European Journal of Education Studies ISSN: 2501 - 1111 ISSN-L: 2501 - 1111 Available on-line at: www.oapub.org/edu Volume 3 │ Issue 9 │ 2017 doi: 10.5281/zenodo.937254 EQUITY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS’ FRACTIONAL KNOWLEDGE: DOES SCHOOL TYPE MATTER IN TURKEY? Utkun Aydıni , Zelha Tunç-Pekkan, Rukiye Didem Taylan, Bengi Birgili, Mustafa Özcan MEF University, Turkey Abstract: This study examined school type differences in fifth-grade students’ fractional knowledge with data from a university-school partnership. Students (n = 203) from a public school and a private school willing to collaborate in University within School Project participated. Results revealed that there were significant school type differences in fractional knowledge favoring private school students. Since school type differences have important impacts on the quality and equity of mathematical outcomes, we need to strongly consider the implications of these school type-related differences and pay attention particularly to the structure of schooling in public schools and the student performance in private schools. Keywords: public schools, private schools, school type differences, middle school students, university-school partnership 1. Introduction An adequate and fair distribution of resources, programs, and teachers won’t, by itself, guarantee that disadvantaged students will learn well. (Oakes, 1995, p. 86) This quota was our driving source of conducting the present research while we – as members of the Faculty/School/College of Education- worked in a disadvantaged public middle school as mathematics teachers. During one academic year, we Copyright © The Author(s). All Rights Reserved. © 2015 – 2017 Open Access Publishing Group 541 Utkun “ydın, Zelha Tunç-Pekkan, Rukiye Didem Taylan, Bengi Birgili, Mustafa Özcan EQUITY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS’ FR“CTION“L KNOWLEDGE DOES SCHOOL TYPE MATTER IN TURKEY? developed the University within School Project as a way to increase fifth-grade students’ mathematics achievement in general, and fractional knowledge, in particular. Supported by the İstanbul Provincial Directorate of National Education, the University within School partnership was a collaborative effort of the MEF University and, ”eşiktaş and Sarıyer school districts to develop an overlapping network of partnering, experiencing, and mentoring relationships across Grade 5 and Grade 8 levels. This practice was the first of its kind in the Turkish context where there are not long-term opportunities of collaboration between K-12 public and private schools, and universities (Özcan, 2013). These efforts to connect theory and practice further drew our attention to the inequities associated with a range of resource issues (i.e., instructional materials, technology, school staff etc.) between public and private schools in Turkey. A considerable body of research has been developed to explain reasons for student success in schools focusing on the school effectiveness (Amjad & MacLeod, 2014; Bassani, 2006; Liou, Marsh, & Antrop-González, 2017; Tremblay, Ross, & Berhelot, 2001; Wilms, 1996). In a related vein, researchers have been interested in answering the controversial question of whether private schools are more effective than public schools in enhancing student achievement in general (e.g., Cain & Goldberger, 1983; Coleman, Hoffer, & Kilgore, 1982; Lubienski, Lubienski, & Crane, 2008; Murnane, Newstead, & Olsen, 1985), and mathematics achievement, in particular (e.g., Entwistle & Alexander, 1992; Philips, 1997). This line of scholarly work put forth the role of school processes and climate in shaping achievement in different types of schools. For instance, many schools in the U.S. were considered to be in trouble because of underfunding, academic failure, and lack of community support (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983). One possible reason for this might be the fact that educational institutions were working well for a select few of students (i.e., attending to private schools located in districts with middle to high social economic status [SES]), fair for many (i.e., attending to public schools located in districts with middle SES), and not at all for most (i.e., attending to public schools located in districts with low SES). This also holds for mathematics in particular because students worldwide (Mathematical Sciences Education Board, 1989), as well as in Turkey (National Report, 2017), are routinely sorted by success or failure in mathematics achievement (Ronau, 1993). In other words, socio-economically advantaged students and schools tend to outscore their disadvantaged peers (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2013) and that economics, income inequality, and SES become important factors in predicting differences in mathematics achievement (Jurdak, Renuka, de Freitas, Gates, & Kollosche, 2016). European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 9 │ 2017 542 Utkun “ydın, Zelha Tunç-Pekkan, Rukiye Didem Taylan, Bengi Birgili, Mustafa Özcan EQUITY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS’ FR“CTION“L KNOWLEDGE DOES SCHOOL TYPE MATTER IN TURKEY? While there is a strong theoretical impetus, views on the superiority of private schools is also based, in part, on past studies involving both international (e.g., Third International Mathematics and Science Study [TIMSS], Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA]) and/or national (i.e., High School and Beyond [HSB], National Assessment of Educational Progress [NAEP]) large-scale assessments. These highly respected studies showed that private school students outperform public school students in mathematics, science, and reading (OECD, 2009), in part due to the fact that private schools were more effective than public schools at boosting student achievement, even after individual socioeconomic variables were adequately were controlled for (e.g., Coleman & Hoffer, 1987). That is, after controlling for student and home background factors there appears to be little to no statistically significant school type differences in standardized test scores (OECD, 2013). Indeed, Turkey had the largest variance internationally between schools in student performance: The overall achievement gap between the lower and higher achievers was large (OECD, 2007), and that this discrepancy was attributable to the between-school variation while controlling for family background and demographic characteristics (“lacacı & Erbaş, 2010). More specifically, Günçer and Köse (1993) investigated the effects of family, SES, and school variables in explaining Turkish high school students’ performance in university entrance examination. They reported that family background and SES explained 40% (i.e., a large portion) of the variance of student performance while school quality explained only 2% (i.e., a small portion) of the variance. In this accordance, in a largescale study, ”erberoğlu and Kalender (2005) used data from PISA 2003 and University Entrance Examination 1999-2002 and investigated student performance across school types and geographical regions. They indicated that differences related to geographical regions in student performance were relatively small whereas the achievement gap was large between different school types. The particular challenge to these conclusions came from “lacacı and Erbaş’s (2010) multilevel study that sought to explain variance in students’ mathematics performances in PIS“ 6 while controlling for family background and demographic characteristics. Researchers’ findings unpacked the inequality among Turkish schools indicating that 55% of the variance was attributable to between-schools (e.g., selectivity in admissions, geographical region) and the remaining 45% to within-schools (e.g., individual student characteristics). These results supported the findings of previous studies (e.g., Koçberber & Kazancık, Sarıer, 2010), which revealed [National] region was below the average of Turkey in the educational opportunities (e.g., educational investments). More specifically, findings from both national high school/university entrance examinations and international assessments showed that Turkish students from South Eastern Anatolia Region European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 9 │ 2017 543 Utkun “ydın, Zelha Tunç-Pekkan, Rukiye Didem Taylan, Bengi Birgili, Mustafa Özcan EQUITY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS’ FR“CTION“L KNOWLEDGE DOES SCHOOL TYPE MATTER IN TURKEY? performed below the country average scores in measures of mathematics literacy, scientific literacy, reading literacy and problem solving (”erberoğlu & Kalender, 2005; Sarıer, 2010) and that west regions (e.g., Marmara) were above the average of country in the educational opportunities as well as educational investments (Koçberber & Kazancık, 2010). For downloading the full article, please access the following link: https://oapub.org/edu/index.php/ejes/article/view/1055 European Journal of Education Studies - Volume 3 │ Issue 9 │ 2017 544