This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Chiu, M. M. Articles by Khoo, L. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Effects of Resources, Inequality, and Privilege Bias on Achievement: Country, School, and Student Level Analyses

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Lawrence Khoo

City University of Hong Kong

This study examined how resources, distribution inequality, and biases toward privileged students affected academic performance. Fifteen-year-olds from 41 countries completed a questionnaire and tests in mathematics, reading, and science. Multilevel regression analyses showed that students scored higher in all subjects when they had more resources in their country, family, or school. Students in countries with higher inequality, clustering of privileged students, or unequal distribution of certified teachers typically had lower scores. Distribution inequality favored privileged students, in that schools with more privileged students typically had more resources. Overall, students scored lower when parent job status had a larger effect on student performance (privileged student bias) in a school or country. These results suggest that equal opportunity is linked to higher overall student achievement.

Key Words: distribution inequality • hierarchical linear modeling • international comparisons • socioeconomic status

American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 42, No. 4, 575-603 (2005)
DOI: 10.3102/00028312042004575


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?