Connecting family, school, gold mining community and primary school students’ reading achievements in Burkina Faso – A three-level hierarchical linear model analysis

Family, school, and community play an important role in creating learning opportunities, but research on the topic tends to approach them separately. Employing three-level hierarchical linear modeling, this study investigates how gold mining communities are related to students’ reading achievements and how they interact with school (teacher and principal) factors, child health, and child labor status to affect reading achievements in Burkina Faso. Findings suggest that gold mining communities negatively affect students’ reading achievements, but better teaching practices and better principal management quality contribute to reduce this negative effect. These findings contribute to the literature on the resource curse hypothesis and school effectiveness modeling in developing countries. Furthermore, implications of the findings for education policy are discussed.