Better educational inclusion of migrant children in urban schools? Exploring the influences of the population control policy in large Chinese cities

Abstract

The educational inclusion of rural–urban migrant children in Chinese urban schools has been promoted in the past decades. This paper provides a contextualized interpretation of recent policy developments governing large Chinese cities and evaluates its impact upon the status of migrant children's education. Drawing on data collected from 1,331 migrant children in urban inclusive schools, this study compared current migrant children's family backgrounds and psychological sense of belonging at school in relation to educational outcomes at the primary education level. Results showed that migrant children's socioeconomic status (SES) levels were slightly higher than their counterparts in inclusive schools and a salient SES stratification of migrant students was found. This correlates with students’ reports of fewer incidences of discrimination than hypothesized. Furthermore, capital in migrant families was positively associated with the psychological sense of belonging and academic achievement. These results reveal a significant change to migrant students’ SES as a result of the recent population control policy pertaining to China's large cities since 2014. Implications for research and educational practice, especially with at‐risk migrant students of low‐SES, are discussed.