Vietnam's Extraordinary Performance in the PISA Assessment: A Cultural Explanation of an Education Paradox

Asadullah, M. Niaz; Perera, Liyanage Devangi H.; Xiao, Saizi

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3562856

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Therefore it is suggested by some that the focus must shift to attitudinal and aspirational gender gap (Khattab 2015;Lundberg 2020;Sarker et al 2017;Wang & Calvano 2022). Evidence on gender gap in education in Asia perspective such as a topic raise by Asadullah et al (2020) for Vietnam and Singapore study should be conducted further for comparison purposes in Asia education context and eventually help in moving Asian countries towards the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4): quality education. In addition, the education inequality issue should be addressed seriously because even in a high resource educational regime like Malaysia's, the issue of inclusion clearly has gender dimensions.…”

Section: Discussion: Going Beyond Class Size For Addressing Gender In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Who Gains from Class Size Reduction? Another Look at Malaysia’s “Lost Boys Phenomenon” in Student Achievement

2022

JEM

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In Malaysia, while the achievement gap between rural and urban schools is flattening over time, the gender achievement gap is widening. This study therefore re-examines the phenomenon of "Lost Boys" using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Gender differences in disruptive behaviour and disciplinary challenges may widen boy-girl academic performance difference and, if so, differential exposure to crowded classrooms can play a role. Alongside other hypothesis, therefore, we specifically explore the gender differentiated effects of class sizes on student achievement. Methodologically, we employ the two-step least squares and quantile regression methods. Findings show that decrease in class size statistically does not have a positive effect on student scores in mathematics and science regardless of gender. If anything, there is evidence that only high-achieving female students particularly from urban schools and advantaged socioeconomic backgrounds may benefit from reduction in class size incentive. While improving the quality of current teachers and certain school infrastructure such as school buildings, lightning systems, and classrooms as well as granting teacher incentives appears to improve boys' achievement scores, on the balance, it is unlikely that the boy-girl difference in maths and science test scores in Malaysia can be primarily explained by school level factors. We conclude by discussing alternative explanations related to our findings on class size as well as other cost-effective policy responses and non-school factors to tackling the "Lost Boys" phenomenon.

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Section: Discussion: Going Beyond Class Size For Addressing Gender In...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Who Gains from Class Size Reduction? Another Look at Malaysia’s “Lost Boys Phenomenon” in Student Achievement

2022

JEM

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“…Ranked sixteenth in mathematics in 2012 and eighth in science in 2015, Vietnamese 15-year-olds outperformed students in the United States, the United Kingdom, and in all other participating low-and middle-income countries (Dang et al 2020). PISA results also suggest disadvantaged 15-year-old Vietnamese students are among the most "resilient" in the world, as they are more likely to overcome low socioeconomic status and achieve high learning outcomes (OECD 2016;Asadullah et al 2020). This is strongly suggestive of an equitable education system, consistent with notions of meritocracy and impartiality (see "Conceptualizing Equity and Quality in Education" below).…”

Section: Equity and Quality In The Vietnamese Education Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rawls argues that fair inequalities of outcome are only possible to the extent that there is equality of opportunity. More recently, Asadullah et al (2020) note the fair inequality may be understood in relation to pupil effort, preferences and talent, while unfair inequality is related to circumstances. While there are debates regarding how best to model student effort and circumstance (Asadullah et al 2020), ensuring fairness of outcomes in education requires "leveling the playing field" with respect to opportunities to learn.…”

Section: Conceptualizing Equity and Quality In Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, Asadullah et al (2020) note the fair inequality may be understood in relation to pupil effort, preferences and talent, while unfair inequality is related to circumstances. While there are debates regarding how best to model student effort and circumstance (Asadullah et al 2020), ensuring fairness of outcomes in education requires "leveling the playing field" with respect to opportunities to learn. This may include school quality, resources, and broader support for learning at home or in the commune.…”

Section: Conceptualizing Equity and Quality In Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Equitable, Quality Education for Ethnic Minority Students? A Case of “Positive Deviance” in Vietnam

Iyer¹,

Rolleston²,

Huong³

2021

Comparative Education Review

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Vietnam has achieved near-universal access to compulsory schooling over the past two decades. However, inequalities between ethnic majority and minority students are stark at post-compulsory levels, where progression is selective based on academic criteria and ability to pay. In this article, we adopt a mixed-methods approach to examine quality and equity for ethnic minority students in upper secondary education. Across five provinces, we find that ethnic minority students attend "less effective" upper secondary schools than ethnic majority students. However, an in-depth case study of an ethnic minority boarding school in Lao Cai province provides an example of positive deviance. Guided by a targeted affirmative action policy, the provincial government invests a relatively high level of resources to provide fee-free, high-quality schooling for gifted ethnic minority students. We consider the extent to which such policies can redress socioeconomic inequalities in Vietnam, and wider lessons for creating more equitable education systems.

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“…This study aims to review recent developments in Thailand's basic education system with a focus on students' learning outcomes, and attempts to identify key factors that explain such outcomes. While there is a growing body of research on basic education in other developing countries (e.g., Suryadarma et al 2006;Ryan et al 2009;Hanushek 2009;Asadullah et al 2020), to the best of my knowledge, this is the first paper that provides a comprehensive review of the Thai basic education system using a new dataset. The data used in this paper are obtained from several sources, including the Ministry of Education, the National Institute of Educational Testing Services (NIETS), and the National Statistical Office (NSO).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Developments in Basic Education in Thailand: Issues and Challenges

Durongkaveroj¹

2022

JSAE

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Over the past few decades, Thailand has made progress in expanding access to basic education, resulting in an increase in literacy rates and narrowing gaps in school attendance between socio-economic groups. This paper surveys recent developments in Thailand's basic education with an emphasis on the learning outcomes of Thai students, the determinants of such outcomes, and the challenges faced by the basic education system. The paper finds that despite the significant amount of resources spent on education and the fact that the quality of the workforce is crucial for the country's current stage of economic development, students' learning outcomes are low and have not improved significantly in either national or international assessments. The performance of junior secondary school students in the national examinations has declined, especially in mathematics and science. While the performance of senior secondary school students has improved slightly over the same period, the mean results for core subjects (mathematics, science, and English) were less than 50. This worrying figure is worsened by inequality in education quality across regions, since the performance of secondary school students is lower in poorer, remote regions. In addition, according to the results of the international assessments, Thai students are performing below the international average in core subjects. The paper argues that such poor learning outcomes are presumably due to two main reasons: the role of small school, and inefficient resource allocation for education in public spending. Key challenges in Thailand's basic education include the need to expand the supply of human capital to avoid the middle-income trap and the aging society. This is a pivotal period in Thailand's economic development. Educational reform is needed to ensure high-quality basic education for all.

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Vietnam's Extraordinary Performance in the PISA Assessment: A Cultural Explanation of an Education Paradox

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

Who Gains from Class Size Reduction? Another Look at Malaysia’s “Lost Boys Phenomenon” in Student Achievement

Who Gains from Class Size Reduction? Another Look at Malaysia’s “Lost Boys Phenomenon” in Student Achievement

Equitable, Quality Education for Ethnic Minority Students? A Case of “Positive Deviance” in Vietnam

Recent Developments in Basic Education in Thailand: Issues and Challenges

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