Science Achievement in Urban Primary Schools: A Multilevel Approach With a Focus on Students' Literacy and Home Language

• In Event: 16.056 - Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: 16.056-13 - What Does It Take to Be Successful? Reconsidering the Roles of Language, Social Capital, and Resources

Abstract

This study aimed to identify the role of both student- and school-level characteristics in primary school students’ achievement in the science curriculum in urban schools. A special focus is put on the home language and literacy in the language of instruction. Questionnaires, a reading performance test, and a science achievement test were administered to 1,165 fourth-grade students from 46 schools in two urban areas in Flanders (Belgium). Multilevel hierarchical regression analyses show that the home language and literacy in the language of instruction play an important role in science achievement at the student level, next to gender and socioeconomic status. Moreover, at the school level, a school’s teachability expectations is one of the key factors related to students’ science achievement.

Authors

• Evelien Van Laere, Ghent University

• Johan Van Braak, Ghent University