Cross National Differences in Achievement Inequality

This paper seeks to expand sociologists' approach to inequalities in educational outcomes by considering the total inequality in student learning as a relevant educational outcome. By analyzing the variability in achievement directly, this paper goes beyond the existing literature on inequalities in educational opportunities by analyzing total achievement inequality directly. It identifies school and institutional practices related to achievement inequality in the form of variations of opportunities to learn and the intensity of schooling. Particularly, it shows that decreasing the variability in opportunities to learn within the school system might reduce achievement inequality. This means that reductions in the variation of the quality of teachers across schools and the absence of tracking are associated with lower achievement inequality. More intense schooling is also related to lower achievement inequality to the extent that this intensity is homogeneously distributed within the school system, particularly in the form of higher teacher quality across the board. Future research should contribute to understanding the mechanisms behind these relationships as well as identifying the short and long term implications of more egalitarian education.