Teachers’ Role in Enhancing Equity—A Multilevel Structural Equation Modelling with Mediated Moderation

Abstract

Even though equity is an important aim for the Nordic countries, for many of these countries, the effect of a student’s home background on their achievement seems to increase over time. If the aim is to reduce the effect of SES (socioeconomic status) on student outcomes, there is a need to identify the factors that moderate this relation. One such factor could be teachers and their instruction because they have been found to be key to student outcomes. However, few have linked teachers and their instruction to equity, and fewer still have made this link in Nordic countries. The aim of the present study is to identify the aspects of teacher quality and their instruction that may reduce the relationship between SES and student achievement in the Nordic countries. Eighth-grade students from the only two Nordic countries participating in TIMSS 2015 (Norway and Sweden) were selected. Multigroup, multilevel (students and classes) structural equation models with random slopes were employed to investigate which aspects of teacher quality moderate the relation between SES and student science achievement via instructional quality. The findings show that teacher professional development and specialisation reduce the relation between SES and science achievement via instructional quality in Sweden, while there were no significant findings for Norway. This study contributes to the fields of equity and teacher effectiveness, demonstrating that teachers may make a difference in reducing inequity through their competence and instruction.

Storylines in Voices of Frustration: Implications for Mathematics Teacher Education in Changing Times

“…The Norwegian Grunnskole (age 6-16) is one of the core elements of the Norwegian welfare state for the promotion of social mobility. In fact, a goal of schooling in Norway is to iron out social differences and give all students equal opportunities [6]. However, there have been concerns raised about whether the Grunnskole manages to fulfil the goal of promoting social mobility.…”

The Importance of Teacher Support and Equity in Student Engagement and Achievement in Low SES School Contexts

“…It is likely that teachers care for the equality of students and treat all students equally, encouraging or enabling them to participate in the discussion, as a result of which both low and high SES students feel equally engaged in learning. It should be noted that equity as a variable in teacher behaviour increases both components of student engagement -emotional and behavioural, so in our view, it is important to study this phenomenon not only as a prerequisite for the whole education system but also as a non-automatic characteristic of teacher behaviour (Nilsen et al, 2020).…”

“…Equity is not an automatic element of teacherstudent interaction that develops without the teacher's effort. According to Nilsen et al (2020), only a small number of teachers associate their teaching with justice, so raising teachers' awareness is necessary.…”

8. Lærerkompetanse, undervisningskvalitet og naturfagprestasjoner fra TIMSS 2015 til TIMSS 2019

“…En laerers undervisningskvalitet vil kunne variere, og den vil vaere avhengig av elevsammensetningen (Nilsen, Scherer, Gustafsson, Teig & Kaarstein, 2020;Praetorius et al, 2020). Med det menes at laerernes undervisningspraksis kan variere fra klasse til klasse avhengig av hvilke elever som går i klassen.…”