Session Information
09 SES 08 A, Findings from International Comparative Achievement Studies and their National Extensions: Issues in Equity and Inequality
Paper Session
Contribution
Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (2010) have published a book in which they claim that in more equal societies people on average have better health, higher education, higher social mobility and there is less stress, drug consumption and violence. The authors are convinced that economic inequality affects peoples’ intellectual abilities (Wilkinson and Pickett, 2007). Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen (2006) have shown the same relationship based on a sample of 146 countries. The GINI index of inequality of income had a correlation of -0.34 with literacy in the sample countries, a correlation of -0.42 with gross national income, a correlation of -0.45 with life expectancy, etc. Big differences in income reduce human development, and therefore, people seek ways to reduce inequality (Asghar, Awan and Rehman, 2011).
Economics and education are tightly related to each other. For example, Lynn et al. (2007, 867) have found a correlation of 0.66 between TIMSS and PISA test results in 67 countries and the logarithm for gross domestic product (GDP). Due to the tight relationship between education and economics, it can be assumed that large differences in education reduce average achievement in countries. This assumption is supported by the overall desire to maximise equity in education, for example, through the equal distribution of resources (Gamboa and Waltenberg, 2012), raising the average level of education (Keller, 2010), etc.
Studies about the role of variance in achievement have primarily been conducted within countries, and have shown contradictory results at class level. Some studies have shown the advantage of grouping students into homogeneous groups; other studies have not found the same effect (Scharenberg, 2012).
The aim of the research below is to study the relationship between the variance of PISA results on the one hand and PISA scores and economic development of countries on the other. The analysis will be conducted on the basis of student and school level data. The hypothesis is that large differences between students and schools are related to lower PISA scores and lower GDP.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Asghar. N., Awan, A., Rehman, H. (2011). Exploring the Linkages Among Economic Growth, Openness, Income Inequality, Education and Health in Pakistan. Canadian Social Science, 7(6), 82-88. Gamboa, L., F., Waltenberg, F., D., (2012). Inequality of opportunity for educational achievement in Latin America: Evidence from PISA 2006–2009. Economics of Education Review, 31, 694– 708. Keller, K. R. I. (2010). How can education policy improve income distribution? An empirical analysis of education stages and measures on income inequality. Journal of Developing Areas, 43(2), 51-77. Lynn, R., Meisenberg, G., Mikk, J., Williams, A. (2007). National IQs predict differences in scholastic achievement in 67 countries. Journal of Biosocial Science, 39, 861–874. Lynn R., Vanhanen T. IQ and global inequality. Augusta: Washington Summit Publishers. OECD (2013). OECD Programme for International Student Assessment. http://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/ Scharenberg, K. (2012). Do secondary students learn more in homogeneous or heterogeneous classes? The importance of classroom composition for the development of reading achievement in secondary school. Online Educational Research Journal, 3(12), 1 – 11. Wilkinson R. G., Pickett K. E. (2010). The spirit level: why greater equality makes societies stronger. New York, etc.: Bloomsbury. Wilkinson R. G., Pickett K. E. (2007). Economic development and inequality affect IQ. A response to Kanazawa. British Journal of Health Psychology, 12, 161–166. World Bank (2013). Independent evaluation Group. http://ieg.worldbankgroup.org/content/ieg/en/home.html
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