1. Exploring Factors Associated with Grade VIII Students’ Attainment in Science: The issue of medium of Instruction Hafiz M. Iqbal, PhD Institute of Education and Research, University of the Punjab Lahore-Pakistandrhmiqbal@gmail.com

3. Importance of Science Education Development of inquisitive minds Development of inquisitive minds Scientific manpower Scientific manpower Positive attitudes toward science, etc Positive attitudes toward science, etc

4. Factors Associated with Science Attainment NEAS Data (19 variables), including NEAS Data (19 variables), including –Location of school –Students; gender –School type –Homework –Parental expectations –Liking science –Home language, etc

5. Science scores broken down by provinces ProvinceNMeanStd. Dev. Balochistan 156015.944.63 NWFP 186716.314.94 Punjab 423318.655.69 Sindh 209514.414.88 AJK 118016.694.12 FANA 115015.974.46 FATA 93315.684.89 ICT 35319.234.59 Total 1337116.755.26 p<1%, medium effect size

6. Science scores broken down by gender NMeanStd. Dev. Gender Male718616.445.20 Female618517.115.32 Location Rural 551817.275.44 Urban 785316.385.11 School type Boys 645316.605.13 Girls 609217.145.33 Mixed 82615.005.41 Total 1337116.755.26

7. Science scores broken down by gender and school type NMeanStd. Dev. Boys in boys' schools 653616.59 **5.15 Boys in mixed schools 65014.84 **5.41 Girls in girls' schools 600917.16 **5.31 Girls in mixed schools 17615.59 **5.40 **p<1%, t test between types of school, small effect size

8. Correlations of teacher practice with science attainment Teacher practicerN Extent of coverage of text-book 0.109 **12680 Frequency of science homework 0.038 **n12161 Frequency of teacher checking of science homework 0.130 **12899 Teacher's depth of correction of homework 0.132 **12935 Students allowed to ask questions (scale 1 to 3) 0.126 **12815 **p<1%, small effect size (n effect size negligible, Cohen, 1988)

9. Liking science scale Item Corrected Item-Total Correlation I feel pleasure completing any science work. 0.441 When I get an interesting question of science, I don't give up till I have solved it. 0.449 I have a natural liking for science. 0.417 I can complete science work with great success as compared to other student of my age. 0.385 I feel proud when I solve a difficult question of science. 0.373 I praise those people a lot who are expert in science. 0.406

10. Liking science scores broken down by gender GenderNMeanStd. Dev. Male61112.641 **0.363 Female53312.696 **0.322 **p<1%, t-test, very small effect size

11. School variables as correlates of student science attainment ItemScale Correlation with science score N Number of library books 4-point0.125 **12618 Usable science laboratory 3-point0.091 **12722 Usable library 3-point0.083 **12735 Usable science laboratory and library 5-point0.101 **12662 **p<1%

12. Significant predictor variables for science scores (multiple OLS linear regression) (N=5152) Predictor variableRegression coefficient Std. error Variance explained (%) Constant 9.4440.763 Attends school in Punjab (scores '1') 2.0460.2244.1 How much time do you spend on your homework (scale 1 to 4) 0.4000.0841.0 Attends school in ICT (scores '1') 2.4060.4280.8 Liking science (scale 1 to 3) 1.0400.2120.8 Do your teachers allow you ask questions about the subject taught? (scale 1 to 3) 0.6780.1470.5 Total number of persons in the Home - 0.0730.0180.4 School has adequate and usable laboratory (scores '1') 0.5940.1410.3 Attends school in Sindh (scores '1') - 0.9440.2610.3

13. Significant predictor variables for science scores (multiple OLS linear regression) (N=5152) Predictor variableRegression coefficient Std. error Variance explained (%) My parents expect me to do well in the science subjects (scale 1 to 3). 0.4710.1350.2 Student gender ( from Student Report) Girl '0', boy '1' - 0.4080.1430.2 How many times do your teachers check your homework in science (scale 1 to 3) 0.5200.1530.2 Home language is Punjabi (scores '1') - 0.8510.2330.1 Extra-curricular activities (scale 1 to 3) - 0.4430.1520.02 Do you have use of a calculator at home? (scores '1') 0.3580.1400.1 Home language is Sindhi (scores '1') - 0.4940.2360.1 Student travels to school by car (scores '1') 0.4340.2200.0

14. Variance in science scores across three levels Variance attributed toVarianceStd. error Students16.5690.389 Schools8.2340.654 Provinces1.1260.667

15. Variance in science scores across two levels in the null model Variance attributed toVarianceStd. error Students16.5750.390 Schools9.5030.725

16. Effect of students home language

17. Science scores broken down by language spoken at home Which language do you generally speak at home? NMeanSD Urdu 193917.565.60 Barahwi 26115.334.74 Balochi 82415.635.02 Punjabi 313818.125.23 Pashto 264816.144.91 Sindhi 117114.445.05 Siraeki 83317.776.06

18. Science scores broken down by language spoken at home Which language do you generally speak at home? NMeanSD Kashmiri 8016.644.65 Hindko 61416.464.59 Persian 8716.714.85 Balti 40516.394.35 Shena 48415.854.51 any other 48316.054.46 Total 1296716.755.26

19. Science scores broken down by medium of instruction Medium of instructionMeanNStd. Dev. Urdu 17.06110915.26 Sindhi 14.2512094.96 Pushto 14.68504.20 unknown 12.36444.25 Double 15.72183.59 Total 16.76124125.30

20. Recent Language Policy English as a medium of instructions for science and math from grade one Implications Language policy is going to affect all other students related variables and hence their attainment in science