Prospects School Quality and Equity in Central and Eastern Europe Volume 36, Number 4 / December, 2006 http://www.springerlink.com/content/x580l3193126/ ISSN0033-1538 (Print) 1573-9090 (Online) Publisher: Springer Netherlands Exploring Sources of Variation in Romanian Science Achievement Olimpius Istrate University of Bucharest Gabriela Noveanu Institute for Education Sciences, Bucharest Thomas M. Smith Vanderbilt University © Springer Netherlands December 2006 1