Equity in school education in Europe Structures, policies and student performance Eurydice report Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu). Luxembourg : Publications Office of the European Union, 2020 PRINT ISBN : 978-92-9484-353-1 doi : 10.2797/880217 EC-02-20-771-EN-C PDF ISBN : 978-92-9484-351-7 doi : 10.2797/286306 EC-02-20-771-EN-N © Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, 2020 The Commission’s reuse policy is implemented by Commission Decision 2011/833/EU of 12 December 2011 on the reuse of Commission documents (OJ L 330, 14.12.2011, p. 39 – https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dec/2011/833/oj). Unless otherwise noted, the reuse of this document is authorised under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). This means that reuse is allowed, provided appropriate credit is given and any changes are indicated. For any use or reproduction of elements that are not owned by the EU, permission may need to be sought directly from the respective rightholders. The EU does not own the copyright in relation to any images which do not carry the copyright indicator © European Union. CREDITS Cover image : © Designed by Freepik Equity in school education in Europe: Structures, policies and student performance Eurydice report Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency This document is published by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA, Education and Youth Policy Analysis). Please cite this publication as: European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2020. Equity in school education in Europe: Structures, policies and student performance. Eurydice report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union. Printed version EC-02-20-771-EN-C ISBN 978-92-9484-353-1 doi:10.2797/880217 PDF EC-02-20-771-EN-N ISBN 978-92-9484-351-7 doi:10.2797/286306 Text completed in October 2020. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency Education and Youth Policy Analysis Avenue du Bourget 1 (J-70 – Unit A6) B-1049 Brussels E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://ec.europa.eu/eurydice FOREWORD Equitable education systems play a major role in making European societies fairer and more inclusive. Education authorities in the EU Member States have the main responsibility for ensuring equity in education so that every student can reach his or her own potential and Europe does not waste the precious talents of its youngest generation. However, the socio-economic background of students continues to influence achievement. For disadvantaged students, the risk of underperformance and leaving education early can be significant. The COVID-19 crisis brings increased challenges that are likely to compound existing inequalities. We need to make concerted efforts to address this situation and to support students who face difficulties. This new report explores education structures and policies that influence equity in school. It connects them to student performance in international assessment surveys and identifies which key policies and structures are associated with higher levels of equity. The key findings point to a number of ways education authorities can act to improve equity in school. Relevant policy measures include increasing public spending, especially in primary education; increasing the participation of disadvantaged children in high quality early childhood education and care; assigning students to different educational programmes or tracks at a later stage, removing differentiation in school choice and admissions policies, as well as reducing grade repetition. The report also shows large differences between countries as to how these policies are implemented and how well they work in combatting inequality in education. I am confident that this comparative report will be a great help to education policy makers and other stakeholders at national level. I hope that it will encourage countries to exchange best practices and to learn from each other. It is important to hold a deep and open debate on how to make our education systems more inclusive and fair. Mariya Gabriel Commissioner responsible for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth 3 CONTENTS Foreword 3 Table of figures 7 Codes and abbreviations 11 Executive summary 13 Introduction 21 PART I CONCEPTS AND INDICATORS OF EQUITY IN EDUCATION 25 Contents I.1. Conceptual framework 27 I.2. Levels of equity in education 33 I.3. National definitions and strategies 49 PART II EDUCATION SYSTEM FEATURES 57 Contents II.1. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) 59 II.2. Funding for school-level education 69 II.3. Differentiation and school types 75 II.4. School choice policies 85 II.5. School admissions policies 99 II.6. Tracking 125 II.7. Grade repetition 141 II.8. School autonomy 151 II.9. School accountability 159 II.10. Support for disadvantaged schools 173 II.11. Support for low-achieving students 187 II.12. Opportunity to learn 199 PART III EDUCATION SYSTEM FEATURES AND EQUITY 211 Contents III.1. Outcome variables: indicators of equity and academic segregation 213 III.2. Bivariate relationships 221 III.3. Multivariate modelling 247 References 257 Glossary 273 Annexes 283 Acknowledgements 327 5 TABLE OF FIGURES I.1. Conceptual framework 27 Figure I.1.1: Systemic factors potentially influencing equity in school education 31 I.2. Levels of equity in education 33 Figure I.2.1: Achievement gap between high- (P90) and low- (P10) performing students (in ascending order) and the percentage of low achievers in reading literacy in the fourth grade, 2016 36 Figure I.2.2: Achievement gap between high- (P90) and low- (P10) performing students (in ascending order) and the percentage of low achievers in mathematics in the fourth grade, 2015 37 Figure I.2.3: Achievement gap between high- (P90) and low- (P10) performing 15-year-old students and the percentage of low achievers in reading literacy, 2018 39 Figure I.2.4: Achievement gap between high- (P90) and low- (P10) performing 15-year-old students and the percentage of low achievers in mathematics, 2018 41 Figure I.2.5: Achievement gap between high- (P90) and low- (P10) performing 15-year-old students and the percentage of low achievers in reading literacy and mathematics, 2018 42 Figure I.2.6: Correlation between the number of books at home and students’ performance in reading literacy (2016) and mathematics (2015) in the fourth grade 44 Figure I.2.7: Correlation between the number of books at home and 15-year-old students’ performance in reading literacy and mathematics, 2018 45 Figure I.2.8: Inclusion and fairness in reading literacy and mathematics in the fourth grade 46 Figure I.2.9: Inclusion and fairness in reading literacy and mathematics for 15-year-olds, 2018 47 I.3. National definitions and strategies 49 Figure I.3.1: Education systems defining or referring to equity, disadvantaged students or related concepts in education, 2018/19 51 Figure I.3.2: Top-level policy strategies and initatives addressing equity in education, 2018/19 53 II.1. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) 59 Figure II.1.1: Age from which a place in ECEC is guaranteed, 2018/19 61 Figure II.1.2: Requirement for at least one staff member to have a Bachelor's level qualification (ISCED 6) or above, in ECEC settings, 2019/20 64 Figure II.1.3: Percentage of 15-year-old students who spent more than one year in ECEC, 2018 65 Figure II.1.4: Differences in ECEC participation among 15-year-old students, in percentage points, by socio-economic status, 2018 66 II.2. Funding for school-level education 69 Figure II.2.1: Public expenditure on education per pupil/student in full-time education in PPS (ISCED 1-2), 2016 72 Figure II.2.2: Private (household) expenditure as a percentage of total public expenditure on education (ISCED 1-3), 2016 (%) 74 II.3. Differentiation and school types 75 Figure II.3.1: Proportion of pupils in private education institutions (ISCED 1-3), 2017 78 Figure II.3.2: Curricular differentiation in general education (ISCED 1-3), 2018/19 80 Figure II.3.3: Parallel educational structures in general education (ISCED 1-3), 2018/19 83 II.4. School choice policies 85 Figure II.4.1: Assignment of students to public schools based on geographical/residence criteria (ISCED 1-3), 2018/19 88 Figure II.4.2: Possibility to choose a public school other than the one inially assigned (ISCED 1-2), 2018/19 90 Figure II.4.3: Differences in school choice policies between types of school (ISCED 2), 2018/19 92 Figure II.4.4: Provision of information to families about school choices (ISCED 1-3), 2018/19 94 Figure II.4.5: School choice policies – overview (ISCED 1-2), 2018/19 96 II.5. School admissions policies 99 Figure II.5.1: Top-level approaches to school admissions (ISCED 1-3), 2018/19 102 Figure II.5.2: Level of decision making on school admissions criteria (ISCED 1-3), 2018/19 106 Figure II.5.3: Number of education systems using academic and non-academic admission criteria, as defined by top-level authorities (ISCED 1-3), 2018/19 107 Figure II.5.4: Top-level admissions criteria (ISCED 1), 2018/19 109 Figure II.5.5: Top-level admissions criteria (ISCED 2), 2018/19 111 7 Equity in school education in Europe Figure II.5.7: Percentage of 15-year-old students in schools where certain admission criteria are always used, as reported by school heads, by ISCED level, 2018 118 Figure II.5.8: Percentage of 15 year-old students in schools where residence is always considered in admissions, as reported by school heads, by ISCED level, 2018 120 Figure II.5.9: Percentage of 15-year-old students in schools where academic performance is always considered in admissions, as reported by school heads, by ISCED level, 2018 122 II.6.