ABSTRACT
The current study explores the impact of student background characteristics and school composition, resources, and climate on reading achievement in Finland and Shanghai based on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 database. Multilevel analyses indicate that the effect of each predictor might vary between Finland and Shanghai. Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition of the country (economy) level score gap between Finland and Shanghai indicates that each of them might benefit more from the endowments, the returns, and the endowment-return interactions of different predictors. It would be valuable to school improvement if education policy-makers and practitioners could consider implementing those “significant” predictors specifically influential in their school system. The general improvement of some “non-significant” predictors in each country might be beneficial to the country’s average achievement. The potential of each predictor for school/country improvement in Shanghai and Finland is given.
