Student Achievement and Education Policy in a Period of Rapid Expansion: Assessment Data Evidence From Cambodia

This article analyses student achievement and school quality in large samples of schools in Cambodia. Descriptive summaries of student proficiency levels in language and mathematics reveal large gaps between average performance in grades three and six. Given the near universal completion rates for grade three – and lower access to grade six – these differences highlight the inherent challenges of maintaining quality while expanding participation. We also model student achievement variation using hierarchical linear models (HLM), and identify significant predictors that are infrequently available to researchers. These include content taught by teachers, their specialised knowledge of teaching mathematics, and indicators of pedagogical processes. The results reinforce the importance of teachers’ impact on student learning outcomes.