Factors Affecting Mathematics Achievement: A Multilevel Modelling

This article aims to investigate variations in mathematics achievement for secondary school students across the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessments and to examine the relations of several student- and school-level factors with achievement. The data were obtained from 5,577, 5,314, and 4,466 Malaysian eighth graders who participated in TIMSS 1999, 2003, and 2007, respectively. A two-level multilevel modeling technique was used. The results indicate that 59.02%, 53.39%, and 61.33% of variance in achievement scores accounted for betweenschool differences in the 1999, 2003, and 2007 studies, correspondingly. After controlling for the school-level factors, mathematics self-concept and attitude towards mathematics yielded the strongest link to achievement in the three assessments. At the same time, controlling for the student-level factors, school location had the strongest association with achievement in the three assessments, however, the trend in the correlation coefficient between this factor and the achievement is decreasing across the assessments.