Skip to main content

An IERI – International Educational Research Institute Journal

Table 7 TIMSS 2015 public data variables, noncognitive scales, and associated items

From: Socioeconomic status and beyond: a multilevel analysis of TIMSS mathematics achievement given student and school context in Turkey

Name of variable

Name of noncognitive scale (associated questionnaire)

Items used to create variable

Variable construction method

Level-1 (student level)

 Socioeconomic status of students (SES)

Home resources for learning (student and home)

Number of books in the home (student)

Choices: 0–10, 11–25, 26–100, 101–200, more than 200

Number of home study supports (student)

Choices: none, internet connection or own room, both

Number of children’s book in the home

Choices: 0–10, 11–25, 26–50, 51–100, more than 100

Highest level of education of either parent

Choices: finished some primary or lower secondary or did not go to school, finished lower secondary, finished upper secondary, finished post-secondary education, finished university or higher

Highest level of occupation of either parent

Choices: has never worked outside home for pay, general laborer, or semi-professional, clerical, small business owner, professional

Continuous variable created by partial credit model

 Student engagement in mathematics instructions (engage)

Students’ views on engaging teaching in Mathematics lessons (student)

I know what my teacher expects me to do

My teacher is easy to understand

I am interested in what my teacher says

My teacher gives me interesting things to do

My teacher has clear answers to my questions

My teacher is good at explaining mathematics

My teacher lets me show what I have learned

My teacher does a variety of things to help us learn

My teacher tells me to do better when I make a mistake

My teacher listens to what I have to say

Choices: agree a lot, agree a little, disagree a little, disagree a lot

Continuous variable created by partial credit model

 Early literacy and numeracy activities before elementary school (litnum)

Early literacy and numeracy activities before beginning primary school (home)

Read books

Tell stories

Sing songs

Play with alphabet toys (e.g., blocks with letters of the alphabet)

Talk about things you had done

Talk about what you had read

Play word games

Write letters or words

Read aloud signs and labels

Say counting rhymes or sing counting songs

Play with number toys (e.g., blocks with numbers)

Count different things

Play games involving shapes (e.g., shape sorting toys, puzzles)

Play with building blocks and construction toys

Play board or card games

Write numbers

Choices: often, sometimes, never or almost never

Continuous variable created by partial credit model

 Intrinsic motivation for mathematics (liking)

Students like learning mathematics (student)

I enjoy learning mathematics

Mathematics is boring*

I learn many interesting things in mathematics

I like mathematics

I like any schoolwork that involves numbers

I like to solve mathematics problems

I look forward to mathematics lessons

Mathematics is one of my favorite subjects

*Reverse coded

Choices: agree a lot, agree a little, disagree a little, disagree a lot

Continuous variable created by partial credit model

 Preschool education (preschool)

Students attended preprimary education (home)

Did your child attend pre-primary education program including kindergarten for children age 3 or older?

Approximately, how long was your child in these programs altogether?

dichotomous variable

1 = Yes, if at least attended one year

0 = No

Level-2 (school level)

 Socioeconomic status of schools (m_ses)

Home resources for learning (student and home)

Items given above

Aggregated to the school level

 Instruction quality (instruction)

Students’ views on engaging teaching in Mathematics lessons (student)

Items given above

Aggregated to the school level

 School readiness for learning (readiness)

Could do literacy and numeracy tasks when beginning primary school (home)

How well could your child do the following when he/she began the first grade of primary/elementary school?

Recognize most of the letters of the alphabet

Read some words

Read sentences

Read a story

Write letters of the alphabet

Write some words

Choices: very well, moderately well, not very well, not at all

Could your child do the following when he/she began the first grade of primary/elementary school?

Count by himself/herself

Recognize written numbers

Write numbers

Choices: up to 100 or higher, up to 20, up to 10, not at all

Could your child do the following when he/she began the first grade of primary/elementary school?

Do simple addition

Do simple subtraction

Choices: yes, no

Continuous variable created by partial credit model and aggregated to the school level

 School conditions and resources (conditions)

Problems with school conditions and resources (teacher)

The school building need significant repair

Teachers do not have adequate workspace(e.g., for preparation, collaboration, or meeting with students)

Teachers do not have adequate instructional materials and supplies

The school classrooms are not cleaned often enough

The school classrooms need maintenance work

Teachers do not have adequate technological resources

Teachers do not have adequate support for using technology

Choices: not a problem, minor problem, moderate problem, serious problem

Continuous variable created by partial credit model

 School Emphasis On Academic Success (Emphasis)

School emphasis on academic success (principal)

Teachers understanding of the school’s curricular goals

Teachers’ degree of success in implementing the school curriculum

Teachers’ expectation for student achievement

Teachers working together to improve student achievement

Teachers ability to inspire students

Parental involvement in school activities

Parental commitment to ensure that students are ready to learn

Parental expectations for student achievement

Parental support for student achievement

Parental pressure for the school to maintain high academic standards

Students’ desire to do well in the school

Students’ ability to reach school’s academic goals

Students’ respect for classmates who excel in school

Choices: very high, high, medium, low, very low

Continuous variable created by partial credit model

 Safe and orderly school environment (safe)

Safe and orderly school (teacher)

This school is located in a safe neighborhood

I feel safe at this school

This school’s security policies and practices are sufficient

The students behave in an orderly manner

The students are respectful of the teachers

The students respect school property

This school has clear rules about student conduct

This school’s rules are enforced in a fair and consistent manner

Choices: agree a lot, agree a little, disagree a little, disagree a lot

Continuous variable created by partial credit model