University of Oslo Workshops June 29-30 Conference July 1-3 ...

gender-related data about performance in science of students from Singapore demonstrates
that female students in Singapore are doing fairly well when compared to their male
counterparts. Although the overall data might not show any significant differences, there
exist some differences when the content and cognitive domains are examined more closely.
Regarding different teacher-student groupings, some groupings like male teacher-male
student seemed to be less effective.
Keywords: TIMSS 2003; TIMSS 2007; gender; science
Where are the Best Mathematics Students Hiding in Slovenia?
Barbara Japelj Pavesic, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
In TIMSS Advanced study mathematical knowledge of students was compared among
countries with large differences in the proportion of students learning advanced
mathematics to the whole age cohort in the country, called coverage index. In Slovenia, all
future university students were defined as advanced mathematics students, and therefore
coverage index is very high, 40 %, which is from 2 to 20 times larger than in other
countries. Slovene TIMSS Advanced achievement was slightly lower than international
average. We present results of comparisons of TIMSS achievement of smaller groups of
students in Slovenia which are comparable to populations of advanced mathematics
students in other participating countries regarding their coverage indices. The clustering
analysis was used to find such groups and define their characteristics based on student
background and learning environment. Their TIMSS achievement is very high so they
could be candidates for more advanced mathematics program in gymnasia. Characteristics
of successful students grouped by similarities in learning environment provide ideas for
teaching strategies linked to highest achievement of students.
Keywords: advanced mathematics; coverage index; clustering; student background;
learning environments
The School Climate as a Predictor of Achievement in TIMSS Advanced
Study: Students’, Teachers’ and Principals’ Perspective
Ana Kozina, Educational Rearch Institute, Slovenia
Mojca Rožman, Educational Rearch Institute, Slovenia
Tina Vršnik Perše, Educational Rearch Institute, Slovenia
Tina Rutar Leban, Educational Rearch Institute, Slovenia
The school climate has proven to have a strong impact on the student achievement. The
present study deals with a discrepancy between a principals’ and teachers’ perception of a
school climate in Slovenia TIMSS Advanced data. The goal of the present study is to
establish why principals and teachers perceive the school climate differently, which are the
specific school climate characteristics that are evaluated differently by them and whose
evaluation of the school climate is a better predictor of student achievement. The results of
discriminant analyses show significant differences between teachers’ and principals’
evaluations of the school climate. The characteristics that significantly differentiate
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