Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences-in-Differences Evidence Across Countries
27 Pages Posted: 20 Jan 2006
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Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences-in-Differences Evidence Across Countries
Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences-in-Differences Evidence Across Countries
Does Educational Tracking Affect Performance and Inequality? Differences-in-Differences Evidence Across Countries
Date Written: December 2005
Abstract
Even though some countries track students into differing-ability schools by age 10, others keep their entire secondary-school system comprehensive. To estimate the effects of such institutional differences in the face of country heterogeneity, we employ an international differences-in-differences approach. We identify tracking effects by comparing differences in outcome between primary and secondary school across tracked and non-tracked systems. Six international student assessments provide eight pairs of achievement contrasts for between 18 and 26 cross-country comparisons. The results suggest that early tracking increases educational inequality. While less clear, there is also a tendency for early tracking to reduce mean performance. Therefore, there does not appear to be any equity-efficiency trade-off.
Keywords: tracking, streaming, ability grouping, selectivity, comprehensive school system, educational performance, inequality, international student achievement test, TIMSS, PISA, PIRLS
JEL Classification: I2
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
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