Modelling the effectiveness of schools based on their equality of opportunities

Abstract

The aim of the study is to identify variables that explain students’ academic performance, determine their relative importance, and consequently, develop an index to distinguish advantaged and disadvantaged schools in pursuit of educational equality. By using this index, we intend to build a model for evaluating schools’ overall performance based on their equality of opportunity. The research is structured within the quantitative research paradigm and the relational research design has been adopted. The research was carried out in 52 secondary schools and analysis were performed on data collected from 1143 students, 1600 teachers and 141 school administrators. While collecting the data, a monitoring exam was used to measure student achievement, which is the dependent variable. Data on independent variables were collected with student, teacher, and administrator surveys. Hierarchical linear modelling and ratio analysis were employed while analysing the data. It was found that student-level variables explain success more than school-level variables. Twenty different variables in total at the student and school level were found to be effective on student achievement. Based on these variables, a school advantages index was created. It has been observed that schools with a high school advantage index are also better off in terms of average school achievement. However, when evaluated together with the school advantages index, it was revealed that the effectiveness order of the schools changed. Our suggestion is that education systems need to have a more holistic approach to evaluate school performances. To provide both fair and radical equality of opportunity, each school should chart a course considering its own conditions regarding the education of disadvantaged students.