that limited use of instructional time is a contributor to poor student learning and high levels of student disruption can lead to teacher burnout and decreased effectiveness (Bruns and others 2015; Ptero-Lopez 2009). The majority of classroom observations have been conducted in regions outside MENA; however, a recent example from the West Bank and Gaza may illustrate the importance of teachers staying on task (box 1).

# Box 1: Classroom Observations in the West Bank and Gaza

The Stallings’ classroom observation tool established a good practice benchmark of 85 percent of total class time to be used for instruction. In schools across the West Bank and Gaza, territories where students undoubtedly are faced with personal, economic and political stresses, student performance is on average high compared to other MENA countries. The Stallings observations in classrooms find that teachers are spending 90 percent of their time on instruction, 9 percent on classroom-management and only 1 percent time-off-task (Yarrow and others 2014). While this is not indicative of what could be occurring in classrooms with high levels of disciplinary issues, it is suggestive that even in contexts of conflict and fragility, effective teaching practices can ensure high quality of learning. It is also indicative, that students with a higher ability for self-regulation are better able to learn.

**Table 4. Marginal Impact of School Safety on Mathematics Performance, TIMSS data 2015**

||MENA cou<br>|ntries<br>|Other cou<br>|ntries<br>|
|---|---|---|---|---|
||Estimated|sd error|Estimated|sd error|
|Socioeconomic background (individual)|13.1|0.3|21.8|0.4|
|Socioeconomic background (school)|56.0|2.7|55.7|2.1|
|School safety|6.5|0.8|8.1|1.0|
|N. obs.|80,218||150,382||
|R<sup>2</sup>|0.28||0.48||

Source: Analysis using a linear regression. All coefficients are significant at the 0.1% level. Other control includes country fixed effects, average age of students, share of affluent students, urbanization level. Observations have been clustered at the school level to compute standard errors.

Reading: Pooling data for the MENA countries participating in TIMSS 2015, an increase in one standard deviation in the school safety index is associated, all other things equal, with an increase in math performance amounting to 6.5 points.

The association of classroom disciplinary climate and student performance may be linked with the disciplinary strategies teachers choose to utilize. International research suggests teachers’ disciplinary strategies have influence on student learning behaviors and attitudes (Lewis and others 2005; Roache and Lewis 2011; Shavit and Blank 2012). Classroom management while important may be further examined so that an assessment of teacher strategies to maintain student discipline, focus and motivation can be assessed. Evidence shows that students who are disciplined through more positive approaches (hinting, recognition, involvement, discussion, etc.) versus more coercive approaches (yelling, sarcasm, etc.) tend to be less disruptive and more cooperative with teachers in their class (Lewis and others 2005). This then can improve students’ responsibility toward learning and decrease the emergence of negative attitudes towards learning and teachers. This may explain why some schools are adopting new approaches, that have had positive impacts, to addressing disruptive student behavior including mindfulness programs and mediation in replacement of practices such as detention (Flook and others 2010; Smith and others 2012).

Moreover, exposure to disciplinary climate can differ within a country especially when spatial and social segregation of schools is high, e.g. in countries such as Chile or the United States (Torche and Mizala, 2012). In such settings, differences in disciplinary climate can drive a large share of social inequalities 10