Wangqiong Ye

• Teig, Nani; Ye, Wangqiong; Caro, Daniel & April, Daniel (2026). Academic resilience of disadvantaged students in 58 countries: The role of early home learning activities and instructional clarity. Studies in Educational Evaluation. ISSN 0191-491X. 89. doi: 10.1016/j.stueduc.2026.101604. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Academic resilience refers to students’ ability to succeed academically despite socioeconomic adversity. This study investigates how early home learning activities and teachers’ instructional clarity interact to support disadvantaged students’ resilience in mathematics and science. Using data from 308,609 fourth graders across 58 countries in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019, resilient students were identified with both cross-national and within-country thresholds. Results show large variation across countries and subjects, with mathematics generally yielding higher resilience share than science. Pooled moderation analyses revealed compensatory effects: instructional clarity was especially beneficial for students with limited early home learning, while within-country analyses more often showed synergistic effects, where both supports reinforced one another. These findings underscore that resilience is context-specific and shaped by the alignment between home and school environments. Policymakers and educators should strengthen both supports individually while fostering their complementarity to enhance disadvantaged students’ resilience in mathematics and science.

• Ye, Wangbei & Ye, Wangqiong (2026). Do school quotas improve rural access to elite high schools? Evidence from a county-level city in China. International Journal of Educational Development. ISSN 0738-0593. 123. doi: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2026.103571. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study examines the effects of a high school quota allocation policy in a county-level city in China, focusing on its role in promoting educational equality while maintaining academic quality. We combined quantitative data from standardized Grade 8 examination results of 2320 students across all eight middle schools in the county with qualitative interviews conducted with education bureau officials, principals, and teachers. Quantitative analyses included independent-sample t tests, an equity-efficiency framework, and regression discontinuity design (RDD), while thematic analysis of interviews provided contextual insights into local practices and policy implementation. Three key findings emerged. First, substantial rural-urban disparities in student performance persist. Urban students outperformed their rural peers, and girls scored higher than boys in Chinese and English, though gender differences in mathematics and physics were not significant. Second, the 70% quota policy modestly expanded opportunities for rural students to enter elite high schools, but gains were uneven across schools and shaped largely by enrollment size rather than education quality. Third, the policy safeguarded academic standards, as admission scores remained stable and RDD confirmed that admitted students were academically stronger than those just below the cutoff. Overall, the policy improved access without reducing quality, yet its contribution to educational equality remains partial and uneven. The study offers new evidence on how quota allocation operates in county-level settings, providing useful insights for policymakers and educators in China seeking to reduce rural-urban disparities and strengthen the design of future quota reforms.

• Koršňáková, Paulína; Qadri, Tahira Ali & Ye, Wangqiong (2026). The European sustainability competence framework (GreenComp) in light of TIMSS 2023 data. In Hastedt, Dirk; Koršňáková, Paulína & Ranđelović, Branislav M. (Ed.), Educating Pupils for Environmental Sustainability in Europe. Springer Nature Switzerland. ISSN 9783032147257. p. 53–86. doi: 10.1007/978-3-032-14725-7_3. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  International large-scale assessments offer valuable opportunities to review educational outcomes from a sustainability competence perspective. This chapter builds on the conceptual overview of the European Commission’s GreenComp framework by examining how data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2023 context questionnaires relate to the four GreenComp competence areas. Latent class analysis is employed to classify grade four students into distinct profiles of sustainability engagement: Highly Engaged, Moderately Engaged, and Less Engaged. These profiles are interpreted in relation to the GreenComp framework and examined across TIMSS 2023 European education systems. Gender differences are also explored alongside analyses of the perceived roles of parents and teachers, confirming the significant part that both groups play in shaping students’ pro-environmental behaviors and sustainability engagement. Cross-national variation observed in the distribution of the profiles reveals how sustainability competences are shaped by diverse curricular, cultural, and socioeconomic factors. While TIMSS offers valuable entry points for examining sustainability engagement, limitations include item coverage, the cross-sectional nature of the data, and sample scope. The chapter concludes by underscoring the importance of integrating competence-based sustainability frameworks like GreenComp into future international assessments to enable more comprehensive and policy-relevant monitoring of sustainability competences.

• Nilsen, Trude; Alia, Agim & Ye, Wangqiong (2025). Teacher Qualifications, Professional Development, Teaching Quality, and Student Reading Achievements. A Comparative Perspective for the Dinaric Region. In Džumhur, Žaneta; Koršňáková, Paulína & Meinck, Sabine (Ed.), Dinaric Perspectives on PIRLS 2021. Springer. ISSN 9783031880049. p. 73–97. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-88002-5_4. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  A large body of research has shown that teachers and their teaching are important to student learning outcomes. However, most of this research has been done in the United States and German-speaking countries for mathematics. There is therefore a lack of research on this in reading, and specifically for this research within the Dinaric region. This study investigates the characteristics of teacher qualifications, teacher professional development (PD), and teaching quality, as well as the relations between them and to student reading achievement in seven Dinaric education systems. Using data from IEA’s Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2021, descriptive statistics were used to describe the characteristics. Two-level structural equation models were used to investigate the relations between teacher qualifications, PD, teaching quality, and student reading achievement. The results showed that most Dinaric education systems had lower levels of education than the international average and that most teachers had primary education as their main area of study. Further, Albanian teachers participated in PD activities to a greater extent than those in the other education systems in the Dinaric region and also had the highest teaching quality. Teaching quality was for the most part associated with higher reading achievement in all education systems, while there were few significant findings for the relations between teacher qualifications and achievement via their instruction. The findings are discussed in light of previous research and the context of the Dinaric region.

• Nilsen, Trude; Ye, Wangqiong & Teig, Nani (2025). Utvikling av ulikheter i utdanningen over tid. In Kaarstein, Hege & Lehre, Anne- Catherine W G (Ed.), Hva TIMSS forteller om norsk skole: Sekundæranalyser av TIMSS-undersøkelsen. Cappelen Damm Forskning. ISSN 9788202869137. p. 21–46. doi: 10.23865/cdf.274.ch2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Økende ulikhet i utdanningen utfordrer demokratiske prinsipper og sosial mobilitet, men forskningen på langtidstrender, spesielt etter covid-19- pandemien og med bredere ulikhetsmål, er begrenset. Denne studien undersøker utviklingen av ulikheter i matematikkprestasjoner på 8. og 9. trinn i norsk skole fra 1995 til 2023. Den analyserer endringer i sammenhengen mellom elevers sosioøkonomiske status (SØS) og prestasjoner, både på elev- og klassenivå, samt utviklingen i andelen faglig resiliente elever (elever med lav SØS, men høye prestasjoner). Studien benytter TIMSS-data fra syv sykluser (fra 1995 til 2023) og analyserer sammenhengen mellom SØS og prestasjoner i matematikk ved hjelp av ett- og tonivå strukturell ligningsmodellering og lineær regresjon, samt beregner andelen resiliente elever. Resultatene indikerer en økende sammenheng mellom SØS og matematikkprestasjoner på elevnivå og muligens økte forskjeller på klassenivå. Andelen resiliente elever sank fra ca. 18 prosent i 1995 til ca. 12 prosent i 2023. Samlet sett peker funnene mot økende ulikheter over perioden, også under pandemien, med et unntak for perioden 2003–2007. Funnene understreker et presserende behov for forsterket innsats og koordinerte politiske tiltak fra både skole og samfunn for å motvirke økende utdanningsulikhet og sikre reelt like muligheter for alle elever.

• Ye, Wangqiong; Aleman, Jose Manuel Arencibia; Nilsen, Trude & Widding-Havnerås, Tarjei (2025). Will what helps now help later? The role of school spending in shaping academic resilience and future success for Norway’s disadvantaged students. International Journal of Educational Research. ISSN 0883-0355. 134. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer.2025.102804. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Academic resilience, which describes how disadvantaged students excel in schools, has gained attention for its potential to narrow achievement gaps and reduce educational inequalities. While malleable protective factors in the learning environment have been extensively studied, institutional factors like school spending have received less attention. This study utilizes Norwegian register data to examine how the amount and allocation of school spending may influence academic resilience through regression analyses. Instrumental variable (IV) analyses are then used to further examine support for the relationship between academic resilience and long-term outcomes, such as educational attainment and income by age 30. The findings reveal that class size and student-teacher ratios, while not predictors of academic resilience, are associated with long-term outcomes. The amount of school spending influences academic resilience; however, its effects on educational attainment and income vary. The allocation of school spending influences educational attainment and income, with specific investments in Norwegian language and special education support significantly predicting academic resilience. Academic resilience is predictive of both educational attainment and income, showing a more pronounced relationship with educational attainment. The IV analyses show consistent results. This study contributes to the literature by detailing the influence of school spending on academic resilience and its connection to future success, thus supporting policy development aimed at fostering social inclusion.

• Nilsen, Trude; Senden, Bas; Ye, Wangqiong; Jentsch, Armin; Teig, Nani & König, Johannes (2025). Mathematics teaching quality in classrooms of different compositions in Norway. ZDM: Mathematics Education. ISSN 1863-9690. doi: 10.1007/s11858-025-01722-y. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Educational inequalities are increasing globally, including in Norway. Many studies have highlighted the importance of teaching quality (TQ) in reducing these inequalities. However, it remains unclear how different classroom compositions shape TQ and how TQ is distributed between advantaged and disadvantaged classrooms in Norway. This knowledge is crucial for teacher education and educational policy, especially given that substantial compensatory funding is allocated to schools with high proportions of disadvantaged students. The present study examined the association between classroom composition and TQ in mathematics. We also examined the distribution of TQ and the number of teachers per classroom across classrooms of diverse compositions (in terms of socio-economic status (SES) and immigrant background). Two-level structural equation modelling was used to analyze data from a representative sample of 5th-graders from Norway (N = 3951) and Oslo (N = 922). To contextualize the results in terms of segregation and educational inequality across classrooms, the study also estimated the compositional effects of SES and immigration backgrounds on mathematics achievement across these classrooms. To examine the characteristics of TQ more deeply, we also analyzed video observations from a subsample of 15 Oslo classrooms (121 twenty-minute segments) using the TEDS-Instruct observational instrument. Findings from student questionnaires and the video study were consistent. Low-SES classrooms and those with many immigrants showed higher cognitive activation, a more supportive climate, and more teachers per classroom. In contrast, high-SES classrooms and those with few immigrants exhibited higher levels of classroom management. Implications for teacher education and further research are discussed.

• Ye, Wangqiong; Teig, Nani & Blömeke, Sigrid (2024). Systematic review of protective factors related to academic resilience in children and adolescents: unpacking the interplay of operationalization, data, and research method. Frontiers in Psychology. 15. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1405786. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Identifying protective factors that promote academic resilience is vital. Nevertheless, due to the variations in the operationalizations of academic resilience, timeframes, data sources, and employed research methods, it remains unclear whether the impact of protective factors identified across studies can be attributed to the factors themselves or to these variations. By addressing these uncertainties, this study aims to provide an overview of the protective factors that have been extensively investigated in academic resilience and their degree of influence. A literature search found 119 empirical studies on protective factors in education settings for children and adolescents. The review analyzed five protective factors groups (individual, family, school, peer, community), three operationalizations of academic resilience (simultaneous, progressive, instrumental), two timeframes (longitudinal, non-longitudinal), three data sources (self-collected, national/local assessments, international large-scale assessments), and commonly employed research methods. The studies analyzed in this review yielded mixed results regarding the impact of the examined protective factors, with measurement instruments and statistical power playing a significant role in explaining the variations. Individual and school-level characteristics emerged as the most well-studied protective factors; individual characteristics were often investigated through “instrumental” operationalization and structural equational models, whereas school-level characteristics were typically explored through “simultaneous” or “progressive” operationalizations and multilevel modeling. Approximately 31 and 16% of the studies utilized national assessments and international large-scale assessment data, respectively. Both data sources promoted the exploration of school-level factors, with the former facilitating the exploration of protective factors across time and the latter contributing to the investigation of teaching-related factors.

• Ye, Wangqiong; Scherer, Ronny & Blömeke, Sigrid (2024). Teachers’ and principals’ perceptions of school emphasis on academic success: measurement invariance, agreement, and relations to student achievement. Large-scale Assessments in Education. 12. doi: 10.1186/s40536-024-00207-w. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  A school’s emphasis on academic success (SEAS) is a crucial aspect of school climate that can be rated by different informants, such as teachers or principals, and with respect to their perception of different groups’ emphasis on academic success, such as parents or students. We know little about whether there is agreement between these ratings. Utilizing Israeli Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019 data and multilevel structural equation modeling, we examined how teachers and principals rate teachers’, students’, and parents’ emphasis on academic success and how these ratings are related to student achievement. We found that (a) ratings are invariant across informants; (b) teachers and principals agree on parents’ and students’ yet not teachers’ emphasis; (c) teacher ratings explain more variation in student achievement than principal ratings. Since SEAS ratings diverge by informants and relations to student achievement, researchers need to craft validity arguments in their studies.

• Ye, Wangqiong; Ye, Yuechan & Wu, Mingcan (2024). More time or more money? A longitudinal examination of parental involvement in shaping academic success of China's left-behind children from 2010 to 2020. Children and Youth Services Review. ISSN 0190-7409. 166. doi: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2024.107983. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Utilizing data from the China Family Panel Survey spanning 2010 to 2020, the study encompasses 1,604 children, aged 10 to 15 years at the survey period, with 47.13 % being female. This research examines the long-term influence of parental involvement on the academic success of left-behind children, defined in terms of their enrollment in high schools and key high schools. Latent growth modeling is used to analyze the dynamics between parental involvement, the duration of separation between parents and children, and the changes in the family’s annual per capita income over time. Findings suggest that children’s academic success is predicted by parental educational expectations and the provision of supportive educational environments, whereas academic parenting practices and reactions to underperformance have no significant impact. Parental financial contributions to their children’s education are linked to academic success, albeit up to a certain limit. Family income boosts key high school enrollment, while parental education aids in high school enrollment, showing varied impacts on academic success. The length of separation between parents and children does not predict academic success. Girls are found to be more academically successful than boys. Conclusions are drawn for strategies to promote academic success for left-behind children.

• Ye, Wangqiong; Olsen, Rolf Vegar & Blömeke, Sigrid (2024). More money does not necessarily help: relations of education expenditure, school characteristics, and academic resilience across 36 education systems. Frontiers in Education. 9. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1368642. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Teacher quality, teaching quality, school resources, and school climate are commonly identified as protective factors in the academic resilience literature. Variables reflecting these four concepts were applied in a latent profile analysis across 36 education systems participating in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2019. The best-fitting model suggested four different latent profiles of protective factors. A three-step BCH method with an auxiliary regression model was adopted to investigate the influence of education expenditure on academic resilience across the profiles. Education expenditure promoted academic resilience in a profile characterized by low mathematics resources and another profile with low teaching quality and school climate. Education expenditure had no significant influence in the remaining two profiles characterized by very low and high levels of classroom and school protective factors, respectively. Moreover, countries were classified into six cultural groups representing education systems sharing similarities in language, history, or geography. Within each group, there was a certain degree of consistency in the distribution of profiles. Conclusions are drawn for strategies to promote academic resilience.

• Ye, Wangbei; Ding, Yingying; Han, Xiaomeng & Ye, Wangqiong (2022). Pre-service teachers’ teaching motivation and perceptions of teacher morality in China. Educational Studies. ISSN 0305-5698. doi: 10.1080/03055698.2022.2037406. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The study examines two types of pre-service teachers’ teaching motivation and perceptions of teacher morality in China through the following three research questions: (1) What are pre-service teachers’ teaching motivations and perceptions of teacher morality? (2) What is the relationship between pre-service teachers’ perceptions of teaching motivation and teacher morality? (3) What are the differences between the two groups of pre-service teachers, and what factors influence their perceptions? Data are drawn from questionnaires on teacher morality in China and the FIT-Choice Scale, completed by 300 pre-service teachers, and semi-structured interviews with 25 pre-service teachers. The analyses of the findings reveal that pre-service teachers showed a high degree of teaching motivation and generally agreed with the Chinese state’s teacher morality requirements. This study suggests a “moral-motivation-reciprocity” framework for understanding pre-service teachers’ teaching motivation and perceptions of teacher morality in China.

• Ye, Wangbei; Zhu, Liping & Ye, Wangqiong (2021). Motivation and morality to manage a class: perceptions of homeroom teachers in China’s Tianjin city. Educational Studies. ISSN 0305-5698. p. 1–19. doi: 10.1080/03055698.2021.1873736. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  This study examines homeroom teachers’ motivation and morality in their classroom-level leadership in China. Data are drawn from questionnaires completed by 137 junior middle school homeroom teachers from Tianjin city, and semi-structured interviews with 10 of them. The participating homeroom teachers saw themselves as having high levels of both motivation and teacher morality. And the variable – teacher with a master’s degree – have significant correlations with teachers’ perceptions of motivation. This study suggests a “morality-motivation-management” framework for understanding the interaction of motivation and morality in homeroom teachers’ classroom-level leadership in China.

• Ye, Wangbei; Wang, Zixuan; Zhang, Xuan; Ding, Yingying & Ye, Wangqiong (2021). Comparing motivations of pre-service and beginning teachers in China: impact of culture and experience. Journal of Education for Teaching (JET). ISSN 0260-7476. 47(4), p. 576–589. doi: 10.1080/02607476.2021.1898911. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The study examines beginning teachers’ and pre-service teachers’ motivation to teach in China. Data are drawn from questionnaires completed by 107 beginning teachers (full-time teachers with fewer than six years’ working experience) and 122 pre-service teachers, and semi-structured interviews with 19 of them. The respondents all emphasised social influences, personal utility value, and social utility value, and all viewed the teaching profession as a career high in demands but low in returns. However, pre-service teachers showed higher motivation than beginning teachers, except for items regarding intrinsic value, fall-back careers, and teaching ability. This study suggests a ‘culture-motivation’ framework for understanding teachers’ motivation in China.

• Ye, Wangqiong; Strietholt, Rolf & Blömeke, Sigrid (2021). Academic resilience: underlying norms and validity of definitions. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability. ISSN 1874-8597. 33(1), p. 169–202. doi: 10.1007/s11092-020-09351-7. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract Academic resilience refers to students’ capacity to perform highly despite a disadvantaged background. Although most studies using international large-scale assessment (ILSA) data defined academic resilience with two criteria, student background and achievement, their conceptualizations and operationalizations varied substantially. In a systematic review, we identified 20 ILSA studies applying different criteria, different approaches to setting thresholds (the same fixed ones across countries or relative country-specific ones), and different threshold levels. Our study on the validity of these differences and how they affected the composition of academically resilient students revealed that the classification depended heavily on the threshold applied. When a fixed background threshold was applied, the classification was likely to be affected by the developmental state of a country. This could result in an overestimation of the proportions of academically resilient students in some countries while an underestimation in others. Furthermore, compared to the application of a social or economic capital indication, applying a cultural capital indicator may lead to lower shares of disadvantaged students classified as academically resilient. The composition of academically resilient students varied significantly by gender and language depending on which indicator of human capital or which thresholds were applied reflecting underlying societal characteristics. Conclusions drawn from such different results depending on the specific conceptualizations and operationalizations would vary greatly. Finally, our study utilizing PISA 2015 data from three countries representing diverse cultures and performance levels revealed that a stronger sense of belonging to a school significantly increased the chances to be classified as academically resilient in Peru, but not in Norway or Hong Kong. In contrast, absence from school was significantly associated with academic resilience in Norway and Hong Kong, but not in Peru.

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