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Learning inequalities between primary and secondary school. Difference-in-difference with international assessments

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Evaluating the effect of institutional features by exploiting cross-country variability with crosssectional data is difficult. Difference-in-difference strategies are sometimes employed to reach identification. In this paper, we discuss the difference-in-difference strategies adopted in the literature to evaluate the effect of early tracking on learning inequalities using surveys administered to children of different grades. In their seminal paper: “Does educational tracking affect performance and inequality? Differences-in-differences evidence across countries” Economic Journal (2006), Hanushek, and Woessmann analyze the effect of early tracking on inequalities with two-step analysis. Other scholars, instead, focus on the social background regression coefficient, using individual-level models applied to pooled data from all countries. We demonstrate that since test scores are measured on different scales at different surveys, pooled data strategies may yield to completely uninformative results. Against this background, we use data on reading literacy in PIRLS 2006 and PISA 2012 and carry out two-step difference-in-difference analyses on the effect of early tracking on social background learning inequalities.

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  • Contini, Dalit & Cugnata, Federica, 2016. "Learning inequalities between primary and secondary school. Difference-in-difference with international assessments," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201607, University of Turin.
    • Handle: RePEc:uto:dipeco:201607
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    1. Daniele Checchi & Luca Flabbi, 2013. "Intergenerational Mobility and Schooling Decisions in Germany and Italy: The Impact of Secondary School Tracks," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, issue 3, pages 7-57, July-Sept.
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    14. Cunha, Flavio & Heckman, James J. & Lochner, Lance, 2006. "Interpreting the Evidence on Life Cycle Skill Formation," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & F. Welch (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 697-812, Elsevier.
    15. Andreas Ammermueller, 2013. "Institutional Features of Schooling Systems and Educational Inequality: Cross-Country Evidence From PIRLS and PISA," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 14(2), pages 190-213, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Matthewes, Sonke, 2020. "Better together? Heterogeneous effects of tracking on student achievement," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108478, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Sönke Hendrik Matthewes, 2020. "Better together? Heterogeneous effects of tracking on student achievement," CEP Discussion Papers dp1706.pdf, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    3. Valentina Sontheim, 2024. "Locked-in vs. Locked-out: Can Detracked Classes Increase Education Equality?," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0229, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW).
    4. Sönke Hendrik Matthewes, 2018. "Better Together? Heterogeneous Effects of Tracking on Student Achievement," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1775, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

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