descriptionPublicationkeyboard_double_arrow_right Article , Book , Research , Preprint , Report 01 Jan 2011 English Publisher:Elsevier BVJournal:SSRN Electronic Journal (eissn: 1556-5068,

Authors: Ferreira, Francisco H. G.; Gignoux, Jérémie;

doi: 10.2139/ssrn.1970756 , 10.1093/wber/lht004 , 10.1596/23539 , 10.1596/1813-9450-5873

handle: 10419/58627 , 10986/23539

The Measurement of Educational Inequality: Achievement and Opportunity

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Abstract

This paper proposes two related measures of educational inequality: one for educational achievement and another for educational opportunity. The former is the simple variance (or standard deviation) of test scores. Its selection is informed by consideration of two measurement issues that have typically been overlooked in the literature: the implications of the standardization of test scores for inequality indices, and the possible sample selection biases arising from the Program of International Student Assessment (PISA) sampling frame. The measure of inequality of educational opportunity is given by the share of the variance in test scores that is explained by pre-determined circumstances. Both measures are computed for the 57 countries in which PISA surveys were conducted in 2006. Inequality of opportunity accounts for up to 35 percent of all disparities in educational achievement. It is greater in (most of) continental Europe and Latin America than in Asia, Scandinavia, and North America. It is uncorrelated with average educational achievement and only weakly negatively correlated with per capita gross domestic product. It correlates negatively with the share of spending in primary schooling, and positively with tracking in secondary schools.

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Keywords

JEL: O - Economic Development, and Growth/O.O5 - Economywide Country Studies/O.O5.O54 - Latin America • Caribbean, educational achievement, test scores, Inequality of opportunity, tertiary education, Educational achievement, achievements, Bildungschancen, [SHS.ECO] Humanities and Social Sciences/Economics and Finance, student achievement, Soziale Ungleichheit, O54, learning, Teaching and Learning,Secondary Education,Education For All,Poverty Impact Evaluation,Tertiary Education, ddc:330, D39, achievement, enrollment, [SHS.ECO]Humanities and Social Sciences/Economics and Finance, mobility, educational policy, inequality of opportunity, and Welfare/I.I2 - Education and Research Institutions/I.I2.I29 - Other, primary education, student performance, Bildungsniveau, JEL: D - Microeconomics/D.D6 - Welfare Economics/D.D6.D63 - Equity, educational outcomes, 330, schooling, I29, Welt, Justice, 370, educational inequality, secondary schools, Education, secondary education, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement, Messung, Innovation, learning achievement, JEL: I - Health, household surveys, educational inequality, educational achievement, inequality of opportunity, achievement tests, Technological Change, Educational inequality, Educational inequality,Educational achievement,Inequality of opportunity, Inequality, Reading, JEL: D - Microeconomics/D.D3 - Distribution/D.D3.D39 - Other, Educational inequality, educational achievement, inequality of opportunity., D63, jel: jel:I29, jel: jel:D39, jel: jel:O54, jel: jel:D63

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