87
Table 3.1.3 presents the OLS regression estimates separately for sample children from poor
(bottom two wealth quartiles) and non-poor (top two wealth quartiles) families. Family wealth
enters the achievement function significantly as a correlate of student performance for both
groups once again confirming significant inequality in learning outcomes owing to differences
in economic conditions at home. However, similar to between wealth groups, within-group
wealth gap is modest in Jordan. The magnitude of parental education, particularly tertiary
education, also appears to be similar across wealth groups. This implies that there are
intergenerational gains from educated parents in the context of children’s education in Jordan
regardless of the wealth groups they belong. We also note a similar correlation vis-à-vis pre-
primary and private school attendance with student achievement at the secondary level. The
coefficients on these two variables are also significant suggesting that access to these schools,
particularly by children from lower socio-economic groups can help equalize learning
opportunities in Jordan.
The analysis of Jordanian students’ achievements in language, math and science tests in PISA
2012 highlights the importance of early childhood education as well as access to private schools.
This is also consistent with the available evidence for Jordan on the returns to early childhood
education in terms of higher secondary and tertiary educational attainment as well as early
advantage in learning outcomes in primary grades.20
Another encouraging finding is the weak influence of family wealth as a correlate of student
achievement though it also highlights the fact that performance is low across and socio-
economic groups. If so, the main challenge is to increase learning across the board for everyone.
However, our results have also highlighted one demographic group that is falling behind in
terms of learning outcomes. Male students underperform very poorly in science regardless of
their family background. This implies that their relatively poor performance is not simply a
matter of household poverty or financial difficulties.
3.1.6. Stakeholder Perceptions
As many as 15 stakeholders were interviewed in East and West Amman. This included school
principals and teachers, teacher trainers and government officials. The majority of the
stakeholders interviewed (over 90%) identified school leadership (or effectiveness of the
principal) as one of the three most important features of an effective school. This was followed
“frequent monitoring”, “a supportive learning environment”, “higher learning outcomes of
teachers” and “family and community involvement in the school”. Physical facilities were not
perceived as important. Given the acknowledge that school principal is critical to an effective
school, respondent stakeholders were asked about the three most important features of an
effective school principal,
20 Fink et al (2017).