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2004 Minority Education Reform and pupil performance in Latvia

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  • Ivlevs, Artjoms
  • King, Roswitha M.

Abstract

One quarter of all schoolchildren in Latvia go to the publicly funded minority (predominantly Russian) schools. In 2004, the language of instruction in minority schools was changed from essentially minority language to a composite of 60% Latvian and 40% minority. This paper studies the effects of this ‘60/40’ reform on the academic performance of pupils in minority schools. Using data on 2002–2011 centralised exam results for the universe of Latvia's secondary schools, we find that there has been a significant deterioration in the exam performance of minority schools relative to that of majority schools after the reform year 2004. The negative effects were most pronounced in the early years following the reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Ivlevs, Artjoms & King, Roswitha M., 2014. "2004 Minority Education Reform and pupil performance in Latvia," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 151-166.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:38:y:2014:i:c:p:151-166
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2013.08.010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    3. Gao, Wenshu & Smyth, Russell, 2011. "Economic returns to speaking 'standard Mandarin' among migrants in China's urban labour market," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 342-352, April.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Taylor, Stephen & von Fintel, Marisa, 2016. "Estimating the impact of language of instruction in South African primary schools: A fixed effects approach," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 75-89.
    3. Ekaterina Kodja & Tatiana Ryabichenko, 2019. "The Relationship Between Social Identities, Acculturation Strategies And The Psychological Well-Being Of Young Russians In Latvia And Crimean Tatars In Crimea," HSE Working papers WP BRP 111/PSY/2019, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    4. Victor Ginsburgh & Shlomo Weber, 2020. "The Economics of Language," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 58(2), pages 348-404, June.
    5. Aimee Chin, 2015. "Impact of bilingual education on student achievement," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 131-131, March.
    6. Rindler, Michael, 2021. "Changing Language Skills and Trade in Europe," VfS Annual Conference 2021 (Virtual Conference): Climate Economics 242449, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Bernhofer, Juliana & Tonin, Mirco, 2022. "The effect of the language of instruction on academic performance," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Costs; Educational economics; School choice; Bilingual education; Latvia; Minorities; Policy evaluation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • P36 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions - - - Consumer Economics; Health; Education and Training; Welfare, Income, Wealth, and Poverty

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