IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/grc/wpaper/20-02.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Les inégalités provinciales aux tests internationaux-nationaux de littéracie : Québec, Ontario et autres provinces canadiennes 1993-2018
[Provincial achievement gaps from literacy surveys conducted from years 1993 to 2018]

Author

Listed:
  • Pierre Lefebvre

    (Department of Economics, University of Quebec in Montreal)

  • Philip Merrigan

    (Department of Economics, University of Quebec in Montreal)

Abstract

(in French) Cet article présente les résultats à des tests standardisés en littéracie, de 19 enquêtes internationales ou provinciales conduites en éducation de 1993 à 2018 auprès d'étudiants du Québec et de provinces canadiennes. L'analyse s'appuie sur les scores à trois stages d'études, 4e année au primaire, 8e année au secondaire et aux étudiants de 13, 15 ou 16 ans (en secondaire II à V). Les domaines de littéracie sont lecture, math et science. Plusieurs types de statistiques sont calculées (nombre de répondants, moyenne, écart-type, scores à divers points de la distribution centile des scores) ainsi que les écarts entre les scores (C90-C10 et C75-25), ainsi que des différences centiles entre le Québec et les entités participantes. L'analyse présente aussi la distribution des étudiants dans les échelles de compétences. Les liens entre scores et les caractéristiques du statut social des élèves, mesurées par l'éducation et les professions parentales, sont documentés pour chaque enquête. Les résultats sont comparés avec ceux partiels du Conseil supérieur de l'éducation. Il apparaît que les élèves québécois, le plus souvent, performent mieux ou aussi bien que ceux des autres provinces aux plans des scores, des écarts centiles et des différences selon le statut social. La discussion finale porte sur quelques options de politique publique en éducation susceptibles de réduire les écarts de littéracie selon le statut social des élèves. Abstract (in English, working paper is in French) This paper presents standardised test scores results in literacy from 19 provincial and international surveys in education conducted over years 1993 to 2018. The analysis draws on students in Canadian provinces, mainly in Québec and Ontario, at three stages of education, grade 4 in primary school, grade 8 in secondary school, and -13, -15 and -16-year-olds in grades 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. The tree domains of literacy are reading, math, and science. A diversity of summary statistics are computed (number of respondents, mean, standard deviation, percentile scores), as well as gaps (P90-P10 and P75-P25) between scores and differences between Québec and other participant group entities. The investigation also displays the distribution of proficiency scale scores. The socio-economic gradients in scores as measured by parental educational and occupational categories are also displayed and discussed in the paper. The results contradict the conclusion of an independent Council in Education, and imply that Québec's students in particular the less skilled perform as well or better than students in the other provinces system, most of the time with less inequality in literacy domains. The assessment reviews briefly why students in independent schools are more successful and identifies some policy options in education policy addressing social inequities in the skills and knowledge of students.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2020. "Les inégalités provinciales aux tests internationaux-nationaux de littéracie : Québec, Ontario et autres provinces canadiennes 1993-2018 [Provincial achievement gaps from literacy surveys condu," Working Papers 20-02, Research Group on Human Capital, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management, revised Oct 2020.
    • Handle: RePEc:grc:wpaper:20-02
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://grch.esg.uqam.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/82/Lefebvre_Merrigan_GRCH_WP20-02-2.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2020
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anders Böhlmark & Mikael Lindahl, 2015. "Independent Schools and Long-run Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Sweden's Large-scale Voucher Reform," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 82(327), pages 508-551, July.
    2. David Card & Martin D. Dooley & A. Abigail Payne, 2010. "School Competition and Efficiency with Publicly Funded Catholic Schools," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 2(4), pages 150-176, October.
    3. Heather Antecol & Ozkan Eren & Serkan Ozbeklik, 2016. "Peer Effects in Disadvantaged Primary Schools: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(1), pages 95-132.
    4. Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of the Economics of Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4, June.
    5. Joshua D. Angrist & Parag A. Pathak & Christopher R. Walters, 2013. "Explaining Charter School Effectiveness," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 5(4), pages 1-27, October.
    6. Peter Dolton & Oscar D. Marcenaro-Gutierrez, 2011. "If you pay peanuts do you get monkeys? A cross-country analysis of teacher pay and pupil performance [Discrimination in the market for public school teachers]," Economic Policy, CEPR, CESifo, Sciences Po;CES;MSH, vol. 26(65), pages 5-55.
    7. Martin Leblond-Létourneau & Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2018. "L'héritage de l'éducation sur 25 ans : Une comparaison des tendances au Québec et dans le reste du Canada," Working Papers 18-02, Research Group on Human Capital, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management.
    8. Mary A. Burke & Tim R. Sass, 2013. "Classroom Peer Effects and Student Achievement," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 31(1), pages 51-82.
    9. Hanushek, Eric A. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2011. "The Economics of International Differences in Educational Achievement," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 89-200, Elsevier.
    10. Eric A. Hanushek & Jacob D. Light & Paul E. Peterson & Laura M. Talpey & Ludger Woessmann, 2022. "Long-run Trends in the U.S. SES-Achievement Gap," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 17(4), pages 608-640, Fall.
    11. Victor Lavy & M. Daniele Paserman & Analia Schlosser, 2012. "Inside the Black Box of Ability Peer Effects: Evidence from Variation in the Proportion of Low Achievers in the Classroom," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 122(559), pages 208-237, March.
    12. Hanushek, Eric A. & Schwerdt, Guido & Wiederhold, Simon & Woessmann, Ludger, 2015. "Returns to skills around the world: Evidence from PIAAC," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 103-130.
    13. Eric A. Hanushek & Jens Ruhose & Ludger Woessmann, 2015. "Economic Gains for U.S. States from Educational Reform," NBER Working Papers 21770, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Scott Davies & Janice Aurini, 2011. "Exploring School Choice in Canada: Who Chooses What and Why?," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 37(4), pages 459-477, December.
    15. Lefebvre, Pierre & Merrigan, Philip & Verstraete, Matthieu, 2011. "Public subsidies to private schools do make a difference for achievement in mathematics: Longitudinal evidence from Canada," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 79-98, February.
    16. Hanushek, Eric A. & Schwerdt, Guido & Wiederhold, Simon & Woessmann, Ludger, 2017. "Coping with change: International differences in the returns to skills," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 15-19.
    17. Pierre Lefebvre, 2015. "La contribution de l'école privée au Québec à la littératie et à la numératie des 15 ans : une analyse par effets de traitement [The Contribution of the Private School System in Québec to Literacy ," Working Papers 15-03, Research Group on Human Capital, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management, revised Sep 2016.
    18. Ganzeboom, H.B.G. & de Graaf, P.M. & Treiman, D.J. & de Leeuw, J., 1992. "A standard international socio-economic index of occupational status," WORC Paper 92.01.001/1, Tilburg University, Work and Organization Research Centre.
    19. Raj Chetty & John N. Friedman & Jonah E. Rockoff, 2014. "Measuring the Impacts of Teachers II: Teacher Value-Added and Student Outcomes in Adulthood," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(9), pages 2633-2679, September.
    20. Catherine HAECK & Pierre LEFEBVRE & Philip MERRIGAN, 2011. "All students left behind: an ambitious provincial school reform in Canada, but poor math achievements from grade 2 to 10," Working Papers of Department of Economics, Leuven ces11.28, KU Leuven, Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB), Department of Economics, Leuven.
    21. Jonah E. Rockoff & Brian A. Jacob & Thomas J. Kane & Douglas O. Staiger, 2011. "Can You Recognize an Effective Teacher When You Recruit One?," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 6(1), pages 43-74, January.
    22. Bhashkar Mazumder, 2015. "Inequality in Skills and the Great Gatsby Curve," Chicago Fed Letter, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, issue Jan.
    23. Murnane, Richard J & Willett, John B & Levy, Frank, 1995. "The Growing Importance of Cognitive Skills in Wage Determination," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 77(2), pages 251-266, May.
    24. Joseph G. Altonji & Ching-I Huang & Christopher R. Taber, 2015. "Estimating the Cream Skimming Effect of School Choice," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 123(2), pages 266-324.
    25. Elizabeth Dhuey & Justin Smith, 2014. "How important are school principals in the production of student achievement?," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 47(2), pages 634-663, May.
    26. Angrist, Joshua D., 2014. "The perils of peer effects," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 98-108.
    27. Hanushek, Eric A. & Peterson, Paul E. & Talpey, Laura M. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2019. "The Unwavering SES Achievement Gap: Trends in U.S. Student Performance," Working Paper Series rwp19-012, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    28. Hanushek, Eric A. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2015. "The Knowledge Capital of Nations: Education and the Economics of Growth," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262029170, December.
    29. Fangwen Lu & Michael L. Anderson, 2015. "Peer Effects in Microenvironments: The Benefits of Homogeneous Classroom Groups," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(1), pages 91-122.
    30. Eric A. Hanushek & Steven G. Rivkin, 2010. "Generalizations about Using Value-Added Measures of Teacher Quality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 100(2), pages 267-271, May.
    31. Lu, Fangwen & Anderson, Michael L, 2015. "Peer Effects in Microenvironments: The Benefits of Homogeneous Classroom Groups," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt0872n398, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    32. Jane Friesen & Benjamin Cerf Harris & Simon Woodcock, 2015. "Expanding School Choice through Open Enrolment: Lessons from British Columbia," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 418, February.
    33. Alfonso Echazarra & Daniel Salinas & Ildefonso Méndez & Vanessa Denis & Giannina Rech, 2016. "How teachers teach and students learn: Successful strategies for school," OECD Education Working Papers 130, OECD Publishing.
    34. Cristian Pop-Eleches & Miguel Urquiola, 2013. "Going to a Better School: Effects and Behavioral Responses," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(4), pages 1289-1324, June.
    35. Susanna Loeb & Marianne E. Page, 2000. "Examining The Link Between Teacher Wages And Student Outcomes: The Importance Of Alternative Labor Market Opportunities And Non-Pecuniary Variation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 82(3), pages 393-408, August.
    36. Betts, Julian R., 2011. "The Economics of Tracking in Education," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 7, pages 341-381, Elsevier.
    37. David Lapierre & Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2016. "Long Term Educational Attainment of Private High School Students in Québec: Estimates of Treatment Effects from Longitudinal Data," Working Papers 16-02, Research Group on Human Capital, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management, revised Dec 2017.
    38. Richard J. Murnane & John B. Willett & Yves Duhaldeborde & John H. Tyler, 2000. "How important are the cognitive skills of teenagers in predicting subsequent earnings?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 547-568.
    39. Haeck, Catherine & Lefebvre, Pierre & Merrigan, Philip, 2014. "The distributional impacts of a universal school reform on mathematical achievements: A natural experiment from Canada," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 137-160.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2020. "Les inégalités provinciales aux tests internationaux-nationaux de littéracie : Québec, Ontario et autres provinces canadiennes 1993-2018 (Version révisée et augmentée octobre 2020)," CIRANO Working Papers 2020s-29, CIRANO.
    2. Catherine Haeck & Pierre Lefebvre, 2020. "The Evolution of Cognitive Skills Inequalities by Socioeconomic Status across Canada," Working Papers 20-04, Research Group on Human Capital, University of Quebec in Montreal's School of Management.
    3. Eric A. Hanushek & Jacob D. Light & Paul E. Peterson & Laura M. Talpey & Ludger Woessmann, 2022. "Long-run Trends in the U.S. SES-Achievement Gap," Education Finance and Policy, MIT Press, vol. 17(4), pages 608-640, Fall.
    4. Figlio, D. & Karbownik, K. & Salvanes, K.G., 2016. "Education Research and Administrative Data," Handbook of the Economics of Education,, Elsevier.
    5. Pierre Lefebvre & Philip Merrigan, 2022. "Why Subsidize Independent Schools? Estimating the Effect of a Unique Canadian Schooling Model on Educational Attainment," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, February.
    6. Ludger Wößmann, 2020. "Follow-up Costs of Not Learning: What We Can Learn from Research on Coronavirus-Related School Closures," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 73(06), pages 38-44, June.
    7. Hanushek, Eric A. & Jacobs, Babs & Schwerdt, Guido & Van der Velden, Rolf & Vermeulen, Stan & Wiederhold, Simon, 2021. "The Intergenerational Transmission of Cognitive Skills: An Investigation of the Causal Impact of Families on Student Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 14854, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Eric A. Hanushek & Babs Jacobs & Guido Schwerdt & Rolf van der Velden & Stan Vermeulen & Simon Wiederhold, 2021. "Where Do STEM Graduates Stem From? The Intergenerational Transmission of Comparative Skill Advantages," CESifo Working Paper Series 9388, CESifo.
    9. Hanushek, Eric A. & Peterson, Paul E. & Talpey, Laura M. & Woessmann, Ludger, 2019. "The Unwavering SES Achievement Gap: Trends in U.S. Student Performance," Working Paper Series rwp19-012, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government.
    10. Emma García & Eunice S. Han, 2022. "Teachers’ Base Salary and Districts’ Academic Performance: Evidence From National Data," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(1), pages 21582440221, March.
    11. Christina Langer & Simon Wiederhold, 2023. "The Value of Early-Career Skills," Working Papers 222, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    12. Alexandra de Gendre & Nicolás Salamanca, 2020. "On the Mechanisms of Ability Peer Effects," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2020n19, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    13. Bernhard C. Dannemann, 2020. "Peer Effects in Secondary Education: Evidence from the 2015 Trends in Mathematics and Science Study Based on Homophily," Working Papers V-428-20, University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics, revised Feb 2020.
    14. Kien Le & My Nguyen, 2019. "‘Bad Apple’ peer effects in elementary classrooms: the case of corporal punishment in the home," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 557-572, November.
    15. Kiss, David, 2013. "The impact of peer achievement and peer heterogeneity on own achievement growth: Evidence from school transitions," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 58-65.
    16. Hanushek, Eric A. & Schwerdt, Guido & Wiederhold, Simon & Woessmann, Ludger, 2017. "Coping with change: International differences in the returns to skills," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 15-19.
    17. Hanushek, Eric A., 2021. "Addressing cross-national generalizability in educational impact evaluation," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Bernal, Pedro & Mittag, Nikolas & Qureshi, Javaeria A., 2016. "Estimating effects of school quality using multiple proxies," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 1-10.
    19. Ludger Woessmann, 2016. "The Importance of School Systems: Evidence from International Differences in Student Achievement," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 30(3), pages 3-32, Summer.
    20. Simon Briole, 2019. "From Teacher Quality to Teaching Quality: Instructional Productivity and Teaching Practices in the US," Working Papers halshs-01993616, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    scores lecture; math; science; distributions centiles; niveaux des compétences; provinces et Canada; PIRS 1993-2004; PPCE 2007-2016; TIMSS08 2003-2015; PISA 2000-2018; PIRLS04 2006-2016; TIMSS04 2003-2015;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I29 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Other

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:grc:wpaper:20-02. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Marie Connolly (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ghuqmca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.