Classroom Context: The Classroom Context for Year 5 Students' Mathematics and Science Achievement in 2006

Teacher perceptions of school climate

While attendance at school is important for learning, research has shown the importance of a positive climate to facilitate and enhance that learning (see for example: Cohen, 2006 & Freiberg, 1998). TIMSS asked teachers, students, and principals about the learning environment, covering aspects such as safety, resources, and perceptions of the behaviour of parents, students and teachers. This section of the report focuses on teachers’ views about the climate for learning within their schools. For a full discussion of school climate see Caygill, Lang and Cowles (2010).

Quality of teachers, parental support, and student attitudes¹³

Teachers of Year 5 students were asked to rate eight different aspects of school life from teachers’ job satisfaction to students’ desire to do well in school, as listed in Table 20.

Ninety percent of students had teachers who rated teachers’ expectations for student achievement as high or very high. Conversely, parental support for student achievement was one of the aspects with the least proportion characterised as high or very high (51% of students). Students’ regard for school property (50% combined) and parental involvement in school activities (47% combined) were the two other aspects with relatively low proportions in the high or very high categories.

Note: Standard errors are not presented here for ease of reading but can be found in Table 43 in the Appendix.Proportions in each row should add to 100%; inconsistencies are due to rounding.

Overall, students whose teachers commented positively on aspects of school climate were more likely to have higher achievement scores. The exception was the statement on teacher job satisfaction, with those students at the medium level of the statement having similar achievement to those at the high and very high levels. The pattern was the same for both mathematics and science achievement.

Responses to these questions were summarised into the Index of Teachers’ Perception of School Climate (TPSC). A ‘high’ on the TPSC index, where teachers averaged high or very high on statements about school climate, represented a positive school climate. Low or very low responses on average were summarised as low on the TPSC index, with all other responses assigned to the medium level of the index.¹⁴

Around 36 percent of students had teachers who reported a positive school climate on average. Most of the remaining students’ teachers characterised aspects of the school climate as medium (57% at the medium level of the TPSC index), with 6 percent reporting a relatively poor school climate. Note that this information is analysed separately for mathematics and science teachers, even though many New Zealand Year 5 students have the same teacher for both subjects. The result was almost the same for mathematics and science teachers.

English-speaking Western countries had the highest proportions of students whose teachers gave positive responses to questions on school climate. At least one-third of students from Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, England, and the United States had mathematics and science teachers who thought their school climate was good (see Table 21 for details).

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 8.12 Mullis, Martin and Foy, 2008 and Exhibit 8.13 Martin, Mullis and Foy.

New Zealand Year 5 students in schools where teachers were generally positive about the school climate had higher achievement than students whose teachers were not as positive. This finding correlates with that of the individual statements on school climate. Figure 3 illustrates this pattern of achievement across teachers perceptions of school climate for New Zealand Year 5 students. This pattern was consistent across most countries, with the exception of Slovenia and Kazakhstan, where student achievement was much the same across the three levels of the index.

Figure 3: Levels on the Teachers’ Perceptions of School Climate Index (TPSC) by mean achievement for New Zealand Year 5 students in 2006

Note:  Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Trends in teacher perceptions

The school climate questions were first introduced in 2002. Comparisons between the two cycles show no significant change in either the proportions of students whose teachers gave positive responses to individual questions or the proportions of students at each level of the aggregated index of teachers’ perceptions of school climate since 2002.

Students whose teachers responded positively to statements about the school climate (at the high level on the index) had higher achievement than those whose teachers were not as positive in both 2002 and 2006.

Limitations to mathematics and science teaching

Teachers of Year 5 TIMSS classes were asked to what extent the following factors limit mathematics and science teaching in their classes:

• students with different academic abilities;
  
• students who come from a wide range of backgrounds (e.g., economic, language);
  
• students with special needs (e.g., hearing, vision, speech impairment, physical disabilities, mental or emotional/psychological impairment);
  
• uninterested students; and
  
• disruptive students.

Responses were given on a five-point scale; not applicable, not at all, a little, some and a lot. The not applicable category is likely to mean there are no students in the class that meet the criteria. Table 22 shows the proportions of students whose teachers indicated that some or all of these factors limited how they taught mathematics and science to their Year 5 students. Not applicable, not at all, and a little were grouped into one category few or no limitations. In general, more teachers thought that having students in class with different academic abilities put some or a lot of limitations on teaching mathematics (39%) than the backgrounds of students (19%) or the inclusion of students with special needs in their class (21%). For science teaching this pattern also held but was not as marked as for mathematics; teachers were less likely to see the different academic abilities of students as very limiting when teaching science (7%) compared to mathematics (15%).

Comparisons of mathematics and science achievement generally showed that students whose teachers thought these issues caused no or few limitations to teaching had higher achievement than the other groupings, with two exceptions. For the statement on different academic abilities, there was no statistical difference in science achievement between students in each of the three categories, and for the statement on uninterested students there was no statistical difference in mathematics achievement between students in each of the three categories.

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

The not applicable category was selected for around 6% of students for most categories with the exception of the statement on special needs. Approximately 15% of students were in classes where there were no special needs students according to their teachers.

Responses to these questions were summarised into two indices, one each for mathematics and science teaching.¹⁵ Students were placed in the high category of the index if, on average, teachers reported little or no impact on their classrooms and in the low category if these factors impacted on teaching to at least some extent.¹⁶  In New Zealand, the majority of mathematics (64% of students) and science teachers (69% of students) in the study were confident that there were few or no limitations on their teaching by student factors. However, around one in ten students had teachers who felt limited to some extent by these student factors.

Students in the Netherlands, Austria, Germany and Kazakhstan were the most likely to be in classes where the teachers felt that student-related factors posed few or no limitations on their ability to teach mathematics or science (see Tables 23 and 24 for values). The proportions of New Zealand students whose teachers felt that student factors posed few or no limitations on their teaching were similar to Scotland and England but higher than Australia, the United States, and Singapore.

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 7.3 Mullis, Martin, & Foy, 2008.

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 7.3 Martin, Mullis, & Foy, 2008.

For New Zealand, students whose teachers thought there were no or few limitations to teaching due to student factors had higher achievement than those with teachers who were less positive. Of all the countries listed in Tables 22 and 23 only Chinese Taipei and Kazakhstan showed no difference in achievement between groupings of students. Therefore, for most countries, average student achievement is related to the diversity of students in the class in terms of abilities, interests, and behaviours, and the challenges that these students bring to classroom teaching.

There is no trend information for this question as 2006 was the first time it was asked at this grade level.

Interactions with other teachers

Teachers as professionals spend time learning and improving their practice throughout their career. An excellent way to learn is through interactions and collaborations with other teachers. TIMSS asked teachers how often they interact with other teachers, with four categories provided in the questionnaire:

• discussions about how to teach a particular concept;
  
• working on preparing instructional materials;
  
• visits to another teacher’s classroom to observe their teaching; and
  
• informal observations of their classroom by another teacher.

Four possible response options for the frequency of interactions were: never or almost never, 2 or 3 times a month, 1-3 times per week, and daily or almost daily. Teachers’ most common interaction was discussing how to teach a particular concept, with two-thirds of students having teachers who reported doing this at least weekly as shown in Table 25. Working together on preparing instructional materials was the second most common interaction with just over half (53%) of students having teachers who reported doing this at least weekly. Observations of other teachers or having others observe them were much less common.

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

There was little difference in average student achievement between the different types of teacher interaction. This is perhaps not surprising because it is a requirement for new teachers to have regular interactions with other teachers.

Teachers’ responses to the questions about the frequency of their interactions with other teachers were summarised into three categories: never or almost never, 2 or 3 times a month, and at least once a week. Just under one-third of New Zealand Year 5 students had mathematics and science teachers who reported collaborating at least once a week (30% and 31% for mathematics and science respectively). Around two-thirds had teachers who collaborated with others a couple of times a month (65% each for mathematics and science teachers).

Kazakhstan (73%) and the Ukraine (79%) had the highest proportion of students whose teachers collaborated at least weekly. Collaboration was less common in English-speaking countries with between one-quarter and one-third of students having teachers who reported this as occurring at least weekly (see Table 26).

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 6.5 Mullis, Martin and Foy, 2008 and Exhibit 6.6 Martin, Mullis and Foy, 2008.

Summary results were consistent with findings for individual activities. New Zealand Year 5 students whose teachers collaborated at least weekly had similar achievement to those whose teachers collaborated less often and this finding was true for almost all of the TIMSS countries in the study.

Trends in interactions with other teachers

Questions about interactions with other teachers were first introduced in the 2002 cycle. There has been no change in the level of collaboration among teachers between the two cycles.

School buildings and resources

Teachers rated the severity of the following problems related to buildings and resources at their school:

• the school building needs significant repair;
  
• classrooms are overcrowded;
  
• teachers do not have adequate workspace outside their classroom; and
  
• materials are not available to conduct experiments or investigations.

There were three possible response options: not a problem, minor problem, and serious problem.

A lack of adequate workspace outside of the classroom for teachers and a lack of materials for conducting experiments or investigations were more of a problem in New Zealand schools than the state of the school buildings or overcrowding in the classrooms as shown in Table 27.

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Proportions in each row should add to 100%; inconsistencies are due to rounding.

 
For each of the statements on school buildings and resources, there was no significant difference in either mathematics or science achievement between students whose teachers felt it was not a problem and those whose teachers thought it was a serious problem.

Responses to these questions were summarised as the Index of Teachers’ Adequate Working Conditions (TAWC) for mathematics and science teachers, with the statement on materials for experiments or investigations omitted for mathematics teachers. A high level on the index indicates that none of these issues was a problem. A low level indicates that at least one issue was considered a serious problem and the rest were considered at least minor problems. All other students were assigned to the medium level of the index.

New Zealand mathematics teachers were relatively positive about their working conditions compared with teachers from other countries, although not as positive as teachers from Singapore, Kazakhstan, or the United States as shown in Table 28. In contrast, fewer New Zealand mathematics teachers were negative about their working conditions compared with their counterparts in many other countries.

Because the summary of working conditions for science teachers included the availability of materials for experiments or investigations, science teachers were less positive than mathematics teachers about their working conditions. This difference between mathematics and science teachers was more marked in Singapore and Kazakhstan than in New Zealand. Fewer New Zealand science teachers were negative about their working conditions compared with their counterparts in many other countries (see Table 29).

Note:  Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Proportions in each row should add to 100%; inconsistencies are due to rounding.

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Proportions in each row should add to 100%; inconsistencies are due to rounding.

New Zealand Year 5 students whose teachers were positive about their working conditions had similar achievement to those whose teachers were less positive and this was true for nearly all countries.

Trends in working conditions

TIMSS included these questions for the first time in 2006/07 so there is no trend information available.

Teacher perceptions of school safety and student behaviours

Teachers of Year 5 students indicated the extent to which they agreed or disagreed with three statements on the general levels of safety they experienced at their schools. The statements listed were:

• This school is located in a safe neighbourhood;
  
• I feel safe at this school; and
  
• This school's security policies and practices are sufficient.

There were four possible response options given: agree a lot, agree, disagree, disagree a lot.

Almost all New Zealand students were taught by teachers who agreed their school was a safe place, with 98 percent agreeing or agreeing a lot with the statement I feel safe at school, as shown in Table 30.¹⁷ There was least agreement with the statement this school is located in a safe neighbourhood, with 11 percent of students having teachers who disagreed to some extent.

Note:  Standard errors are presented in parentheses.
Proportions in each row should add to 100%; inconsistencies are due to rounding.

For each of these statements, students whose teachers agreed a lot had higher achievement, on average, than those who agreed to a lesser extent or disagreed.

Responses to these questions were summarised into the Index of Teachers’ Perception of Safety in School (TPSS). A high level on the index indicates that teachers agreed (either agree a lot or agree)with all three statements about the school being a safe place, whereas a low level indicates that teachers disagreed (either disagree a lot or disagree)with all three statements. All other teachers were assigned to the medium level of the index.

Based on the TPSS index, New Zealand teachers’ perception of school safety was more favourable than that of the students, who generally rated school safety as low or medium as measured by the equivalent safety index. The index showed that 86 percent of students’ teachers agreed the school was generally a safe place, categorised as a high TPSS rating (see Caygill, Lang and Cowles, 2010 for more information). Most of the remaining 14 percent of students’ teachers were categorised as medium on the TPSS index, with less than 1 percent at the low level of the index. Note that the results were the same for mathematics and science teachers, which is not surprising given that many New Zealand Year 5 students would have the same teacher for both subjects.

Among mathematics teachers, the Czech Republic had the greatest proportion of students whose teachers agreed their school was a safe place (97%), and Singapore (which, like New Zealand, had a low level of students’ perceptions of safety) had the second largest (96% - see Table 31). Among science teachers, Singapore and Austria (not shown in the Table – see Martin, Mullis, & Foy, 2008) had the greatest proportion of students whose teachers agreed their school was a safe place (96%), and Norway had the next largest (95%). Teacher perceptions of school safety in Scotland, Australia, and England were similar to New Zealand but lower on the TPSS scale in the United States.

Note: Standard errors are presented in parentheses.

Source: Adapted from Exhibit 8.13 Mullis, Martin and Foy, 2008 and Exhibit 8.14 Martin, Mullis and Foy, 2008.

Students whose teachers agreed that the school was a safe place (at the high level on the index) had higher achievement than those whose teachers were not as positive (see Figure 4). This pattern was consistent across countries, although for some countries the differences were not significant.

Figure 4: Levels of Teachers’ Perception of Safety in School (TPSS index) by mean achievement for New Zealand Year 5 students in TIMSS 2006/07

Note:  Standard errors are presented in parentheses.
Lines extending from the points represent the 95% confidence interval, e.g. the range within which we are 95 percent confident that the true population value lies.
There were too few students in the low grouping to report achievement for this group.

Trends in teacher perceptions

TIMSS introduced the questions about school safety into the teacher questionnaire in 2002. Comparisons between the two cycles show no significant changes in the proportions of students whose teachers gave positive responses about school safety, in either the individual questions on safety or the aggregated index of teachers’ perception of school safety.

Consistently across the cycles, students whose teachers agreed that the school was a safe place (at the high level on the index) had higher achievement than those whose teachers were not as positive.

Footnotes

13. Note that this section is also included in Caygill, Lang and Cowles (2010).
14. Average is computed based on a 5-point scale: 1 = very high; 2 = high; 3 = medium; 4 =low; and 5 = very low. High level indicates average is less than or equal to 2. Medium level indicates that average is greater than 2 and less or equal to 3. Low level indicates average is greater than 3.
15. Index of Teachers’ Reports on Teaching Mathematics Classes with Few or No Limitations on Instruction Due to Student Factors (MCFL) and the Index of Teachers’ Reports on Teaching Science Classes with Few or No Limitations on Instruction Due to Student Factors (SCFL).
16. The index was created by computing an average across the five statements based on a 4-point scale where 1 includes both not at all and not applicable, 2 a little, 3 some, and 4 a lot. A high level on the index indicates the average is less than or equal to 2. A medium level indicates the average is greater than 2 and less than 3, while the low level indicates the average is greater than or equal to 3.
17. Note that percentages are of students rather than teachers. Also note that for the purposes of this analysis, mathematics and science teachers have been combined.