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chapter 7: school contexts
On average across countries, parents reported a good deal of satisfaction
with their child’s school and their involvement with it. As presented in
Exhibit 7.14, 60 percent of students, on average internationally, were at the
high level of the index and 38 percent at the medium level. Just 2 percent
were at the low level. Parents’ perceptions of the school environment were
most positive in Romania, Macedonia, Trinidad and Tobago, Denmark,
Georgia, Scotland, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Nova Scotia,
where 70 percent or more of students were at the high level of the index.
Fewer than 40 percent of students were at the high level in Luxembourg and
Hong Kong SAR.
How Safe Are Schools?
A safe and secure school environment is a key aspect of a positive learning
environment. As shown in Exhibit 7.15, the PIRLS 2006 Index of Student
Safety in Schools is based on students’ level of agreement with the statement
“I feel safe when I am at school” and student reports of incidents of bullying,
stealing, and injury to the student or someone in the student’s class in the
past month. Students at the high level of the index agreed (a little or a lot)
that they felt safe at school, reported no incidents happening to them, and no
more than one incident happening to a classmate. Students at the low level
disagreed (a little or a lot) with feeling safe at school, and had two or more
incidents happen to them and two or more incidents happen to a classmate
during the past month. All other students were at the medium level.
Countries with the highest percentages of students at the high level of
the school safety index (more than 60 percent) included the Scandinavian
countries (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark) and several Eastern European
countries (Georgia, Bulgaria, Poland, the Russian Federation, Macedonia,
and Slovenia). However, fewer than 30 percent of students were at this level
in Israel, Chinese Taipei, Trinidad and Tobago, and South Africa. On average
across countries, there was a positive association between school safety and
average reading achievement. Students at the high level of the school safety
index had average achievement of 512 points, compared to 494 for students
at the medium level, and 487 at the low level.
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