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Curricula tracking and central examinations: counterbalancing the Impact of social background on student achievement in 36 countries

Author

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  • Bol, Thijs
  • Witschge, Jacqueline
  • Van de Werfhorst, Herman
  • Dronkers, Jaap

Abstract

Tracked educational systems are associated with a greater social inequality in children’s educational achievement. Until now research has assumed that the impact of tracking on the inequality of educational opportunity is independent of other educational institutional features. Using data from the 2006 PISA survey, we study how central examinations affect the association between tracking and inequality. We find that parent’s social class has a larger effect on student achievement in systems without central examinations, whereas in systems with central examinations this relationship is attenuated. We argue that central examinations help hold schools accountable for their performance, thereby making it more likely for schools to allocate students to tracks and reward them on the basis of objective indicators, thereby reducing the impact of parental status on children’s performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Bol, Thijs & Witschge, Jacqueline & Van de Werfhorst, Herman & Dronkers, Jaap, 2013. "Curricula tracking and central examinations: counterbalancing the Impact of social background on student achievement in 36 countries," MPRA Paper 44675, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:44675
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    Cited by:

    1. Dronkers, J., 2014. "Parental background, early scholastic ability, the allocation into secondary school tracks and language skills at the age of 15 years in a highly differentiated system: a test of the contradictions be," ROA Technical Report 001, Maastricht University, Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA).
    2. Burger, Kaspar, 2016. "Intergenerational transmission of education in Europe: Do more comprehensive education systems reduce social gradients in student achievement?," MPRA Paper 95310, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2016.
    3. Herman G. van de Werfhorst & Anthony Heath, 2019. "Selectivity of Migration and the Educational Disadvantages of Second-Generation Immigrants in Ten Host Societies," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 35(2), pages 347-378, May.
    4. Brzinsky-Fay, Christian, 2017. "The interplay of educational and labour market institutions and links to relative youth unemployment," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 27(4), pages 346-359.
    5. Бессуднов А. Р. & Куракин Д. Ю. & Малик В. М., 2017. "Как Возник И Что Скрывает Миф О Всеобщем Высшем Образовании," Вопросы образования // Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 3, pages 83-109.
    6. Checchi, Daniele & van de Werfhorst, Herman Gerbert, 2017. "Policies, Skills and Earnings: How Educational Inequality Affects Earnings Inequality," SocArXiv wn3h2, Center for Open Science.
    7. Parker, Philip D. & Jerrim, John & Schoon, Ingrid & Marsh, Herbert W., 2016. "A multination study of socioeconomic inequality in expectations for progression to higher education: the role of between-school tracking and ability stratification," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 53(1), pages 6-32.
    8. Ehlert, Martin, 2020. "No Future, No Training? Explaining Cross-national Variation in the Effect of Job Tasks On Training Participation [Keine Zukunft, keine Weiterbildung? Zur Erklärung von Länderunterschieden im Effekt," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 72(S1), pages 483-510.
    9. Verhagen, Mark D., 2021. "Prediction in Educational Research: An Application to the Study of Teacher Bias," SocArXiv y6mnb, Center for Open Science.
    10. Contini, Dalit & Cugnata, Federica, 2020. "Does Early Tracking Affect Learning Inequalities? Revisiting Difference-in-difference Modeling Strategies with International Assessments," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 202018, University of Turin.
    11. Contini, Dalit & Cugnata, Federica, 2018. "How do institutions affect learning inequalities? Revisiting difference-in-difference models with international assessments," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201817, University of Turin.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    tracking; stratification; inequality of educational opportunity; PISA;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy

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