MJAAR

Teacher Quality, School Resourcing, and Downstream Skills Deficits: A Multilevel Regression Model

Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Ahumuza Audrey, Asiimwe Isaac Kazaara


Abstract

Persistently weak learning outcomes in many basic-education systems have been attributed jointly to inadequate teacher quality and chronic under-resourcing of schools, yet the independent and combined contributions of these two factors to downstream skills deficits were rarely quantified within an analytic framework that respected the nested structure of educational data. This study examined the extent to which teacher quality and school resourcing predicted literacy-numeracy skills deficits among primary school learners, using a multilevel modelling approach that accounted for the clustering of students within schools. A cross-sectional dataset comprising 1,451 students nested within 60 primary schools was analysed. Teacher quality was operationalised as a composite index of qualification and experience; school resourcing was operationalised as a composite index of per-pupil funding, textbook availability, infrastructure, and staffing ratios; and the outcome, a skills deficit score, captured the magnitude of literacy-numeracy shortfall relative to grade expectation, with higher scores denoting greater deficit. Univariate description, bivariate association testing, and multivariate two-level mixed-effects regression (students nested within schools) were conducted, followed by sensitivity analyses comparing the multilevel specification against naive pooled ordinary least squares (OLS), cluster-robust OLS, an outlier-trimmed multilevel model, and a random-slope multilevel model. The null model intraclass correlation coefficient was 0.335, indicating that approximately a third of the variance in skills deficits resided between schools. In the adjusted multilevel model, teacher quality (b = -0.281, SE = 0.015, p < .001) and school resourcing (b = -0.525, SE = 0.202, p = .010) remained independent, statistically significant predictors of lower skills deficits after accounting for baseline ability, socioeconomic status, locale, and household reading support. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the stability of the teacher-quality effect across specifications, while naive OLS was shown to understate the standard errors attached to school-level predictors. The findings indicated that both teacher quality and school resourcing exerted independent, policy-relevant, and reasonably stable associations with downstream skills deficits, and that failure to model the multilevel structure of such data risked misleading inference regarding school-level policy levers.

Keywords

teacher quality; school resourcing; skills deficits; multilevel regression; mixed-effects model; intraclass
Metropolitan Journal of Academic and Applied Research

Cite This Article

Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Ahumuza Audrey & Asiimwe Isaac Kazaara (2026). Teacher Quality, School Resourcing, and Downstream Skills Deficits: A Multilevel Regression Model. Metropolitan Journal of Academic and Applied Research, 5(7). https://journals.miu.ac.ug/pages/article.php?article_id=677

More in This Issue

View full issue →
21
Regional And Urban–Rural Disparities in Pipeline Attrition and Employability: A Three-Level Mixed-Effects Regression Analysis of Higher Education Transitions in Uganda
Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Ahumuza Audrey, Nabaasa Desire
pipeline attrition; graduate employability; regional disparities; urban–rural divide; three-level mixed-
22
Resource Disparities and Their Effect on Competency-Based Curriculum Implementation in Refugee-Hosting Districts: A Quantitative Cross-Sectional Study Of Selected Refugee-Hosting Districts of Uganda
Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Dr. Mategeko Betty
Resource disparities; Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC); curriculum implementation; refugee-
23
Skills Mismatch Between TVET/University Output and Labor Market Demand: An Ordinal Logistic Regression Analysis
Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Dr. Twinomujuni Rosebell, Ahumuza Audrey
Skills mismatch; TVET; university graduates; labor market; ordinal logistic regression;
24
Social Media And Mental Health: A Case Of Nsambya Hospital, Kampala, Uganda
Nabwire Viola, Freeman Crispus
Social media mental health anxiety depression
25
Stakeholder Perceptions Of NCDC’s Curriculum Alignment For A-Level Under The New Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) Framework
Dr. Arinaitwe Julius, Akampulira Sarah, Nabaasa Desire
National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC); Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC); A-