Can Educational Systems Achieve Both Quality and Equity? Secondary Analyses of PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) Studies

This paper argues for the importance of investigating both quality and equity dimensions of effectiveness at the country level. Secondary analyses of each PISA study, TIMSS 2007 and TIMSS 2011 were undertaken. For each study, separate multilevel analyses per country were conducted. In each study, a negative correlation between the overall student performance of each country and the between-school variation was identified. Negative correlations between student performance and the between-school variation of each country after controlling for the impact of background characteristics were also identified. Across-country analyses of each PISA study revealed that the impact of student background factors is smaller in countries which are more effective in terms of their final achievement. Implications for research and evaluation are draw