| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to compare the academic attainment of public
and private school students at Kuwait University and to explore the reasons for
the differences that were found.
In the first part of this study, a Kuwait University data set of three cohorts of
students, which consisted of the final Grade Point Average (GPA) of 8619
university graduates, was analysed in order to determine whether there were
significant differences in academic attainment between publicly and privately
educated students. An analysis of the dataset revealed that the academic
attainment of the students who had attended private secondary schools was
statistically significantly higher than those who had attended public ones.
The second part of this study employed a mixed methods approach in order to
try to determine why private schools students outperformed public school
students in terms of the GPA at Kuwait University. Based on the literature
review, an interview schedule was constructed and utilized in interviews with
sixteen university students. Drawing on my analysis of these interviews, a
questionnaire was designed in order to further explore the emerging issues.
Two hundred and two students completed the questionnaire survey. Also, a
deeper understanding of the key factors underlying the differences in academic
attainment between the three cohorts of students was facilitated by interviews
with five public and five private secondary school principals.
The findings of the questionnaire survey and principals’ interviews suggest that
school leadership practices, the quality of teaching, aspects of assessment and
feedback and parental involvement are important factors in determining why
private schools students outperformed public school students in terms of the
3
GPA at Kuwait University. Of crucial importance, as it permeates every aspect
of its policies and practices, is a school’s mission – its aspirations for its pupils. | en_GB |
