Tracking When Ranking Matters

Abstract

This paper investigates the effect of grouping students by prior achievement into different classes in a context where students are preparing for the entrance exams to elite graduate programs offering a limited number of seats. We show that this policy has, on average, positive effects on students' performance and rankings. However, these improvements mainly concern students who were the strongest at the start of the preparation period, among whom children from privileged backgrounds are largely over-represented. Ultimately, the practice of grouping students by prior achievement into different classes increases inequalities in access to elite programs between children from different backgrounds.

Keywords: ability tracking, competition, higher education, inequalities