School Socioeconomic Composition
School Environment
School Composition by Socioeconomic Background of the Student Body
Principals’ reports of schools’ socioeconomic composition have a clear relationship with students’ mathematics and science achievement in the fourth and eighth grades. Students in schools with a higher proportion of students from economically affluent backgrounds have greater average achievement in both grades and subjects than students in schools with lower proportions of economically affluent students. The TIMSS 2023 index for school socioeconomic composition defines “more affluent” schools as having more than 25 percent of students from economically affluent homes and not more than 25 percent from economically disadvantaged homes, while “more disadvantaged” schools have more than 25 percent of students from disadvantaged homes and not more than 25 percent from affluent homes (Exhibit 4.1.1). All other combinations are considered to be “neither more affluent nor more disadvantaged.”
On average, 42 percent of fourth-grade students attended “more affluent” schools and 23 percent of fourth-grade students attended “more disadvantaged” schools. The remaining 35 percent of students attended schools that were “neither more affluent nor more disadvantaged.” Exhibits 4.1.2 and 4.1.3 show the relationship between school socioeconomic composition and mathematics or science achievement for fourth-grade students. Students in “more affluent” schools have higher achievement in both grades and subjects than students in “neither more affluent nor more disadvantaged” and “more disadvantaged schools.” Internationally, fourth-grade students in “more affluent” schools had an average mathematics achievement of 522. Those in “more disadvantaged” schools had an average mathematics achievement of 479, and those in “neither more affluent nor more disadvantaged” schools had an average mathematics achievement of 502. A similar pattern is observed in fourth-grade science, where average achievement was 514 for students in “more affluent” schools, 468 for students in “more disadvantaged” schools, and 494 for students in “neither more affluent nor more disadvantaged” schools.
Thirty-six percent of eighth-grade students internationally attended “more affluent” schools, 30 percent attended “more disadvantaged” schools, and 34 percent attended schools that were “neither more affluent nor more disadvantaged.” Exhibits 4.1.4 and 4.1.5 show the relationship between principals’ reports of school composition and average achievement for eighth-grade students. Eighth-grade students in “more affluent” schools had the highest average achievement (498 in mathematics and 495 in science) and students in “more disadvantaged” schools had the lowest average achievement (449 in mathematics and 448 in science). Students in schools that were “neither more affluent nor more disadvantaged” had an average achievement between students in the other school composition categories (475 in mathematics and 474 in science).
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School Composition by Socioeconomic Background of the Student Body – Principals’ Reports
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( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because of rounding some results may appear inconsistent.
An “r” indicates data are available for at least 70% but less than 85% of the students.
An “s” indicates data are available for at least 50% but less than 70% of the students.
A tilde (~) indicates insufficient data to report result.
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