School factors explaining achievement on cognitive and affective outcomes: Establishing a dynamic model of educational effectiveness

Abstract

The dynamic model of educational effectiveness defines school level factors associated with student outcomes. Emphasis is given to the two main aspects of policy, evaluation, and improvement in schools which affect quality of teaching and learning at both the level of teachers and students: a) teaching and b) school learning environment. Five measurement dimensions are used to define each factor: frequency, stage, focus, quality and differentiation. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study testing the validity of the dynamic model at the school level. The multidimensional approach to measure the school level factors was supported and most of the factors and their dimensions were found to be associated with student achievement in different learning outcomes. Implications for the development of the dynamic model and for educational practice are drawn. © 2010 Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research.