A Two-Level Hierarchical Linear Model Analysis of the Effect of Teacher Factors, Student Factors, and Facility Conditions on Students’ Cognitive Scores in Rural China

Abstract

Based on the data from the China Education Panel Survey 2013–2014, this study uses a two-level hierarchical linear model to explore the impact of student factors, teacher factors, and facility conditions on students’ cognitive scores and the model’s heterogeneity. Additionally, under the Owen value method, the contribution of teacher and student factors to students’ cognitive scores is much greater than that of facility conditions, and teacher-related factors contribute more to scores than student-related ones. Therefore, teacher and student resources should be given priority in allocating resources to rural education systems, and high-quality teachers, who can have positive impacts on students’ cognitive scores, should be prioritized.