National, School and Classroom Effects on Student Victimization of School Violence:
A Cross-National Analysis of 50 nations from the TIMSS and the TIMSS-RĄ¨
(Supported by AERA Research Grant)

        School violence victimization is an issue of international concern, yet no comprehensive studies have been conducted to investigate national, school and teacher-related factors associated with this problem from a cross-national perspective. With empirical evidence on the linkage between violence victimization and low educational aspiration, later criminality and psychological pathology, the investigation of national, school and teacher predictors should prove critical to providing important information for school-based prevention programs of violence victimization. In this study, I will conduct two sets of analyses to investigate national, school and teacher effects on school violence victimization among 8th graders using the data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 1995) and its follow-up study (TIMSS 1999). In the first set of analyses, two questions will be addressed: 1) How do the academic achievements of victims differ across 49 nations? 2) What characteristics of national school systems are related to the academic achievement of school violence victims? In the second set of analyses, I will focus on the comparison of how teacher and school-related factors influence the violence victimization among Japanese and American 8th graders. Three questions will be addressed: 1) How do the characteristics and behavioral patterns of school violence victims differ between the U.S. and Japan? 2) How are teacher and school-related factors associated with school violence victimization in the U.S. and Japan? and 3) How do the associations of teacher and school-related factors with school violence victimization differ between the U.S. and Japan?