Presenting a Model for Explaining the Relationship Between Contextual Factors and Academic Achievement of Fourth-Grade Students: A Mixed-Methods Study Using Iranian TIMSS 2019 Data

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to present a model explaining the relationship between contextual factors and the academic achievement of fourth-grade students using Iranian TIMSS 2019 data. The research methodology was applied in terms of purpose and employed a sequential explanatory approach for data collection, incorporating qualitative content analysis and a research synthesis method. The study population included experts from the National Center for International Studies of TIMSS and PIRLS, experts from the Educational Research and Planning Center, and fourth-grade elementary school teachers. Sampling was conducted through purposive sampling. Data collection tools included interviews with focus groups comprising specialists, experts, and teachers. Data analysis was performed using focus group studies with teachers through Atlas.ti software, employing "coding and categorization" techniques. The findings indicated that the essential components for developing a model to explain the relationship between contextual factors and academic achievement ultimately led to the extraction of 13 primary indicators and concepts with the highest impact of contextual factors on academic achievement, and 10 primary indicators and concepts with the lowest impact, as assessed by experts. The Krippendorff’s alpha coefficient for all codes was above 0.70, indicating a satisfactory status and sufficient coherence for explaining the relationship between contextual factors in Iranian TIMSS 2019 data and academic achievement. Overall, the proposed components demonstrated adequate validity and appropriate model fit. Ultimately, a total of 23 items could comprehensively and entirely explain the variance of contextual factors in Iranian TIMSS 2019 data concerning academic achievement. Additionally, 8 of these variables alone accounted for approximately 96.8% of the variance in these components. In conclusion, there is a significant relationship between contextual factors and the academic achievement of fourth-grade students based on the mixed-methods research using Iranian TIMSS 2019 data.