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Sorting, Peers and Achievement of Aboriginal Students in British Columbia

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  • Friesen, Jane
  • Krauth, Brian

Abstract

We use administrative data on students in grades 4 and 7 in British Columbia to examine the extent to which differences in school environment contribute to the achievement gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students as measured by standardized test scores. We find that segregation of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students is substantial, and that differences in the distribution of these two groups across schools account for roughly half the overall achievement gap on the Foundation Skills Assessment tests in grade 7. The substantial school-level segregation of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal student across schools means that Aboriginal students on average have a higher proportion of peers who are themselves Aboriginal, as well as a higher proportion of peers in special education. We estimate the effect of peer composition on value-added exam outcomes, using longitudinal data on multiple cohorts of students together with school-by-grade fixed effects to account for endogenous selection into schools. We find that having a greater proportion of Aboriginal peers, if anything, improves the achievement of Aboriginal students.

Suggested Citation

  • Friesen, Jane & Krauth, Brian, 2009. "Sorting, Peers and Achievement of Aboriginal Students in British Columbia," CLSSRN working papers clsrn_admin-2009-52, Vancouver School of Economics, revised 24 Oct 2009.
    • Handle: RePEc:ubc:clssrn:clsrn_admin-2009-52
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    File URL: http://www.clsrn.econ.ubc.ca/workingpapers/CLSRN%20Working%20Paper%20no.%2043%20-%20Friesen%20and%20Kauth.pdf
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    2. Ryan Bacic & Angela Zheng, 2022. "Income-Achievement Gaps in Canada," Department of Economics Working Papers 2022-04, McMaster University.
    3. Christofides, Louis N. & Hoy, Michael & Milla, Joniada & Stengos, Thanasis, 2012. "Grades, Aspirations and Post-Secondary Education Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 6867, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Bacic, Ryan & Zheng, Angela, 2023. "Race and the income-achievement gap," CLEF Working Paper Series 55, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    5. Louis N. Christofides & Michael Hoy & Joniada Milla & Thanasis Stengos, 2012. "The Implication of Peer and Parental Influences on University Attendance: A Gender Comparison," Working Papers 1201, University of Guelph, Department of Economics and Finance.
    6. Maggie Jones & Michael Barber, 2019. "Inequalities in Test Scores between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Youth in Canada," Department Discussion Papers 1904, Department of Economics, University of Victoria.
    7. Marco Bertoni & Giorgio Brunello & Lorenzo Cappellari, 2020. "Who benefits from privileged peers? Evidence from siblings in schools," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(7), pages 893-916, November.
    8. Graham, Bryan S. & Imbens, Guido W. & Ridder, Geert, 2025. "Measuring the effects of segregation in the presence of social spillovers: A nonparametric approach," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 252(PB).
    9. Paul Anand & Jere R. Behrman & Hai-Anh H. Dang & Sam Jones, 2019. "Does sorting matter for learning inequality?Evidence from East Africa," PIER Working Paper Archive 20-006, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    10. John Richards, 2011. "School Dropouts: Who Are They and What Can Be Done?," e-briefs 109, C.D. Howe Institute.
    11. Ryan Bacic & Angela Zheng, 2024. "Race and the Income‐Achievement Gap," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(1), pages 5-23, January.
    12. Hynsjö, Disa & Damon, Amy, 2016. "Bilingual education in Peru: Evidence on how Quechua-medium education affects indigenous children's academic achievement," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 116-132.
    13. Barber, Michael & Jones, Maggie E.C., 2021. "Inequalities in test scores between Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in Canada," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    14. John Richards, 2013. "Why is BC Best? The Role of Provincial and Reserve School Systems in Explaining Aboriginal Student Performance," C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, C.D. Howe Institute, issue 390, October.
    15. Friesen, Jane & Krauth, Brian, 2011. "Ethnic enclaves in the classroom," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 656-663, October.

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    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education

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