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Based on 1970s data, the \"Heyneman-Loxley (HL) effect\" proposed that in developing nations, school variables were more important than family socioeconomic status in determining academic achievement. A reassessment of the HL effect using 1990s TIMSS data found the relationship between family background and student achievement to be similar across nations regardless of national income, suggesting that the spread of mass schooling has reduced the HL effect. (SV)

On the basis of the TIMSS Case Study Project data collected in the [ three countries] in 1994-1995, this article examines the pheneomenon of tracking as part of curricular differentiation and student placement practices in public K-12 school systems. [Five types of curricular differentiation were found: according to school type, course of study, stream, ability grouping and geographical location]. The authors document clear national differences in differentiation and placement measures and summarize the history of conflict over those measures. Analysis of respondent [i.e. teachers, parents, students] perceptions and beliefs about differentiation and placement (what people think \"tracking\" is) shows that nation-specific values and attitudes (i.e., \"cultures\" determine which form of curricular differentiation are legitimated and which contested. Dominant cultural beliefs about what students are capable of and the role that schools should play in educating them create different points of conflict over tracking. (DIPF/ Orig.).

The growth of structured, outside-school activities for improving students' mathematics achievement is an enduring feature of modern schooling with major policy implications. These \"shadow education\" activities mimic, or shadow, formal schooling processes and requirements. Using extensive cross-national data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, we examine shadow education as a macro-phenomenon of modern schooling through its (a) prevalence, (b) strategies for use, and (c) associated national characteristics. We find that shadow education is prevalent worldwide, but that there is considerable cross-national variation in its use. Contrary to findings from single country studies, we find most shadow education is remedial in nature. We then test hypotheses concerning the national origins of shadow education and its impact on nations' production of mathematics achievement. Our results show that institutional factors of education, including limited access and lower levels of funding, drive the use of shadow education, instead of high-stakes testing and national achievement incentives. We conclude by discussing implications for both educational policy and theory regarding the degree to which institutionalization of mass schooling increasingly dominates contexts of schooling.

School violence is a problem in many nations, and rates of school violence in the United States are not among the highest in the world. The authors utilize a section of the TIMSS survey data to (a) explore the amount of school violence among the 37 nations in the study; (b) ascertain whether the traditional national-level predictors of crimes and delinquency explain cross-national variation in school violence; and (c) test whether factors related to the educational system are associated with levels of school violence cross-nationally. The results show that national patterns of school violence are not strongly related to general patterns of violence or lack of social integration in society. However, national systems of education that produce greater achievement differences between high-achieving and low-achieving students tend to record more violence. The authors suggest further studies and testing of one possible remedy for school violence: equalizing the quality of education that all students receive. (DIPF/ Orig.).

Policy debates in the U.S. are increasingly informed by use of internationally generated, comparative data. Many arguments revolve around whether or not such comparison makes \"cultural sense\" or whether specific educational activities that appear successful in one nation are \"culturally appropriate\" in another. These arguments clash with the work of anthropologists and sociologists who demonstrate that global cultural dynamics influence national patterns of schooling around the world. Using both the survey and case study data from the Third International Math-Science Study (TIMSS), we examine the working conditions and beliefs of teachers in Japan, Germany, and the U.S. in order to assess the relative merits of competing theoretical perspectives. We find some differences in how teachers' work is organized, but similarities in teachers' belief patterns. We find that core teaching practices and teacher beliefs show little national variation, but that other aspects of teachers' work (e.g., non-instructional duties) do show variation. We show that models of national cultures of learning or \"national teaching scripts\" may overemphasize cultural differences and underestimate the impact of institutional isomorphism in schooling. We argue that rather than change values, educational policy will be best served by identifying specific features of teacher work and analyzing how to improve these working conditions.

The 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study data from 46 countries showed that, although the national level of teacher quality in the United States was similar to the international average, the opportunity gap in students' access to qualified teachers between students of high and low socioeconomic status (SES) was among the largest in the world. Cross-national analyses revealed that the countries with better teacher quality produced higher mathematics achievement. However, larger opportunity gaps in access to qualified teachers did not predict larger achievement gaps between high-SES and low-SES students cross-nationally. These analyses provide empirical, cross-national evidence of the importance of investing in teacher quality for improving national achievement. National policies and practices related to improving teacher quality appear to be a promising area for future research to identify how other countries have achieved both excellence and equity in student achievement.

This article contends that individual educational decisions are constructed using the \"rationalized myths\" of specific institutions. An analysis of decision making in Japanese middle schools revealed that students' decisions are highly affected by the process of placement counseling. Although entrance into high school is based on meritocratic means of selection, placement counseling provides middle school students with information on high schools, defines their set of choices, inculcates values, and offers sets of rationales that students use to account for their decisions, thereby allowing significant inegalitarian effects to enter the overall process of educational attainment.

In reviewing educational trends in Japan during the post-World War II era, the authors found that current national data sets do not contain questions about family background or rank of school attended that are detailed enough to permit a significant analysis of the impact of family background on educational attainment. Given Japan’s stature in the current community of nations, the continued government aversion to collecting family income or educational background data, along with precise data on rank of school attended and/or types of cram school, appears negligent. The authors discuss both cultural and political reasons that may create a reluctance to collect such data.

During the last 50 years, private 'feeder' schools in Japan came to dominate entry into elite colleges. Intense organizational competition shaped the organizational environment and changed the pathways available to social elites. Compared to Japan, elite private feeders in the US have failed to dominate pathways into elite colleges. (HRK / Abstract übernommen).