Relationship Between Equity and Excellence in Education: Multilevel Analysis of International Student Assessment Data with a Focus on Turkey
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RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION: MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT DATA WITH A FOCUS ON TURKEY A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY CANER ÖZDEM İR IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY JULY 2015 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunı şık Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ay şe Saktanber Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Ay şe Gündüz Ho şgör Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Nilay Kaya (Ankara Ü.,SOC) Prof. Dr. Ay şe Gündüz Ho şgör (METU, SOC) Prof. Dr. İsmet Koç (Hacettepe Ü., NEE) Doç Dr. Hanife Akar (METU, EDS) Doç Dr. F. Umut Be şpınar (METU, SOC) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name : Signature : iii ABSTRACT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION: MULTILEVEL ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT DATA WITH A FOCUS ON TURKEY Özdemir, Caner Ph.D., Department of Sociology Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Ay şe Gündüz Ho şgör July 2015, 236 pages This dissertation aims at finding the relationship between equity and excellence in education and how these two dimensions interplay in Turkey. It is found that inequalities in education are not functional as suggested by functionalist theories. On the other hand, findings of this dissertation show that more equity brings more success. Results also show that Turkish education system is neither equitable nor excellent. Moreover, it is found that current education structure in Turkey worsens existing social inequalities. One of the main research questions of this thesis is: “What is the relationship between equity and excellence in education?” It is found that there is a positive relationship between equity and excellence. Unlike earlier claims about a trade-off between equity and excellence, there are serious hints about a relationship in which these two dimensions of education are enabling each other. It is also aimed at finding how equity and excellence interact in Turkey by asking the research question: “Which social and educational characteristics are associated with educational excellence in Turkey?” It is found that there are huge performance differences between girls and boys, students from different family backgrounds and students from different regions. The biggest difference is iv between school types. It is shown that top performing schools not only receive better performing students from affluent families but also receive more and better resources. Another striking finding of this dissertation is that female students are extra disadvantaged in selective types of schools. Despite being admitted to the most successful types of high schools with a higher probability than boys, girls do not benefit from the educational advantages of these schools as much as boys. Therefore, it is fair to say that education system in Turkey is reproducing existing social inequalities as suggested by conflict theories of sociology of education. Keywords: Equity in Education, Excellence in Education, PISA, Multilevel Modeling, Gender Inequality in Education v ÖZ EĞİ TİMDE E Şİ TL İK VE N İTEL İK İLİŞ KİSİ: ULUSLARARASI Ö ĞRENC İ DE ĞERLEND İRME VER İLER İNİN TÜRK İYE ODAKLI ÇOK DÜZEYL İ ANAL İZİ Özdemir, Caner Doktora, Sosyoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Ay şe Gündüz Ho şgör Temmuz 2015, 236 sayfa Bu tezin amacı e ğitimde e şitlik ve nitelik arasındaki ili şkinin tespit edilmesi ve eğitimin bu iki boyutunun Türkiye’de nasıl bir etkileşim içinde oldu ğunun bulunmasıdır. Yapılan analizlerde i şlevselci teorilerin öne sürdü ğü gibi e ğitimdeki eşitsizliklerin i şlevsel olmadı ğı bulunmu ştur. Aksine, bu çalı şma daha fazla eşitli ğin daha fazla ba şarı getirdi ğini göstermektedir. Çalı şmanın sonuçları Türkiye eğitim sisteminin ise ne yüksek nitelikli ne de e şitlikçi oldu ğuna işaret etmektedir. Öte yandan, Türkiye’deki mevcut e ğitim yapısının var olan sosyal e şitsizlikleri arttırdı ğı bulunmu ştur. Bu çalı şmanın temel ara ştırma sorularından birincisi e ğitimde nitelik ve e şitlik ili şkisinin nasıl oldu ğudur. E ğitimin e şitlik ve nitelik boyutlarının pozitif bir ili şki içinde oldu ğu bulunmu ştur. E şitlik ve niteli ğin bir takas ili şkisi içinde oldu ğu savlarının aksine, e ğitimin bu iki boyutunun birbirini besledi ği yönünde bulgular vardır. Çalı şmanın di ğer ara ştırma sorusu da Türkiye’de hangi sosyal ve e ğitsel de ğişkenlerin e ğitimin niteli ği ile ili şkili oldu ğudur. Yapılan analizlerde kadın ve erkek ö ğrenciler arasında, farklı sosyo-ekonomik düzeylerden ve farklı bölgelerden ö ğrenciler arasında büyük ba şarı farkları oldu ğu görülmü ştür. En vi büyük farklılıkların ise farklı okul türlerine ba ğlı oldu ğu tespit edilmi ştir. En ba şarılı okulların sadece hem akademik hem de sosyo-ekonomik olarak en önde olan ö ğrencilere de ğil aynı zamanda daha fazla ve daha iyi kaynaklara sahip oldu ğu bulunmu ştur. Çalı şmanın ba şka bir çarpıcı bulgusu da kadınların seçici okul türlerinde ekstra bir dezavantaja sahip oldu ğudur. Ba şarılı liselere daha yüksek bir olasılıkla yerle şen kadınların bu okulların faydalarından erkeklere oranla daha az yararlanabildi ği görülmü ştür. Bu nedenlerle çatı şmacı teorilerin savladı ğı şekilde Türkiye e ğitim sisteminde var olan sosyal e şitsizliklerin daha da derinle şti ği tespit edilmi ştir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Eğitimde E şitlik, E ğitimde Nitelik, PISA, Çok Düzeyli Modelleme, E ğitimde Cinsiyet E şitsizli ği vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Prof. Dr. Ay şe Gündüz Ho şgör for her continuous support, patience, motivation, and enthusiasm. Her guidance helped me in all the time of research and writing of this thesis. I am very grateful to the other members of my thesis monitoring committee, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hanife Akar and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Umut Be şpınar for their continuous feedback and support throughout different levels of my Ph.D. journey. My sincere thanks also go to other members of my thesis comittee, Prof. Dr. Nilay Kaya and Prof. Dr. İsmet Koç for their insightful comments and encouragement. This dissertation would not be complete in such a pace without the support from Jean Monnet Scholarship Programme. I had a fruitful academic experience at University of Stirling with the scholarship I received. Very special thanks go out to Dr. Marina Shapira and Prof. Dr. Paul Lambert, my supervisors at University of Stirling. Without their guidance and immense knowledge this dissertation would not be at the level as it is now. I am indebted to them for their academic and personal aid which started from the very first day I have been to Stirling. I am very thankful to Sündüs Aydın from the METU Department of Sociology and people at the METU Graduate School of Social Sciences for their consistent help. I would also like to thank my family; Aytül and İbrahim Özdemir, Merve and Ali Sait Eyübo ğlu, Kadriye, Kadir, Bilgen, Mine and Hanife Uzar. They were always supporting and encouraging me with their best wishes. viii Last but not least, I would like to thank my wife, Figen Uzar Özdemir. She was always there cheering me up and stood by me through the good times and bad. She is not only a lifemate but also the best friend, an academic colleague and a Ph.D. peer with all kinds of support I may need. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM.........................................................................................................iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................ vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................................................................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ xiii LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................... xiv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 1.1. Introduction: .............................................................................................. 1 1.2. Conceptual framework ............................................................................... 2 1.2.1. Equity in education ................................................................................. 2 1.2.2. Excellence in education .......................................................................... 4 1.3. Research Questions, Methods and Methodology: ..................................... 6 1.4. Theoretical Framework: ............................................................................. 8 1.5. Contribution and significance of the research: