Equity and Excellence in Education from International Perspectives HGSE Special Topic Seminar Pasi Sahlberg Spring 2015 @pasi_sahlberg
Evolution of Equity in Education 1960s: The Coleman Report 1970s: Effective Schools 1980s: School Effectiveness 1990s: School Improvement 2000s: Equity AND Excellence
What is Equity in Education?
Some Definitions Equity in schooling means ensuring that differences in educational outcomes are not the result of differences in wealth, income, power or possessions. - The Gonski Report (2013) Equity refers to the principle of fairness. While it is often used interchangeably with the related principle of equality, equity encompasses a wide variety of educationalmodels, programs, and strategies that maybe considered fair, but not necessarily equal. - Great Schools Partnership 2015 By equity I mean a simple sense of fairness in the distribution of the primary goods and services that characterize our social order." - Ron Edmonds 1979 Equity in education has two dimensions: Equity as inclusion means ensuring that all students reach at least a basic minimum level of skills. Equity as fairness implies that personal or socio-economic circumstances, such as gender, ethnic origin or family background are not obstacles to educational success. - OECD 2011 Ensuring equity means that all students will be inspired to reach their full potential, with access to rich learning experiences that begin at birth and continue into adulthood. - Ontario Ministry of Education 2014
OECD PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS)
International Comparisons of Equity in Education Equity vs. Achievement Resilient Students Boys vs. Girls High vs. Low Performers Variability Between and Within Schools Resource Allocation
International Data
Mean score 580 570 High mathematics performance Singapore 560 550 Chinese Taipei Hong Kong-China Korea 540 530 520 510 500 490 480 470 460 450 440 430 420 410 Massachusetts Poland Belgium Germany Austria Slovenia New Zealand Denmark Czech Republic France Luxembourg Latvia Portugal Spain Slovak Connecticut Republic United States Hungary Florida Israel Greece Romania Chile 12 countries perform below this line Macao-China Japan Liechtenstein Switzerland Netherlands Estonia Finland Canada Viet Nam Australia Ireland United Kingdom Iceland Norway Italy Russian Fed. Lithuania Sweden Croatia Serbia Turkey Bulgaria U.A.E. Kazakhstan Thailand Malaysia Mexico Low mathematics performance
High mathematics performance Singapore Chinese Taipei Hong Kong-China Korea Macao-China Japan Liechtenstein Switzerland Strong socio-economic impact on student performance Poland Belgium Germany Austria Slovenia New Zealand Denmark Czech Republic France Luxembourg Latvia Portugal Spain Slovak Republic United States Hungary Israel Netherlands Estonia Finland Canada Viet Nam Australia Ireland United Kingdom Iceland Norway Italy Russian Fed. Lithuania Sweden Croatia Weak socio-economic impact on student performance Greece Romania Chile Serbia Turkey Bulgaria U.A.E. Kazakhstan Thailand Malaysia Mexico Low mathematics performance
Shanghai-China Singapore Chinese Taipei Korea Hong Kong-China Japan Switzerland Liechtenstein Netherlands Estonia Poland Belgium Canada Finland Germany Viet Nam Strong socio-economic Denmark Austria New Zealand Australia impact on student Slovenia Ireland Czech Rep. Iceland performance 26 24 22France 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 UK Luxembourg Latvia Norway Portugal Italy US Russian Fed. Spain Lithuania Slovak Rep. Sweden Hungary Croatia Israel Macao-China Weak socio-economic impact on student 2 performance 0 Chile Bulgaria Romania Greece Turkey Serbia United Arab Emirates Malaysia Kazakhstan Thailand Mexico
Shanghai-China Hong Kong-China Macao-China Viet Nam Singapore Korea Chinese Taipei Japan Liechtenstein Switzerland Estonia Netherlands Poland Canada Finland Belgium Portugal Germany Turkey OECD average Italy Spain Latvia Ireland Australia Thailand Austria Luxembourg Czech Republic Slovenia United Kingdom Lithuania France Norway Iceland New Zealand Russian Fed. United States Croatia Denmark Sweden Hungary Slovak Republic Mexico Serbia Greece Israel Tunisia Romania Malaysia Indonesia Bulgaria Kazakhstan Uruguay Brazil Costa Rica Chile Colombia Montenegro U.A.E. Argentina Jordan Peru Qatar 12 Percentage of resilient students 20 18 16 A resilient student is situated in the bottom quarter of the PISA index of economic, social and cultural status (ESCS) in the country of assessment and performs in the top quarter of students among all countries, after accounting for socio-economic status. 14 12 % 10 8 6 4 2 0 More than 10 % resilient Between 5%-10% of resilient students Less than 5%
Shanghai-China Singapore Japan Finland Hong Kong-China Australia New Zealand Estonia Germany Netherlands Korea Canada United Kingdom Poland Ireland Liechtenstein Slovenia Switzerland Belgium OECD average Chinese Taipei Luxembourg Viet Nam France Austria Czech Republic Norway United States Denmark Macao-China Sweden Italy Hungary Israel Iceland Lithuania Slovak Republic Spain Croatia Portugal Latvia Russian Federation Bulgaria United Arab Emirates Greece Turkey Serbia Qatar Uruguay Chile Thailand Romania Albania Montenegro Malaysia Brazil Jordan Argentina Costa Rica Kazakhstan Mexico Colombia Tunisia Peru Indonesia 13 Percentage of top performers in science % 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Shanghai-China Estonia Hong Kong-China Korea Viet Nam Finland Japan Macao-China Poland Singapore Chinese Taipei Liechtenstein Canada Ireland Germany Latvia Switzerland Slovenia Netherlands Australia Czech Republic United Kingdom Spain Austria Lithuania New Zealand Denmark Croatia Belgium OECD average Hungary United States Italy France Russian Federation Portugal Norway Luxembourg Sweden Iceland Greece Turkey Slovak Republic Israel Thailand Chile Serbia United Arab Emirates Bulgaria Romania Costa Rica Kazakhstan Malaysia Uruguay Mexico Jordan Montenegro Argentina Albania Brazil Tunisia Colombia Qatar Indonesia Peru 14 Percentage of low-performing students in science % 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Jordan Qatar Thailand Malaysia Iceland U.A.E. Latvia Singapore Finland Sweden Bulgaria Russian Fed. Albania Montenegro Lithuania Kazakhstan Norway Macao-China Slovenia Romania Poland Indonesia United States Estonia Chinese Taipei Shanghai-China Belgium Turkey Greece France Hungary Serbia Slovak Republic Vietnam Canada Netherlands OECD average Portugal Uruguay Croatia Israel Czech Republic Australia United Kingdom Switzerland Germany Argentina Denmark Mexico New Zealand Tunisia Ireland Hong Kong-China Spain Brazil Japan Korea Italy Peru Austria Liechtenstein Costa Rica Chile Luxembourg Colombia Score-point difference (boys-girls) 15 Gender differences in mathematics performance 30 20 Boys perform better than girls 10 0-10 -20-30 Girls perform better than boys -40-50
Jordan Qatar U.A.E. Bulgaria Thailand Montenegro Finland Latvia Lithuania Greece Malaysia Turkey Slovenia Kazakhstan Sweden Albania Argentina Russian Fed. Romania Serbia Norway Indonesia Iceland Poland France Estonia Croatia Portugal United States Macao-China Uruguay Israel Singapore Germany Belgium Czech Republic Chinese Taipei Tunisia Viet Nam OECD average Brazil Italy Canada Hungary Netherlands Korea Ireland New Zealand Australia Shanghai-China Peru Switzerland Mexico Hong Kong-China Chile Slovak Republic Spain Austria Denmark Japan Costa Rica United Kingdom Luxembourg Liechtenstein Colombia Score-point difference (boys-girls) 16 Gender differences in science performance 30 20 Boys perform better than girls 10 0-10 -20-30 Girls perform better than boys -40-50
Jordan Qatar Bulgaria Montenegro Finland Slovenia U.A.E. Lithuania Thailand Latvia Sweden Iceland Greece Croatia Norway Serbia Turkey Germany Israel France Estonia Poland Romania Malaysia Russian Fed. Hungary Slovak Republic Portugal Italy Czech Republic Argentina OECD average Austria Kazakhstan Switzerland Macao-China Uruguay Canada Australia New Zealand Chinese Taipei Singapore Belgium Viet Nam United States Denmark Tunisia Brazil Luxembourg Spain Ireland Indonesia Netherlands Hong Kong-China Costa Rica United Kingdom Liechtenstein Japan Shanghai-China Mexico Korea Chile Peru Colombia Albania Score-point difference (boys-girls) 17 Gender differences in reading performance 0-10 -20-30 -40-50 -60 In all countries and economies girls perform better than boys -70-80
Variation in mathematics performance between systems, schools and students Variation in mathematics performance attributable to differences: Between systems Between schools Between students OECD countries All participating countries and economies 10% 23% 54% 36% 46% 31%
Variation in student performance as % of OECD average variation Albania Finland Iceland Sweden Norway Denmark Estonia Ireland Spain Canada Poland Latvia Kazakhstan United States Mexico Colombia Costa Rica Russian Fed. Malaysia Jordan New Zealand Lithuania Greece Montenegro United Kingdom Argentina Australia Brazil Portugal Indonesia Chile Thailand Romania Tunisia Switzerland Peru Uruguay Croatia U.A.E. Macao-China Serbia Viet Nam Korea Hong Kong-China Singapore Austria Italy Luxembourg Czech Republic Japan Bulgaria Israel Qatar Shanghai-China Germany Slovenia Slovak Republic Turkey Belgium Hungary Liechtenstein Netherlands Chinese Taipei Variability in student mathematics performance between and within schools 100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40 OECD average Performance differences between schools Performance variation of students within schools 60 80 OECD average 100
Variation in mathematics performance explained by socioeconomic status (%) Grade repetition is negatively related to equity Greater equity 2 4 Macao-China 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 Kazakhstan Hong Kong-China Estonia Norway Jordan Indonesia Qatar Iceland Thailand Japan Finland Canada Mexico Korea Serbia UAE Italy Russian Fed. Croatia Montenegro Sweden Lithuania Viet Nam Australia Latvia Turkey Switzerland UK Greece Slovenia Ireland USA Poland Czech Rep. Shanghai-China Singapore Israel Denmark Austria Romania Chinese Taipei New Zealand Germany Bulgaria Hungary Slovak Rep. Tunisia Netherlands Argentina Brazil Belgium Colombia Spain Costa Rica Portugal Uruguay Chile Peru Luxembourg France R 2 =0.07 26-5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Less equity Percentage of students who have repeated at least one grade
Mathematics performance (score points) Countries with better performance in mathematics tend to allocate educational resources more equitably 700 650 Shanghai-China 600 550 500 450 400 Costa Rica Peru Mexico Chinese Taipei Viet Nam Korea Singapore R² = 0.19 Hong Kong-China Estonia Japan Poland Switzerland Slovenia Canada Latvia Finland Belgium Macao-China Germany New Zealand Slovak UK Rep. Ireland Iceland France Austria Australia Denmark Spain Romania Croatia Sweden Israel Hungary USA Turkey Greece Bulgaria Portugal Italy Norway Thailand Serbia Chile Malaysia Uruguay Kazakhstan Brazil Jordan Indonesia UAE Montenegro Colombia Argentina Tunisia Luxembourg 350 Qatar 300 1.5 1 0.5 0-0.5 Equity in resource allocation Less Greater equity (index points) equity
How to enhance equity?
Educational Inequality
We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need to do that. Whether or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven t so far. - Ron Edmons