Public and Private School Distinction, Regional Development Differences, and Other Factors Influencing the Success of Primary School Students in Turkey

Abstract

This study investigates the factors influencing the success of students in primary schools in Turkey. TIMSS 2011 data for Turkey, measuring the success of eighth-grade students in the field of mathematics, were used in an econometric analysis, performed using classical linear regression models. Two hundred thirty-nine schools participated in the TIMSS 2011 study for Turkey, and the sample size comprised 6,928 students. The results of our regression analyses revealed that regional differences, in particular, significantly impacted the success of students. Greater success in mathematics was achieved by students who live in urban areas and in socioeconomically more developed regions. Furthermore, math success rates of private school pupils were higher than those of public school students. The economic status of students' families, as well as their surroundings, sex, the educational background of their fathers, and educational instruments owned are substantial factors affecting the students' performance. We found that students whose fathers have a low level of education, who come from socioeconomically disadvantaged groups, and who live in poorly developed areas have lower performance.

Assessing Eighth-Grade Mathematics Teachers and Textbook in Embodying Thinking Levels

“…Naturally, this reduced the students' chances of reaching advanced levels in thinking skills. This conclusion is in line with that of Sulkua and Abdioglub (2015), who emphasized the necessity of giving a waiting time after asking questions, particularly questions that measure higher levels of thinking, to give the students a chance to understand the question, and retrieve their ideas about it, to draw links between them, evaluate them and come to a conclusion.…”

“…This result is almost identical to the results from research on the quality of the classroom questions that the teachers ask, in terms of their focus on the lower levels of thinking levels, for instance Sulkua and Abdioglub (2015), Carla and Sandra (2014), Rashid and Qaisar (2016), whose results ensured that the focus of the classroom questions was on the lower thinking levels in the different teaching subjects, whether in science, maths or social studies.…”

Öğrencilerin Sosyoekonomik Durumu, İçsel Motivasyonu ve Okulun Başarıya Verdiği Önemin Öğrencilerin Matematik Başarılarına Etkisi

“…Sosyoekonomik durumu daha iyi olan öğrenciler daha iyi okullara gidebilmekte ve daha kaliteli öğretmenlerden eğitim alabilmektedirler. Örneğin, TIMSS çalışmasına katılan 8. sınıf öğrencilerinden özel okula gidenlerin matematik başarılarının devlet okuluna gidenlerine nazaran anlamlı olarak daha yüksek olduğu görülmektedir (Sülkü & Abdioğlu, 2015). Bu durum, özel okullardaki eğitim ortamlarının devlet okullarına göre daha iyi olmasıyla açıklanabilir.…”