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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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    Cited by:

    1. Ryan Bacic & Angela Zheng, 2022. "Income-Achievement Gaps in Canada," Department of Economics Working Papers 2022-04, McMaster University.
    2. Bacic, Ryan & Zheng, Angela, 2023. "Race and the income-achievement gap," CLEF Working Paper Series 55, Canadian Labour Economics Forum (CLEF), University of Waterloo.
    3. 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.
    4. Paul Anand & Jere R. Behrman & Hai‐Anh H. Dang & Sam Jones, 2019. "Does sorting matter for learning inequality?: Evidence from East Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2019-110, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. 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.
    6. John Richards, 2011. "School Dropouts: Who Are They and What Can Be Done?," e-briefs 109, C.D. Howe Institute.
    7. 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.
    8. Friesen, Jane & Krauth, Brian, 2011. "Ethnic enclaves in the classroom," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 656-663, October.
    9. Christofides, Louis N. & Hoy, Michael & Milla, Joniada & Stengos, Thanasis, 2012. "Grades, Aspirations and Post-Secondary Education Outcomes," IZA Discussion Papers 6867, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. 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.
    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. 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).
    13. 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.

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    Keywords

    Aboriginal education; peer effects;

    JEL classification:

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

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