Testing the theoretical framework of whole school interventions aiming to promote student learning outcomes: the contribution of multilevel structural equation modelling

ABSTRACT

This paper refers to whole school interventions aiming to promote student learning outcomes through improving the functioning of school factors. Evaluation studies of these interventions mainly measure their impact on student learning outcomes. This paper argues for the importance of studying the mechanisms of whole school interventions through testing the theoretical framework upon which each intervention is based. We stress the importance of using Multilevel Structural Equation Model (MSEM) for identifying indirect effects of whole school interventions on student learning. To illustrate the strengths of this approach, we present an experimental study investigating the impact of the Dynamic Approach to School Improvement (DASI) on promoting student learning outcomes. The methods of this study and the use of mediation MSEM in a 2-2-1 design to test the main theoretical assumption of DASI are presented. The intervention was found to have both a direct (d = 0.21) and an indirect effect (d = 0.13) on student achievement in mathematics. Implications for designing and evaluating theory-driven school improvement approaches are drawn.

KEYWORDS:

• Educational effectiveness
• school improvement
• quality in education
• multilevel structural equation modelling techniques
• causality in education

Acknowledgements

The study presented in this paper is part of a three-year project (2014–2017) entitled ‘Promoting Quality and Equity: A Dynamic Approach to School Improvement (PROMQE) (Agreement Number: 2014-1-CY01-KA200-000281)’, under the Erasmus+ Key Action 2, Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices (Field: School Education). This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.