ARISE Academic resilience in mathematics and science among disadvantaged students

• Martin, Andrew J.; Malmberg, Lars-Erik; Holliman, Andrew J.; Teig, Nani; Putwain, David W. & Collie, Rebecca J. [Show all 10 contributors for this article] (2026). Academic buoyancy and adaptability: A multisample study of reciprocal effects. Journal of Educational Psychology. ISSN 0022-0663. doi: 10.1037/edu0001073. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Students’ capacity to effectively respond to academic challenge (buoyancy) and change (adaptability) is important for their academic and social-emotional well-being. To date, buoyancy and adaptability have been operationalized as correlated predictors of well-being outcomes, with no empirical consideration given to their potential influence on each other over time. Harnessing conservation of resources theory and data from six two-wave studies totaling 5,931 school students, we investigated this question via six cross-lagged panel analyses (one for each study). Across the six analyses, findings demonstrated reciprocal effects such that buoyancy and adaptability mutually reinforced each other over time. In addition to offering further conceptual and empirical clarification of buoyancy and adaptability, the findings suggest that practice efforts to support students’ buoyancy and adaptability will not only benefit these constructs directly but also mutually reinforce each other over time.

• Ding, Yi (2026). Academic resilience in mathematics and science: Gender and subject patterns across 47 education systems in TIMSS 2023. Large-scale Assessments in Education. 14. doi: 10.1186/s40536-026-00311-z. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Academic resilience refers to the ability of socioeconomically disadvantaged students to achieve high levels of academic performance despite adversity. This concept highlights students who succeed against the odds and provides insight into how education systems can better support equity and excellence. Drawing on data from TIMSS 2023 across 47 education systems, this study examines resilience in mathematics and science, with particular attention to subject- and gender-specific patterns. Socioeconomically disadvantaged students are identified as those in the bottom quartile of home educational resources distribution within each education system. Within this group, resilience students are identified using two commonly applied criteria: a fixed threshold using the TIMSS High International Benchmarks of 550 points, and a relative threshold identifying students who achieve in the top quartile of the national achievement distribution. The findings show that resilience patterns are partly definition-dependent, and underline the importance of examining resilience separately by subject and gender. Threshold-based indicators should be interpreted as descriptive measures of achievement among disadvantaged students rather than as comprehensive indicators of adaptive capacity or education-system effectiveness.

• Kahraman, Nurcan; Teig, Nani & Ding, Yi (2026). Profiles of social and emotional skills in adolescents: The role of demographic backgrounds, school climate and academic achievement. British Journal of Educational Psychology. ISSN 0007-0998. doi: 10.1111/bjep.70111. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Background Social and emotional skills (SES) are key predictors of students' academic success and well-being, yet how these skills cluster and vary across student groups remains underexplored in non-Western contexts. Aims This study identified distinct SES profiles among Turkish adolescents and examined which demographic characteristics and school climate factors are associated with these profiles, as well as their links to achievement in reading, mathematics and science. Sample The analyses used nationally representative data from 7250 15-year-old students in Türkiye participating in PISA 2022. Methods Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted using students' self-reported SES indicators. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine predictors of profile membership, and achievement differences across profiles were tested using the Bolck–Croon–Hagenaars (BCH) method with pooled Wald chi-square tests. Results Five distinct SES profiles were identified: Empathic but Overwhelmed, Withdrawn and At-Risk, Average Majority, Assertive Explorers and Compassionate Collaborators. Gender and socioeconomic status were significant predictors: girls were more likely to belong to empathy- and collaboration-oriented profiles, while students from advantaged families were overrepresented in adaptive groups. Immigration-related variables showed limited significant relations. Strong teacher–student relationships and a sense of belonging were linked to higher SES profiles. The Assertive Explorers and Compassionate Collaborators achieved the highest scores across all subjects, whereas the Withdrawn and At-Risk group had the lowest. Conclusions The findings demonstrate that adolescents' SES clusters into distinct, context-sensitive configurations that shape their academic performance. Tailored educational strategies that foster self-regulation, perseverance and a sense of belonging may enhance both emotional well-being and learning outcomes.

• Truong, Nhu; Teig, Nani; Danielsson, Anna & Anderhag, Per (2026). Academic resilience in science: An examination of high achievers from low socioeconomic backgrounds. LUMAT: International Journal on Math, Science and Technology Education. 14(2). doi: 10.31129/LUMAT.14.3.3105. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Research on academic resilience has gained attention for its potential to promote equitable opportunities, especially for socioeconomically disadvantaged students who face significant barriers. Yet, research on factors supporting academic resilience in science specifically across different cultural contexts remains limited. This study investigates academic resilience in science among secondary school students in two socio-culturally distinct countries, Sweden and Vietnam. It examines how students’ motivation to learn science and perceptions of school science differ between academically resilient and non-resilient students in each country. The analysis utilises data from the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) science cycle, involving 5,458 students from 202 Swedish schools and 5,826 students from 188 Vietnamese schools. The findings show a lower proportion of academically resilient students in Sweden (36.19%) compared to Vietnam (59.89%). Despite socio-cultural differences, both countries share common factors contributing to resilience in science, including enjoyment of science, science self-efficacy, teacher support, and a sense of belonging. However, several factors distinguishing resilient from non-resilient students vary between these countries, which are pertinent not only to students but also to teachers and their teaching approaches. This study underscores the importance of discipline-specific and contextually relevant approaches for fostering academic resilience in science education, particularly among disadvantaged youth. Adapting interventions to align with cultural and contextual needs can enhance equitable science learning outcomes.

• 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.

• Kang, Jingoo & Teig, Nani (2025). Which science matters? The role of biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science in shaping students’ environmental attitudes and behaviours. International Journal of Science Education. ISSN 0950-0693. p. 1–21. doi: 10.1080/09500693.2025.2579584. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Promoting environmental responsibility is a central aim of science education, as addressing today’s environmental challenges requires not only scientific knowledge but also attitudes and behaviours that support sustainable action. However, limited research has examined how different science disciplines contribute to students’ environmental attitudes and behaviours. Thus, this study investigates how secondary students’ knowledge, interest, and confidence in biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science relate to their environmental attitudes (preservation and utilisation) and self-reported environmental behaviours. Using structural equation modelling, we analyzed Finnish data (N = 5,880) from TIMSS 2023 to examine how cognitive and motivational factors in each science subject predict environmental outcomes. The findings reveal that biology plays a particularly important role: students’ knowledge, interest, and confidence in biology were consistently associated with stronger preservation attitudes and more responsible environmental behaviours. Chemistry also showed positive associations with preservation-oriented views and actions. In contrast, physics was more strongly linked to utilisation attitudes and showed mixed effects on behaviour. Earth science was associated with more utilisation-focused and less preservation-oriented views. These results suggest that science subjects shape students’ environmental perspectives in distinct ways, and not all disciplines equally promote environmental responsibility. Implications for science education and curriculum design are discussed.

• 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; 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.

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