Sofokli Garo

Date of Award

5-2008

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Abstract

International comparison studies provide an opportunity for participating countries to compare best practices and to further develop their own improvements, ones appropriate for their school systems. The purpose of this international study was to compare algebraic achievement and educational practices of 9th graders in Albania and the U. S, as well as identifying those educational practices that appear to be significant predictors for algebraic achievement of students in each country.

In April and May 2007, 242 ninth-grade American students from four high schools in Grand Forks of the state ofNorth Dakota (U.S.) and 219 students from four high schools in Durres (Albania), participated in the study. The data collection instruments consisted of an achievement test and a student questionnaire. The test adopted a Texas publicly-released standardized test. It was focused on the Algebra 1 knowledge covered by schools of the two countries during the academic year 2006-2007. While one part of the U.S. sample (145 students) did not used calculators on the test, the other part (97 students) used calculators. The entire sample of Albanian students did not use calculators on the test. The questionnaire attempted to measure students' perceptions of educational practices exercised in classrooms and communities of each country.

The study did not find significant difference in the overall algebraic achievement of students in the two countries. However, Albanian students significantly outperformed american students who did not use calculators on the test and were significantly outperformed by American calculator users.

Albanian students significantly outperformed American students in the specific domains of knowing and applying. The difference in the specific domain of reasoning was not significant. Furthermore, American calculator users significantly outperformed Albanians in the cognitive domains of applying and reasoning but were significantly outperformed in the cognitive domain of knowing. In addition, Albanian students were more inclined than their American peers to use algebra for solving word problems.

The study also found significant differences in many instructional and non-instructional practices used in the cultures of these countries. Six educational practices turned out to be significant predictors of achievement for Albanian students and nine educational practices were significant predictors of achievement for American students. Some practices, such as, "taking multiple-choice tests", "spending time with friends", "re-teaching of a topic",. and "self competence in mathematics" appear as significant predictors of achievement of students in both countries.

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