Determinants of student achievement at lower secondary schools in rural Cambodia
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Determinants of student achievement at lower secondary schools in rural Cambodia Sokunrith Pov1
· Norimune Kawai2 · Nagako Matsumiya2
Received: 2 July 2019 / Accepted: 20 August 2020 © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020
Abstract This study examines the effects of student-, family-, and school-related factors on student achievement at lower secondary schools in rural Cambodia. To investigate the determinants of student achievement, a survey study was conducted in four rural districts, including 20 lower secondary schools for investigation. A total of 517 seventh graders were randomly selected for the study. Questionnaires and achievement tests were utilized as tools for data collection. Due to the nested and hierarchical structure of data, a two-level hierarchical linear model was employed to assess what factors may have affected student achievement. The results indicated that absenteeism and private-tutoring attendance significantly affected student achievement. The negative effect of absenteeism has highlighted the critical roles of parents, teachers, and related educational stakeholders to ensure that students come to school on a regular basis. Despite the positive effect on achievement, private tutoring has greatly disadvantaged Cambodian students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds. In contrast to some existing findings, significant effects were not found among family and school factors. The findings make up the empirical evidence needed for the development of improved education policy and practice in Cambodia. Keywords Academic achievement · Lower secondary school · Hierarchical linear model · Rural · Cambodia
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Sokunrith Pov [email protected] Norimune Kawai [email protected] Nagako Matsumiya [email protected]
1
Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC), Hiroshima University, 1-5-1 Kagamiyama, Higashihiroshima 739-8529, Japan
2
Graduate School of Education, Hiroshima University, 1-1-1 Kagamiyama, Higashi-Hiroshima City, Hiroshima 739-8524, Japan
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S. Pov et al.
1 Introduction To grow from a developing country to an upper middle-income country by 2030, Cambodia has been involved in many international development agendas, such as Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). One of the Cambodian government’s primary endeavors is to produce highly qualified human resources in the short term and maintain sustainable economic growth for the long term. In this regard, the education sector has been embraced as an important way to drive Cambodia toward achieving both its ambition and SDGs. Contemporarily, Cambodia education reform has been designed to generate higher student achievement. Student achievement has been an important topic for discussion among researchers, educators, and policymakers for decades. Student achievement has been defined as learned proficiency in basic skills and content knowledge (McCoy et al. 2005). Understanding the main determinants of student achievement is a consta
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