Comparing Effects of Family and School Factors on Cross-national Academic Achievement using the 2009 and 2006 PISA Surveys

Abstract This paper investigates whether international differences in math and science achievement, and specifically the lower US scores, can be explained by family socioeconomic status (SES) and differences in school factors. Using 2009 and 2006 PISA data for the ten largest developed OECD countries, the results show that, while family SES has a strong effect on students' achievement, it does not explain the US achievement gap with other large developed OECD countries. In contrast, a substantial number of school variables not only have significant effects on math and science achievement, but they contribute more to the US gap than SES differences.