Personal and family determinants in European countries.

BACKGROUND: Students' academic achievement depends on their personal, family and sociocultural characteristics. This study aims to identify the personal and family factors of European students who do not perform as expected, whether by surpassing expectations (resilient) or by failing to meet them (low performers). METHOD: The sample was composed of 117,539 fourth grade students who completed the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) test, from 23 European Union countries. Academic performance was evaluated via a reading comprehension test. For each country, two binary logistic regression models were used, one for resilient students and the other for low performers. Variables related to the students and their families were used as predictor variables. RESULTS: Significant differences were found between European countries in terms of the proportion of resilient and low performing students. The two variables with the most predictive power were student confidence with reading, and having done early literacy activities. CONCLUSIONS: Students' personal characteristics and family conditions are instrumental in students being considered resilient or low performers.