School-level and student-level factors influencing lower secondary student achievement in Cambodia

Purpose This study examines school-level and student-level factors influencing student achievement at lower secondary schools in Cambodia. Design/methodology/approach The study uses data from the Program for International Student Assessment for Development for Cambodia, which included 2,643 students age 15 and 2,643 teachers from 135 schools. Findings The results show that at the school level, the school type and teachers being late for class significantly affected all three achievements. The school location significantly affected reading achievement, and private tutoring significantly affected mathematics achievement. At the student level, the grade, gender, student life satisfaction, absenteeism, parents’ motivation, students’ work responsibilities and the number of books at home significantly affected achievement in all three subject areas. Grade repetition negatively affected student achievement in all three subject areas, but less so in mathematics. The availability of home resources significantly affected achievement, but parents’ education level negatively affected science achievement. Originality/value The study analyzes large-scale data at the secondary education level in low-income countries. Although some large-scale data is available at the primary-education level in low-income countries, there is less data available for analysis at the secondary-education level. In addition, we discuss the Heyneman–Loxley effect as it relates to the secondary-education level in low-income countries. The lack of large-scale data prompted us to analyze the impact at the secondary-education level.