Department of Psychology & Durham Cultural Evolution Research Centre, Durham University, Durham, UK.
School of Human Evolution and Social Change & The Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA.
Dev Sci. 2024 Sep;27(5):e13434. doi: 10.1111/desc.13434. Epub 2023 Jul 16.
Recent decades have seen a rapid acceleration in global participation in formal education, due to worldwide initiatives aimed to provide school access to all children. Research in high income countries has shown that school quality indicators have a significant, positive impact on numeracy and literacy-skills required to participate in the increasingly globalized economy. Schools vary enormously in kind, resources, and teacher training around the world, however, and the validity of using diverse school quality measures in populations with diverse educational profiles remains unclear. First, we assessed whether children's numeracy and literacy performance across populations improves with age, as evidence of general school-related learning effects. Next, we examined whether several school quality measures related to classroom experience and composition, and to educational resources, were correlated with one another. Finally, we examined whether they were associated with children's (4-12-year-olds, N = 889) numeracy and literacy performance in 10 culturally and geographically diverse populations which vary in historical engagement with formal schooling. Across populations, age was a strong positive predictor of academic achievement. Measures related to classroom experience and composition were correlated with one another, as were measures of access to educational resources and classroom experience and composition. The number of teachers per class and access to writing materials were key predictors of numeracy and literacy, while the number of students per classroom, often linked to academic achievement, was not. We discuss these results in the context of maximising children's learning environments and highlight study limitations to motivate future research. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: We examined the extent to which four measures of school quality were associated with one another, and whether they predicted children's academic achievement in 10 culturally and geographically diverse societies. Across populations, measures related to classroom experience and composition were correlated with one another as were measures of access to educational resources to classroom experience and composition. Age, the number of teachers per class, and access to writing materials were key predictors of academic achievement across populations. Our data have implications for designing efficacious educational initiatives to improve school quality globally.
近几十年来，由于全球范围内旨在让所有儿童都能上学的倡议，全球参与正规教育的人数迅速增加。在高收入国家的研究表明，学校质量指标对参与日益全球化的经济所需的计算和读写技能有显著的积极影响。然而，世界各地的学校在种类、资源和教师培训方面存在巨大差异，在教育背景各异的人群中使用多样化的学校质量衡量标准的有效性尚不清楚。首先，我们评估了在不同人群中，儿童的计算和读写能力是否随着年龄的增长而提高，以此证明与学校相关的普遍学习效果。其次，我们考察了与课堂经验和组成以及教育资源相关的几个学校质量衡量标准之间是否相互关联。最后，我们考察了它们是否与 10 个文化和地理上多样化的人群中儿童（4-12 岁，N=889）的计算和读写能力相关，这些人群在历史上对正规学校教育的参与程度各不相同。在所有人群中，年龄是学业成绩的一个强有力的积极预测因素。与课堂经验和组成相关的衡量标准相互关联，而获得教育资源的衡量标准和课堂经验与组成也相互关联。每班教师人数和获得书写材料的机会是计算和读写能力的关键预测因素，而每班学生人数虽然与学业成绩相关，但并不是。我们在最大限度地提高儿童学习环境的背景下讨论了这些结果，并强调了研究的局限性，以激发未来的研究。研究亮点：我们考察了四个学校质量衡量标准在多大程度上相互关联，以及它们是否能预测 10 个文化和地理上多样化的社会中儿童的学业成绩。在所有人群中，与课堂经验和组成相关的衡量标准相互关联，而与课堂经验和组成相关的获得教育资源的衡量标准也相互关联。年龄、每班教师人数和获得书写材料的机会是所有人群中学业成绩的关键预测因素。我们的数据对设计有效的教育举措以提高全球学校质量具有启示意义。
