Karolina Retali[back]

Students' academic achievement is a frequently raised issue in every country, as it is related to the country's economy and prosperity. The aim of this study will be to provide a deeper understanding of factors associated with academic performance in Greece. The dataset used will derive from the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA is an international, standardised assessment that aims to examine 15-year- old students' ability to use knowledge and skills acquired in reading, mathematics and science in everyday life.

Thus far, there have been three waves of PISA (administered in 2000, 2003, and 2006). Although Greece performed poorly in all three waves, there has been surprisingly little analysis of the results. Moreover, there is an obvious lack of recent large-scale research on students' academic achievement in Greece. Therefore, this study will examine factors that might have an impact on the academic performance and school adjustment of Greek students, such as immigration and low socio-economic status, by conducting an in-depth multilevel analysis of the PISA 2000, 2003 and 2006 data. Subsequently, the study will explore the extent to which these influential factors may generalise to other European countries.

Marsh, H.W., & Retalis, K. (in press). Academic self-concept. K. Littleton, C. Wood, J. K. Staarman (Eds.),  Elsevier Handbook of Educational Psychology: New Perspectives on Learning and Teaching. New  York: Elsevier

Retali, K. (2007). “Potential influential factors of low academic achievement of students in Greece and comparison with other European countries: An exploration of the 2003 and 2006 PISA databases”, poster presented at the Research Poster Conference, University of Oxford, Department of Education.