Education in the Western Balkans

Findings from PISA

Albania
Policy makers

Supported by the
1. Outcomes

Excellence and equity

2
What is PISA?

• Programme for International Student Assessment

• Assesses students in reading, mathematics and science
every three years
Participation Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Kosovo Montenegro North Serbia
Macedonia
PISA 2000 X       X  
PISA 2003       X   X
PISA 2006       X   X
PISA 2009 X     X   X
PISA 2012 X     X   X
PISA 2015 X   X X X  

PISA 2018 X X X X X X

Outcomes 3
Results on PISA 2018
Reading Mathematics Science

500 • Albania has high

performance for the
450
region
400 • However, its
performance is lower
350 than that of EU
countries
300
ia a o o a ia e • (OECD average is
n in ov eg
r ni b ra
g
ba v s o er
Al
e go Ko ten
ac
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av
e 500, standard
rz on
He M EU
d
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orth deviation 100)
an N
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Bo

Outcomes 4
Performance in Albania is inequitable
Difference in reading (advantaged students minus dis- • Socio-economically
advantaged students)
100 advantaged students
80
perform better than
disadvantaged (gap
60 is average in the
region)
40
• Gender is also a
20 concern; girls score
38 points higher than
0
boys (EU average,
32)
An advantaged student is one who falls within the top quartile of students in an education system
according to the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status. A disadvantaged student is one who
falls within the bottom quartile.

Outcomes 5
 Performance in Albania is inequitable (cont’d)

Percentage of students below baseline proficiency in reading

100%
Higher values represent more low-performing
students
80% Vocational
• 72% of vocational
60%
students cannot
complete basic tasks
40% needed to succeed,
compared to 47% of
20% Difference general ed. students
General/modular
0%

Outcomes 6
 2. Schools

Schooling and its relationship with educational excellence and equity

7
 Student tracking (context and issues)
General or modular programmes Vocational programmes

100% • Unlike most systems

in the region,
80%
Albania’s vocational
sector is smaller than
Share of students

60%
the EU average
40%
• However, there are
20% still performance
differences between
0% tracks, and questions
around how sorting
Only students in upper secondary school
occurs

Schools – Student tracking 8

 Selection into vocational programmes reflects not only student ability, but also
their background
In c re a se d like lih o od of a tte n d in g a

Boys
6 Socio-econonomically disadvantaged students
• Compared to other
vo c a tion a l p r og ra m m e

5
systems, selection in
4
Albania is shaped
3 less by socio-
2 economic status and
1
more by gender
• Boys are over 4x as
0
Al- Bos Kos Mon Nort Ser EU
ba nia ovo tene h bia av-
Al- Bos Kos Mon Nort Ser Wes CEE EU OEC
ba nia ovo tene h bia tern C av- D
likely to be in
nia and
Her
gro Mac
edo
er-
age
nia and
Her
gro Mac
edo
Balk av- er- av-
ans er- age er-
vocational
ze-
gov-
nia ze-
gov-
nia av- age
er-
age
programmes, highest
ina
Only students in upper secondary school
ina age
in the region

Schools – Student tracking 9

Selection into vocational programmes reflects not only student ability, but also
their background (cont’d)

Share of vocational students that is male

100%

• Albania’s vocational
80% sector is 76% male,
highest in the region
60%
• Is student sorting in
Albania fair and
40%
equitable?
• Are all students being
20%
prepared to succeed?
0%
Albania Bosnia and Kosovo Montenegro North Serbia
Herzegovina Macedonia

Schools – Student tracking 10

 School resourcing (context and issues)

550

500 OECD average: 487 points

Reading performance

450

• Low educational spending in the

400
region (data missing for Albania)
OECD average: USD 89,092

• Do schools have what they need to

350
help all students succeed?

300
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350

Cumulative spending on one student through age 15 (‘000 USD)

Schools – School resourcing 11

 Educational resources are not equitably distributed
Difference in principals’ concern about material resources

Principals' concern about material resources greater in

0.1 advantaged schools
• Advantaged schools
-0.1
might receive more
Difference in index value

-0.3 resources than

disadvantaged
-0.5 schools
Principals' concern about material resources greater in

-0.7
disadvantaged schools • Inequitable
resourcing could
-0.9 contribute to gaps in
learning
-1.1
An advantaged school is one that falls within the top quartile of schools within an education system
according to their students’ socio-economic status. A disadvantaged school is one that falls within the
bottom quartile.

Schools – School resourcing 12

 Resources are not always linked to better performance

• Generally speaking,
Positive association with Negative association with more resources are
   
performance performance not necessarily
associated with
Shortage of Number of available Percentage of greater performance
  material computers per student computers connected to
resources for educational purposes the Internet in Albania or
Albania       internationally
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
      • These results
Kosovo       highlight the
Montenegro      
North Macedonia       importance of how
Serbia       resources are used, in
EU average      
addition to whether
they are available

Schools – School resourcing 13

 3. Teachers

Teaching and its relationship with educational excellence and equity

14
 Teacher practices (context and issues)

Teacher-directed instruction
Teacher-directed instruction Albania
• What instructional
Albania
OECD Average
approaches do
OECD average
teachers in Albania
use?
• Are the most
Support Enthusiasm
Support Enthusiasm
common approaches
associated with
higher student
outcomes?
• Are teachers who use
the most positive
practices equitably
Feedback
Feedback
Adaptive instruction
Adaptive instruction distributed?
Teachers – Teacher practices 15
Common teacher practices in Albania are not always associated with higher
student outcomes

More teacher-directed instruction More adaptive instruction

15 • Greater use of
10 teacher-directed is, in
general, associated
Difference in reading

5
with lower student
0 performance
-5
• Greater use of
adaptive instruction
-10 is, in general,
-15 associated with
higher student
-20
After accounting for socio-economic status and gender
performance

Teachers – Teacher practices 16

 Teacher practices that are associated with higher performance are not
equitably distributed

More adaptive instruction More teacher-directed instruction

Practices more frequent

Albania in advantaged schools

Bosnia and Herzegovina • Teachers in

Practices more frequent in advantaged schools
Kosovo disadvantaged schools
use positive practices
more
Montenegro
• This can contribute
Serbia to inequitable
student outcomes
EU average

An advantaged school is one that falls within the top quartile of schools within an education system
according to their students’ socio-economic status. A disadvantaged school is one that falls within the
bottom quartile.

Teachers – Teacher practices 17

Teacher appraisal and professional development (context and issues)

Share of schools where student assessment results are • How are teachers
100% used to make judgements about teachers’ effectiveness evaluated?
80% • ~80% of teachers in
Albania are appraised
60%
based upon student
40%
test scores (EU 46%)
20% • Does not always reflect
0% how well teachers help
ia a o ro a ia ge
n in ov g ni b ra students learn, unfair
ba v s ne
o er
Al
e go Ko te ce
d S
av
e

He
rz
M
on
M
a
EU to teachers with more
rth
an
d
N o disadvantaged
a
sni students, might
Bo
Share of schools is weighted by number of enrolled 15 year-old students incentivize focusing on
the best students
Teachers – Teacher appraisal 18
Teacher appraisal and professional development (context and issues)

Teachers attended professional development in last three months

Teachers have scheduled time to collaborate on digital instructional materials and
approaches • To what extent do
100%
teachers in Albania
80% participate in
professional
60%
development?
40% • Do teachers from
20%
some schools
participate more than
0% teachers from other
schools?
Teachers are weighted by number of 15 year-old students enrolled in their schools

Teachers – Teacher appraisal and professional development 19

 However, participation in professional development is not equitable

Difference between socio-economically advantaged and • Teachers with more

disadvantaged schools
Teachers attended professional development in last three months disadvantaged
Teachers have scheduled time to collaborate on digital instructional materials and approaches students might receive
Professional development more less development, even
20% frequent in advantaged schools
though these teachers
might need more
0%
support
Albania Bosnia and Kosovo Montenegro North Serbia EU average • Across EU countries,
Herzegovina Macedonia
teachers from
-20% Professional development more frequent
in disadvantaged schools
disadvantaged schools
participate in
-40% professional
An advantaged school is one that falls within the top quartile of schools within an education system according to development to the
their students’ socio-economic status. A disadvantaged school is one that falls within the bottom quartile.
Teachers are weighted by number of 15 year-old students enrolled in their schools
same degree
Teachers – Teacher appraisal and professional development 20