The impact of socioeconomic versus linguistic factors on achievement gaps between Hebrew-speaking and Arabic-speaking students in Israel in reading literacy and in mathematics and science achievements

Abstract

The study intends to choose between two alternative explanations for the low attainment of Arabic-speaking students in reading literacy who participated in the PIRLS (2006), i.e., one that relates to lower socioeconomic conditions in the Arabic-speaking sector, and another that relates to the diglossic situation in Arabic. After controlling for the effect of socioeconomic factors using Ancova, the achievement gaps in reading literacy between Arabic-speaking and Hebrew-speaking students in favor of the former, although decreased, remained large, while in mathematics and science, considered to be less affected by diglossia, the achievement gaps in favor of Hebrew-speaking students disappeared and even reversed. These findings supported the explanation that the Arabic diglossia is probably the main cause of the low reading attainment.