Inequality In Schools Research Articles

Context matters: Diagnosing and targeting local barriers to success at school

We trialed a novel method aimed at reducing educational inequalities in any given school by tailoring an intervention to address the specific local social, cultural, and psychological barriers that contribute to those inequalities. In Study 1 (N = 2070), we validated measures in a student survey of barriers experienced by students ages 11–16 years in two schools in England. We used a pilot version of these measures to identify two barriers that appeared to be contributing in both schools to poorer attendance and behavioral records of Black versus Asian students and of lower socioeconomic status (SES) students versus higher SES students. These barriers consisted of perceptions that (a) the schools were biased against certain groups of students and that there were negative stereotypes about certain groups of students, and (b) teachers and students did not come from similar backgrounds. In Study 2, which was pre-registered, we administered a brief tailored intervention to target these barriers in students ages 11–14 years in the same two schools the following year (N = 1070). The intervention, which aimed to induce values affirmation and reveal hidden teacher-student similarities, improved the attendance of low-SES students by 0.20 SD (p = .009) and reduced the gap with their peers by 60%. Exploratory analyses indicated that the improvement in attendance was larger for students who reported perceiving greater levels of bias and poorer teacher-student relationships at baseline. The impact of the intervention on the behavioral records of Black students (p = .089) and low-SES students (p = .293) was not significant. These qualified but encouraging findings provide a basis for developing practical ways for individual schools to improve outcomes for their historically disadvantaged students.

A taxonomy of (mathematics) educational opportunity

Mathematics education research and policy makers lament differences in outcomes related to race and class, treating so called “failures” as obstacles to be eliminated, rather than the outcomes for which it is designed. That is, mathematics education serves an important economic function in society: social selection and economic stratification. Following literature that foregrounds the economic dimension of schools, this analysis offers an examination of how inequalities are created and reinforced through a taxonomy of mathematics educational opportunity. More specifically, it addresses two questions: 1) What are the opportunities that contribute to the creation and reinforcement of social inequality in rural schooling? and 2) In what ways are those opportunities hoarded or leveraged to accomplish stratification? Through an ethnography of a rural, public elementary school in the United States, five opportunities emerged: learning, credentialing, positioning, relating, and networking. The paper offers a conceptualization of each of the types grounded in mathematics education literature and describes how those opportunities were distributed. I suggest that mathematics education’s focus on learning opportunities, while important, fails to account for other dimensions of equity in schools. These other, often invisible, opportunities and the mechanisms by which they are distributed are likely a source of significant inequity.

School Readiness and Early Childhood Education and Care Services Among Dual Language Learners

Dual language learners (DLL) (ie, children learning 2 or more languages) present lower school readiness than non-DLL children, putting DLL children at risk of later school difficulties and adverse outcomes. However, it is unclear whether participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) services may reduce this gap. To assess whether ECEC exposure may reduce the school readiness gap between DLL and non-DLL children in a population-based sample. This census survey study was performed from February to May 2022 in the Canadian province of Quebec using data from the Quebec Survey of Child Development in Kindergarten, which includes all children who attended kindergarten in the 2021 to 2022 school year in public and private schools in Quebec (n = 80 587), except for Cree and Inuit territories. Children's ECEC arrangement before kindergarten was retrieved from register-based data and teachers and arrangements were categorized as exclusive parental care, childcare, pre-kindergarten only, or childcare and pre-kindergarten. Based on their mother tongue and language of instruction, children were classified as French speaking, English speaking, bilingual French-English speaking, or neither French nor English speaking (allophone) children, the last 2 groups of which represented the DLL category. Vulnerability in school readiness was defined as a score below the 10th percentile in any of the 5 domains of the validated Early Development Instrument (EDI): (1) physical health and well-being; (2) social competence; (3) emotional maturity; (4) language and cognitive development; and (5) communication skills and general knowledge. In total, 80 587 children were surveyed, and 71 585 children were included in analyses. Mean (SD) child age was 6.0 (0.3) years, 34 911 children (48.8%) were female, and 18 341 children (25.6%) were DLL. English-speaking, bilingual French-English-speaking, and allophone children were more likely to be vulnerable in the EDI (769 of 2355 children [32.7%], 4814 of 13 981 children [34.4%], and 1622 of 4360 children [37.2%], respectively) than French-speaking children (13 664 of 50 890 children [26.9%]). In logistic regression analyses adjusted for social selection bias in ECEC arrangement, attending ECEC services was associated with a lower risk of being vulnerable among all language groups compared to parental care, with odds ratios ranging from 0.26 (95% CI, 0.25-0.27) to 0.96 (95% CI, 0.80-1.14), except in the emotional maturity domain. ECEC exposure was associated with reduction in vulnerabilities disparities between DLL and non-DLL children after adjusting for confounding factors, including socioeconomic status. ECEC services may foster school readiness for all children, especially DLL, and should be considered to reduce school inequalities.

Overcoming Historical Factors that Block the Quest for Educational Equity in Canadian Schools

Abstract Remedying school inequities in Canada requires actively confronting the challenges connected to Canada's national identity and history. These challenges uphold historically rooted, ongoing inequities that are tied together by three themes: the legacy of colonialism and the displacement and resource acquisition that provided (and continues to provide) wealth for the ruling elite; enslaved and under/unpaid racialized/ migrant labor that built and continues to uphold the infrastructure of the nationstate; and the discourses of Canadian identity centered on the perceived “nice and polite” Canadian and the peaceful multicultural mosaic of its vast land. Any effort to fully understand and address educational projects for change in Canada must engage with these three themes central to Canada's identity.

La pedagogía del obrero: Francisco Gavidia y la educación pública primaria, El Salvador 1896-1898

The article analyzes the changes on elementary public education performed by Gavidia when he was appointed as General Director of Elementary Public Education during General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez administration (1894-1898). The research reveals that those changes redirected the model of citizen that the Salvadoran State intended to form at schools: Instead of an illustrated citizen, the new education opted for a worker citizen, which fitted in a time on which the urban spaces and working class increased. Gavidia served for a little time as General Director of Elementary Public Education. Nevertheless, this research proves that, in spite of it, his influence endured during the following administrations. The article concludes with a critical approach to some aspects of elementary public education that generated inequity and economic precariousness in Salvadoran schools. Realidad, Revista de Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, No. 164, 2024: 12-38.

Exploring Intersectionality Inequalities in Junior Secondary Schools in Guangdong Province, China: Causes and Analysis of the Achievement Gap

This study explores the cross-inequality in junior middle schools in China and Guangdong Province, paying special attention to the causes and analysis of the academic achievement gap. Through the discussion of the theory of socio-demographic differences and intersection, this paper reveals the complex influence of multiple social identities such as socio-economic status, gender and race on students' educational experience and academic performance. It is found that the uneven distribution of educational resources in different schools in Guangdong Province and the socio-economic background of parents have significantly affected students' academic achievements. In addition, this paper also discusses the possibility of promoting educational equity through educational policy intervention, such as resource allocation, teacher training and curriculum reform. This paper aims to provide a new perspective for reducing the inequality in the education system, and suggests further research to understand and solve these complex educational inequalities more comprehensively

Book Review: Jessie Abrahams, Schooling Inequality

Book Review: Jessie Abrahams, <i>Schooling Inequality</i>

Tracking and social inequalities in school belonging - A difference-in-differences approach

Drawing on ten studies from PIRLS, PISA and TIMSS, we study social inequalities in school belonging in the context of early tracking. We investigate whether a) there are social inequalities in school belonging b) early tracking has an effect on levels of school belonging c) tracking exacerbates social inequalities with respect to school belonging. We constructed a large database which covers a wide range of countries and representative student populations in both primary and secondary schools. We exploit that no country tracks their students in primary school and use a difference-in-differences approach to study the effect of tracking. Our findings show a positive association between students’ socioeconomic status and school belonging but no effect for tracking. Likewise, we found no evidence that tracking exacerbates social inequalities in school belonging. Multiverse analysis underlines the general robustness of these findings.

교육적 이상향으로서 인문주의에 나타난 ‘안과 밖’의 모순 - 독일 교양시민계층의 사례와 정전(正典) 논쟁을 중심으로

This thesis focuses on two historical cases by comparing the contradiction between the ideal of humanistic education and its realization in the concept of dialectical logic to the inner and outer. The first inside and outside is the socio-political consequence of the Bildung concept, which is the German typical of modern humanist educational ideology, and the educated middle class, which has made it a group identity. The result of the neo-humanistic educational ideals and the instrumentalization of education understood by the German educated middle class shows the modern origin of class inequality in schooling, which is a drastic problem in modern capitalist society. The second contradiction is that between the inner logic of European tradition and values, and the outer logic of non-European perspectives. Humanism has regarded the power-guaranteed classics, called canon, as an absolute value transcending time and society. However, since the middle of the 20th century, the discourse of diversity driven by multiculturalism, criticism of orientalism, feminism, and political correctness debate have raised questions about the canonization itself. Humanism tried to preserve its content value as a European heritage, but from the outside, charges of Eurocentrism were accused. The contradictory attributes of humanism are related to the aporia of discord between the ideology of education and reality.

Fuel to the fire: Gender inequality in achievement in secondary school national examination in conflict-affected areas, North Wollo Zone, Northeast Ethiopia

Government reforms such as the general education quality improvement program for equity are implemented to address concerns about educational inequality. However, studies advancing understanding of the patterns of gender inequality in achievement in conflict affected areas are rare. The purpose of this article is to examine patterns in gender inequality in General Secondary Education Certificate Examination results in Math, English, and Aptitude for 2021, 2022 and 2023 academic years in conflict affected areas. The data consist of achievement scores from 45 schools and a total of 32,528 students, obtained from the Education office of North Wollo Zone, Northeast Ethiopia. Using multilevel modeling, within- and between-school inequalities, achievement inequalities in gender, effects of teacher qualifications on achievement, and variations in gender-achievement relationships are examined. Student performance has been found to have consistently declined in the last two years in math, English and aptitude scores. On average, boys perform significantly higher than girls on these subjects consistently during the normal and conflict seasons. Inequality has decreased in conjunction with declining student performance, and inequalities due to school characteristics are much lower than inequalities due to student differences. School inequality declines in years of conflict compared to normal ones. The relationships between gender and achievement also vary statistically from school to school, with the conflict exacerbating existing inequalities. Based on the results, it is suggested that equity strategies should consider inequalities with declining student performance as opposed to conventional inequalities with high and low performing groups. Future research may isolate the effects of conflict and reforms in national testing procedures to account for gender inequalities.

Looking to the Past to Understand the Present: Legacies of Inequality, Status Changes, and Collective Memory in Burundi’s Post-War Schooling

How do efforts to reduce ethnic inequality in schooling interact with narratives of inequality and past grievances in schools after ethnicity-based conflict? In this paper, I analyse interviews with 114 youth in Burundi to explore the intersection of these narratives given a power-sharing agreement and changes in group status in post-war Burundi. I show that despite government efforts, narratives of exclusion and inequality in the past persist, and have become more complex. This study has implications for our understanding of the role of redressing education inequalities in short- and long-term peacebuilding processes.

From Perspectival Myopia to Professional Transformation: An Autoethnographic Retrospection of a High School Principal from Nepal

ABSTRACT This paper presents a re-storied account of my (lead author) decade-long (2007–2017) professional journey as a high school principal in diverse educational settings in Nepal. Using an autoethnographic approach, I have theorized my leadership transformation approaches through professional storytelling, employing critical reflexivity to trace intimate leadership experiences where authoritarian approaches to leadership, disparities, and inequalities in schools run rampant. My perspectival myopia, professional vulnerabilities, and the discrepancies between my leadership ideals and behaviors resulted in issues such as perceptions of disengagement, underperformance, and dissatisfaction on the receiving end, prompting me to contemplate professional transformation. While outlining several significant steps and missteps in transforming my actional and cognitive behaviors, this paper explores my evolution toward a more reflective, democratic, ethical, equitable, and participative conceptualization of educational leadership and underscores the transformative potential of personal-professional development through adaptable perspectives and critical self-reflection, offering valuable insights for educational leaders globally.

Socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence of COVID-19 in Barcelona students

ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess socioeconomic inequalities in schools regarding the COVID-19 incidence during different epidemic waves among Barcelona students, differentiating by sex and educational stage. Study designCross-sectional ecological study. MethodsWe included in the study all students from childhood to secondary education in Barcelona city. The unit of analysis was the schools. The study covered the epidemic waves coinciding with the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school courses. The cumulative incidence (CI) per school and wave was calculated. Bivariate and multivariate analyses using Poisson regression were conducted to estimate relative risks. The population attributable risk, by sex and educational stage, was calculated as a measure of impact. ResultsIn the second wave, higher CI in students was associated with greater school socioeconomic deprivation in all groups. In the younger girls, 24.5 % (5.2–41.4) of the CI was attributed to school socioeconomic vulnerability, increasing to 33.1 % (15.1–47.2) in older girls. During the sixth wave, the impact was lower in the most vulnerable schools in all strata. ConclusionsSocioeconomic factors significantly impacted the incidence of COVID-19 in schools, reflecting social inequalities in Barcelona. There was an inversion of the pattern of inequalities in the sixth wave compared to the previous ones. The results emphasize the need for urgent action and targeted resources to address health inequalities in education and understand the impact of epidemic dynamics on socioeconomic context.

Inequalities in the Cape Flats: Principals’ perspectives on children’s schooling

Background: A separate, apartheid system of schooling in South Africa entrenched European racialised ideologies of white supremacy that left a legacy of social, economic, and educational inequalities. The 1995 White Paper for Education, the 1996 South African Schools Act, and the Revised National Curriculum Statement outlined steps for equalising education. However, inequalities within the schooling system remain.Aim: The study aimed to understand how principals experience the lasting effects of apartheid-era segregationist policies in primary schools and to document principals’ solutions.Setting: A meeting of principals who work at primary schools in the Western Cape province.Methods: Researchers purposively sampled four principals from the primary schools represented at the meeting, conducted semi-structured interviews with the principals chosen, and adopted an interpretive approach to analyse findings.Results: This study finds from principals’ perspectives that neighbourhood gang violence, and highly unequal funding for schools in different neighbourhoods adversely impact primary school children’s education and principals’ abilities to lead as a result of context, overcrowding and inequality. Principals note that when parent-led programmes such as the Walking Bus produce a positive effect, the government tends to undercut parents’ efforts to work with principals to secure and equalise young children’s schooling.Conclusion: Giving greater governance power to parents and principals may help to equalise the extremes of inequalities in primary schools remaining from Nationalist Party policies of the pre-1994 apartheid era.Contribution: This study contributes to primary school principals’ ideas for improving primary schoolchildren’s education.

Gender and Other Inequalities in Secondary Education in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone: Exploring the Experiences and Outcomes of Girls in Schools

This study extends limited research on understanding gender and education in post-conflict contexts. The study goes beyond the descriptive analysis of equality in terms of numbers but rather focuses on the gendered processes and conditions of learning (i.e., The content of what girls learn and how they learn). It gives an account of how schooling experiences produce and reproduce inequalities in secondary education. This critical analysis utilizes the intersectionality framework to illustrate how the intersection of multiple identities such as gender, social class, sexuality, culture, and location influences girls' learning experiences and outcomes in secondary school in post-conflict Sierra Leone. I particularly draw on girls’ explanations of these issues as they negotiate and are affected by them. Therefore, a detailed qualitative ethnographic study was conducted in a secondary school from the south region of Sierra Leone to explore gendered experiences and their intersecting inequalities in everyday schooling. This is to understand the gendered institutional life of the school and as far as possible do this through the voices and perspectives of those within the school, especially the girls. What this research does is to broaden the in-school research knowledge by focusing on investigating the gendered process of learning, everyday formal and informal in-school interactions, cultures and practices and the intersection of gender with other social identities like sexuality, Socioeconomic status (SES), Location and Traditions. I also tracked how these new directions of knowledge influence girls' performance, retention, and attainment. This study adopted a qualitative research method using an ethnographic approach to examine the pupils’ and teachers' detailed secondary schooling experiences. This was achieved by using in-depth interviews to explore students’ individual personal experiences of secondary schooling. The studied participants were purposively selected based on the established parameters for this study. The findings of this study revealed a highly gendered school environment, and that the intersection of multiple identities, such as gender, social class, sexuality, culture, and location, exacerbates inequalities in secondary education and influences girls' learning experiences. Additionally, the study highlighted the impact of societal factors, such as early marriage and teenage pregnancy, on girls' educational outcomes, especially in a post-conflict context like Sierra Leone.

Methods of teaching secondary school students to solve algebraic equations and inequalities and their systems

Relevance. The relevance of this study is conditioned by the integral role of algebraic equations and inequalities in mathematics education, as well as the need for effective methods and approaches to their teaching at the secondary school level. Purpose. The study aims to develop and appropriate methods for teaching secondary school students to solve algebraic equations and inequalities, including their systems, taking into account modern educational requirements and pedagogical approaches. Methodology. In the course of the study, methods such as experimental research, questionnaire surveys, and statistical analysis of data were used. Results. Because of the study, it was revealed that the innovative methodology for teaching the solution of algebraic equations and inequalities in secondary school had a positive impact on students' mastery of the material. The participants demonstrated a deeper understanding of algebraic concepts, increased independence in problem-solving, and developed critical thinking skills. They became more confident in analysing and interpreting problem conditions, identifying relationships between variables, and proposing adequate solutions. The new approach also improved students� motivation to study algebra and their academic performance, with increased interest and passion for the subject due to the interactive methods and practical tasks provided. Conclusions. The study confirms the effectiveness of the innovative methodology in the contemporary educational context of mainstream schools. The practical significance of the study lies in providing mainstream schoolteachers with tools to successfully teach students algebraic equations and inequalities, contributing to the development of analytical thinking and mathematical competence. Keywords: interactive lessons; visualization of mathematical concepts; individual progress; skill development

Analisis Kesenjangan Sosial di Sekolah: Perspektif Sosiologi Pendidikan Islam (Studi Kasus di SDN Bhayangkara Yogyakarta)

The sociology of education has a crucial role in developing a more optimal and efficient education system. One of the major bottlenecks in the sociology of education is the educational gap. The sociology of education is a sociological analysis used to solve the main issues faced in the realm of education. The purpose of this study is to analyze social inequality in schools from the perspective of Islamic education sociology. The research approach uses qualitative research. This research was conducted at SDN Bhayangkara. The subject of this research is the teacher. Data collection techniques using observation, interviews, and documentation. Data analysis used data reduction, data display, and data conclusion verification. The results of the research can be concluded that social inequality also occurs not only in the community but in the educational environment this often occurs. SDN Bhayangkara is a public school located in the middle of the urban city of Yogyakarta. Students with various kinds of social, and economic status, parenting patterns, and different environments have resulted in social inequality in the school environment such as at SDN Bhayangkara. The application of the sociology of Islamic Education with counseling guidance, there is moral material, there is an example, there is punishment and religious activities. Through the application of the sociology of Islamic education, it is hoped that it can prevent social inequalities that occur in schools.

Community-based peer mentorship improves academic performance: Evidence from Makhanda, South Africa

ABSTRACT Despite high rates of education expenditure, South Africa's education system remains sharply unequal and underperforms overall compared to other countries. One approach to addressing education inequality and underperformance is community-based peer mentorship. This paper presents evidence from the Nine Tenths mentorship programme in Makhanda (formerly Grahamstown) as a way to improve academic performance among matric students in under-resourced secondary schools. Using school matric pass rates from 2012 to 2021 and student admission metrics for participants in 2020–2022, a strong association is found between the activities of Nine Tenths and improved academic performance. No-fee schools where Nine Tenths is active record pass rates that are 28 percentage points higher on average than schools without Nine Tenths. Matric students who participate in Nine Tenths increase their Admissions Points Score (APS) by 4.23 points on average, and every student between 2020 and 2022 earned a bachelor pass. While the evidence suggests that Nine Tenths is effective, the programme operates on a relatively small scale and is not broad-based in its implementation. The programme shows is a promising example of community-based interventions to address schooling inequality independently and more efficiently than the current education policy in South Africa.

The political trap for Honduran teachers: compensation inequities in rural schools

ABSTRACT Honduras’ progress on educational outcomes has lagged behind other Latin American countries in recent years, including educational access for marginalized populations, high school dropout, and performance gaps across the K-12 spectrum (Adelman & Székely, 2017). Studies have suggested that lack of government investment in education (Ministerios de Hacienda y Finanzas, 2019) and pervasive corruption (Beiser, 2015; Ernst, 2019; Fontana, 2008) may contribute to the mismanagement of educational funds and poor outcomes. The present study focuses on less commonly researched challenges which may affect school quality by exploring educator’s compensation experiences in community versus government managed schools. Surveys were collected from 63 teachers from six Programa Hondureño de Educación Comunitaria (PROHECO) schools and four non- PROHECO government schools. Our findings show greater frequency and length of salary delays for PROHECO teachers and consider how the statistical differences may relate to clientelist practices and impact teacher morale. We conclude with a call for further research on school quality focused on the impact of educator work, hiring, and compensation practices on educator quality and students’ educational outcomes.

Using GIS to detect spatial inequality in primary schools in Ain Touta

The economic and social changes in Algerian society at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s had a radical impact on the urban and regional dynamics and on population growth (besides rural migration) in the regional and urban networks, including cities like Ain Touta, which is considered the most prominent urban agglomeration in the region. Ain Touta was unable to keep up with development challenges, which has led to a deterioration of its education system and other public services. Moreover, the decision-makers of none of these sectors use modern technologies such as geographic information systems (GIS), spatial decision support systems (SDSS), smart cities, and E-government, which would enable them understanding the current issues from a geographical perspective, especially through measuring spatial inequality access to education services. This paper uses a GIS approach to identify spatial inequality in primary schools and measure the distribution pattern using the nearest neighbour average method, vector distribution, hotspot, and service area analyses. These analyses can be help creating a functional access and disability map to improve the local school map. The results obtained confirm the basic hypothesis, as it was found that the northern area of the city, which is the area were the immigrant population resides, is the least accessible to educational institutions. In consequence, other parts of the city have to bear the burden of supporting the northern area, and thus themselves become under-resourced.