School quality and student achievement in 21 European countries

The Heyneman-Loxley effect (1982, 1983) refers to an effect moderating the degree to which school quality affects student achievement. This moderating effect was found to relate to a country’s economic productivity. More specifically,the effect is one in which school quality has a greater impact on student achievement in countries that are less developed economically than in countries that are more highly developed. This article presents a reexamination of this effect using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) analyses of data for 21 European countries that participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in 2003. Two models are analyzed. The first is a three-level model that includes each country’s economic status at the highest level, school resources at the middle level, and students’ respective family backgrounds at the lowest level. The second is a two-level model that includes school and student context variables only and examines these separately for each country. Results indicate little evidence to support the Heyneman-Loxley effect in the selected group of countries in 2003.