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Segregation and the Attainment of Minority Ethnic Pupils in England

Author

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  • Simon Burgess
  • Deborah Wilson
  • Adam Briggs
  • Anete Piebalga

Abstract

In this paper we ask whether ethnic segregation in schools and in neighbourhoods has a causal effect on differential school attainment. We ask two related but different questions. First, we look at the test score gap between White and minority ethnic students, separately for Black Caribbean, Indian and Pakistani ethnic groups. Second, we consider the absolute performance of students in each of these minority ethnic groups across cities with varying levels of segregation. We show that, in strong contrast to similar studies in the US, the test score gap is largely unaffected by segregation for any of the three groups we study, and we find no evidence of a negative impact of ethnic segregation on absolute attainment levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Burgess & Deborah Wilson & Adam Briggs & Anete Piebalga, 2008. "Segregation and the Attainment of Minority Ethnic Pupils in England," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 08/204, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    • Handle: RePEc:bri:cmpowp:08/204
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    File URL: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/cmpo/publications/papers/2008/wp204.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David Card & Jesse Rothstein, 2005. "Racial Segregation and the Black-White Test Score Gap," Working Papers 879, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    2. Deborah Wilson & Simon Burgess & Adam Briggs, 2011. "The dynamics of school attainment of England’s ethnic minorities," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 24(2), pages 681-700, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Simon Burgess, 2014. "Understanding the success of London’s schools," The Centre for Market and Public Organisation 14/333, The Centre for Market and Public Organisation, University of Bristol, UK.
    2. repec:bri:cmpowp:13/333 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    ethnic segregation; schools;

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General

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