Page 161 - Štremfel, Urška, and Maša Vidmar (eds.). 2018. Early School Leaving: Contemporary European Perspectives. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 161
the interplay of factors contributing to esl at the school level
more likely that other school, student and staff characteristics play a role.
For example, a small school may have better student-teacher relations, bet-
ter organisational trust, commitment to common goals, contacts (ibid.,
namely a better social climate). On the other hand, large schools may of-
fer more curriculum, programme, classes and extracurricular options and
benefit students’ learning in this respect (Rumberger & Palardy, 2005).
Although not a typical structural characteristic, the issue of differ-
ent tracks (in terms of levels, i.e. academic or non-academic) provided in
schools has also been examined. Traag (2012) and Traag and van der Velden
(2008) found that schools’ heterogeneity in terms of the tracks they provid-
ed was a significant predictor of ESL. Students in lower secondary educa-
tion who attended more heterogeneous schools (i.e. also providing a higher
track of secondary education) were less at risk of ESL than their counter-
parts who attended a school which only provided lower secondary tracks.
The risk of ESL decreased by 25%. The authors argued this may be a result
of a more academic climate. This finding is supported by Lee and Burkham
(2003); after accounting for student characteristics, schools with more chal-
lenging courses, fewer remedial or non-academic courses were more like-
ly to keep students in school compared to their less ‘constrained’ counter-
parts. This means that offering a number of undemanding courses in high
school does not keep students in schools.
Resources
In the literature review by Rumberger and Rim (2008), the effects of differ-
ent indicators for physical, financial and human resources were observed.
These included mean expenditures per pupil, mean teacher salaries, the
student-teacher ratio, and the share of teachers with advanced degrees.
Overall, relatively few studies found significant effects on ESL. Something
similar was observed for students’ performance in PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS
– namely, shortages of educational resources (instructional materials, com-
puters etc.) did not affect students’ average performances greatly (Haahr,
Nielsen, Hansen, & Jakobsen, 2005). Regarding class size, Finn, Gerber and
Boyd-Zaharias (2005) found that 4 years of elementary school in a small
class (13–17 students) increased the odds of finishing high school by 80%
compared to their full-size-class (22–26 students) counterparts, where the
effect was especially prominent among students from low-income homes.
Small classes effect academic achievement and a student’s social behaviour
(Finn, Pannozzo, & Achilles, 2003). Perhaps this effect mainly holds for
161
more likely that other school, student and staff characteristics play a role.
For example, a small school may have better student-teacher relations, bet-
ter organisational trust, commitment to common goals, contacts (ibid.,
namely a better social climate). On the other hand, large schools may of-
fer more curriculum, programme, classes and extracurricular options and
benefit students’ learning in this respect (Rumberger & Palardy, 2005).
Although not a typical structural characteristic, the issue of differ-
ent tracks (in terms of levels, i.e. academic or non-academic) provided in
schools has also been examined. Traag (2012) and Traag and van der Velden
(2008) found that schools’ heterogeneity in terms of the tracks they provid-
ed was a significant predictor of ESL. Students in lower secondary educa-
tion who attended more heterogeneous schools (i.e. also providing a higher
track of secondary education) were less at risk of ESL than their counter-
parts who attended a school which only provided lower secondary tracks.
The risk of ESL decreased by 25%. The authors argued this may be a result
of a more academic climate. This finding is supported by Lee and Burkham
(2003); after accounting for student characteristics, schools with more chal-
lenging courses, fewer remedial or non-academic courses were more like-
ly to keep students in school compared to their less ‘constrained’ counter-
parts. This means that offering a number of undemanding courses in high
school does not keep students in schools.
Resources
In the literature review by Rumberger and Rim (2008), the effects of differ-
ent indicators for physical, financial and human resources were observed.
These included mean expenditures per pupil, mean teacher salaries, the
student-teacher ratio, and the share of teachers with advanced degrees.
Overall, relatively few studies found significant effects on ESL. Something
similar was observed for students’ performance in PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS
– namely, shortages of educational resources (instructional materials, com-
puters etc.) did not affect students’ average performances greatly (Haahr,
Nielsen, Hansen, & Jakobsen, 2005). Regarding class size, Finn, Gerber and
Boyd-Zaharias (2005) found that 4 years of elementary school in a small
class (13–17 students) increased the odds of finishing high school by 80%
compared to their full-size-class (22–26 students) counterparts, where the
effect was especially prominent among students from low-income homes.
Small classes effect academic achievement and a student’s social behaviour
(Finn, Pannozzo, & Achilles, 2003). Perhaps this effect mainly holds for
161
