WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT?

This information sheet has been produced thanks to research funded by the BBVA Foundation1, and its principal purpose is to show the main results obtained regarding the fol lowing questions:

What family and school aspects help improve your children’s learning?

What can you do as a parent to help your child learn better?

To answer these questions, we carried out an in-depth analysis of the results obtained from the PISA 2015 tests in Spain applying statist ical techniques associated with Big Data .

The study involved the part ic ipation of:• 32,330 students of 15 years of age from al l over Spain• 4,286 compulsory secondary education teachers• 976 Spanish state, state-funded private and private schools

After identifying the schools whose students demonstrated a clearly higher level of competence than expected, the 130 most competent schools were selected. Final ly , among the more than 500 educational variables included in PISA 2015, the main factors present in these competent schools were identified.

We hope that the results presented serve to help your children in their academic development, encouraging their learning in school, and show what family, school and behavioural factors or habits of a student can promote educational success.

1The project entit led Identification of good educational practices in high added-value schools using Big Data techniques was made possible thanks to the support of the Leonardo Researcher and Cultural Creator Grants 2017, BBVA Foundation (the BBVA Foundation is not responsible for the opinions and comments included in this document) .

WHAT CHARACTERISTICS DO STUDENTS IN COMPETENT SCHOOLS POSSESS?

INDIVIDUAL WORK AND EFFORT

Students are aware of the importance of individual work and effort for the development of their own competence and consider i t more important than teamwork.

Students are highly committed to and involved in tasks and chal lenges that they have started and do not give up easi ly.

SENSE OF BELONGING

The majority of students feel comfortable and supported in the school , with a minimal number of cases of students who feel lonely, al ienated and uncomfortable.

ENVIRONMENTAL INTEREST AND OPTIMISM

Students show interest in environmental issues and are crit ical about the future of the environment.

COOPERATIVE WORK AND COMPETITIVENESS

Students prefer cooperative work over academic competit iveness.

Students want their c lassmates to achieve good marks.

Students are motivated by discussing various points of view and sharing different interests.

ACADEMIC ANXIETY

At a general level , feel ings of anxiety about exams, homework and marks are moderate or low.

ATTITUDES TOWARDS TECHNOLOGY

Students are greatly interested in technology and consider i t a valuable tool for individual and social learning.

Students bel ieve that they have high levels of autonomy in i ts use, and feel competent in handling al l types of technology.

WHAT FAMILY FACTORS HELPOUR CHILDREN LEARN BETTER?

ACADEMIC SUPPORT

I t is always preferable for your chi ldren to be autonomous with their homework, but i t is important for them to know that they can ask for support i f they need it .

Students in competent schools usual ly have a relat ive on hand to help them with their homework i f necessary.

CONTROLLING THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY

Although technology can have posit ive effects on a student ’s learning, control l ing use and preventing excessive use in the family environment helps their academic development.

Parents who control their chi ldren’s access to the Internet, social media and video games, without prohibit ing or excessively restr ict ing use, faci l i tate their learning at school.

PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL

Planned and constant part ic ipation of parents in the l i fe of the school helps the development of students.

In competent schools, there is constant communication with parents in order to promote transparency and a relat ionship of mutual trust.

EMOTIONAL SUPPORT

Young people who feel that they receive affective and emotional support from their parents have greater confidence and motivation, and learn better.

Parents who praise both the effort and academic achievement of their chi ldren help schools become more competent.

AFTER GOING TO SCHOOL.. .

Moving students ’ obl igations and academic and leisure act ivit ies to after the school day, l imit ing al l habitual act ivity before attending school , supports their educational development.

Activit ies ( family/work obl igations, sport , reading, Internet, v ideo games, television, study, school work, etc. ) usual ly carried out before the school day hinder the student ’s academic development.

TALKING TO THEM

Young people whose parents show an interest in their school act ivit ies are more motivated towards learning.

Parents who regularly talk to their chi ldren after school about school matters support their academic development.

ATTENDANCE AT EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Young people who are overloaded with a weekly t imetable of extracurricular classes have greater difficult ies in their academic development.

Parents who moderate the amount of extracurricular act ivit ies, without restr ict ing them completely, promote the educational success of their chi ldren.

BEFORE GOING TO SCHOOL.. .

Students who usual ly do leisure or academic act ivit ies or have obl igations before going to school neglect their rest , which hinders their learning.

Parents whose primary concern is the proper rest and feeding of their chi ldren before the school day, preventing them from doing other act ivit ies, promote their educational achievement.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THEMOST COMPETENT SCHOOLS

LEADERSHIP STYLE OF THE MANAGEMENT TEAM

Beyond merely managing or coordinating school act ivit ies, the work of the management team is orientated towards encouraging and supporting the init iat ives of the teaching staff, PTAs, etc.

The management team is neither exclusively orientated towards control or supervision, nor is i t negl igent in assuming its responsibi l i t ies.

The educational community general ly considers that the management team is exercising appropriate leadership and is satisfied with its work.

SCHOOL GOALS AND CURRICULAR PROFILE

The school ’s goals and curricular profile are expl ic it ly defined and shared, and the entire educational community is orientated in that common direction.

EQUIPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURES

The school has sufficient educational infrastructure and materials , with an acceptable state of deterioration.

The school has minimal computer equipment (PCs connected to the Internet, acceptable computer/student rat ios and interactive whiteboards) , but not necessari ly abundant technological resources (Wi-Fi , tablets, laptops, etc. ) .

SCHOOL WEBSITE

The school ’s website is used to promote communication and contact with the community: students part ic ipate in this website as a space to share their act ivit ies with the community (radio, v ideos, projects, newspapers, etc. ) .

RANGE OF EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES ON OFFER

The school has a wide and varied range of extracurricular act ivit ies, most of which are directly l inked to the school curriculum (science club, chess club, school newspaper, robotics, etc. ) .

The school ’s extracurricular act ivit ies are not exclusively orientated towards leisure act ivit ies.

SCHOOL COEXISTENCE AND CLIMATE

The school implements mechanisms to control truancy and fulfil t imetables.

There is a broad school coexistence plan which involves the entire educational community.

Students feel that the teachers are fair in both personal and academic relat ionships.

USE OF TECHNOLOGY

The use of technology by students for classwork and homework is moderate and always orientated towards topics studied ( Internet searches, experimentation withsimulators, etc. )

SCHOOL TIMETABLE

The teaching staff respect the t imetables official ly assigned to subjects, with there being no uninterrupted classes of more than 60 minutesor lessons ofless than45 minutes.

SCHOOL HOMEWORK

Increased homework load does not directly mean an improvement in student learning: the teaching staff coordinates i tself to ensure a moderate and balanced workload.

Homework is evenly distr ibuted across the different subjects of the curriculum.

SCHOOL ASSESSMENT

The school implements various formal procedures for assessment, always orientated towards educational improvement.

Marks awarded to students are usual ly based on formal assessment tests.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Fernando Martínez Abadfma@usal.es0034 923 294 630 Ext. 5729Paseo Canalejas, 16937008 SalamancaSpain

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