The present study investigates the effects of teachers (background qualifications, attitudes and beliefs, and instructional practices) on student achievement in mathematics, reading, and spelling in 1st grade. Its theoretical framework and methodology are based on recent work by Palardy and Rumberger (2008). Data from the SiBO Project, a…

This paper illustrates the surplus value of multilevel exploratory factor analysis in educational effectiveness research. Educational researchers often use measures for process variables at the class or school level to explain differences in student outcomes. Recently, van de Vijver and Poortinga (2002) have developed a procedure for multilevel…

Summer learning studies have been set up to investigate the evolution of initial group differences in academic achievement, for example, between low- and high-socioeconomic status (SES) children. Moreover, this approach has been used to demonstrate the absolute effect of going to school on children's learning. In the present study, we used…

In educational effectiveness research, multilevel data analyses are often used because research units (most frequently, pupils or teachers) are studied that are nested in groups (schools and classes). This hierarchical data structure complicates designing the study because the structure has to be taken into account when approximating the accuracy…

The main objective of the present study is to gain more insight into the school effects on the development of 2 noncognitive student outcomes, namely, the motivation toward learning tasks and the academic self-concept, and, more specifically, on the consistency of the school effects on these 2 outcomes. Data were drawn from the "Longitudinaal…

The major aim of educational effectiveness research is to examine and explain school, class, and teacher differences with respect to relevant educational criteria. Until now, in the large majority of studies, language and mathematics scores were used as a criterion. In the present study, the educational track students choose at the start of…

In this study, we examine to what extent psychosocial student outcomes in primary school children vary between classes, and whether elements of teaching can explain some of this variation. Starting with a sample of 379 kindergarten children out of 24 classes, academic achievement and behaviour problems were assessed in 2 consecutive years.…

Ignoring a level can have a substantial impact on the conclusions of a multilevel analysis. For intercept-only models and for balanced data, we derive these effects analytically. For more complex random intercept models or for unbalanced data, a simulation study is performed. Most important effects concern estimates and corresponding standard…

Follow-up data from a group of final-grade students of the 65 schools that participated in the Flemish Longitudinal Research in Secondary Education project (Van Damme, De Fraine, Van Landeghem, Opdenakker, & Onghena, 2002) were collected to study the long-term effects of the secondary school on the educational choice when leaving secondary…

Introduction to the two articles in this issue. Provides background information on a longitudinal study of Flanders secondary schools and on the study's sample, method, and variables relevant to the two articles. Also describes the organization of secondary education in Flanders. (Contains 33 references.) (PKP)

Explores the effects of secondary schools, teachers, and classes on mathematics achievement in Flanders secondary schools. After controlling for within-class and school recruitment differences, finds that class-level group composition remains an important explanation of difference in mathematics achievement. Also finds that the school-level…

Reports on the effects of individual background characteristics, classes, and school on four noncognitive secondary education outcomes in Flanders: Degree to which the student feels at home in the school environment, extent to which the student does his/her best for the schoolwork, academic self-concept, and social integration in the class.…