Inequality and Education The Relationship between Rising Economic Inequality and Educational Attainment and Achievement Project Report Coordinated and edited by Oded Busharian Translated from the Hebrew original Jerusalem, 2016 The Initiative for Applied Education Research The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Jerusalem, 2016 The Initiative for Applied Education Research The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Language Editor (Hebrew original): Ada Paldor English Translation: Judyth Eichenholz, Ira Moskowitz and Mor Ilan Proofing and production: Ayala Vlodavsky Design: Esti Boehm Cover design: Adi Mendler ISBN: 978-965-7601-08-2 This document is published by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities (2016) And is available to the public at: http://education.academy.ac.il Under a Creative Commons-Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike license (CC-BY-NC-SA), not including translation rights. Any use of, or quote from, this document should cite the source as follows: Busharian, O. (ed.) (2016). Inequality and Education: The Relationship between Rising Economic Inequality and Educational Attainment and Achievement, Project Report. Jerusalem: The Initiative for Applied Education Research, Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. | iii | The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities was founded in 1959. Its membership currently comprises close to 100 top Israeli scientists and scholars. The Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Law, 1961, declares that its principal objectives and tasks are to foster and promote scientific activity; to advise the Government on research activities and scientific planning of national importance; to maintain ties with foreign academies of science; to represent Israeli science at international institutes and conferences; and, to publish articles that can further science. The Initiative for Applied Education Research (the Initiative) places up-to-date, scientific, critically-appraised knowledge and information at the disposal of decision-makers in the field of education. This kind of information is crucial for the intelligent formulation of policy and for optimal planning of interventions to improve educational achievements in Israel. The Initiative's vision: Research knowledge is an essential component for planning public policy or comprehensive interventions. In the planning phase, critically-appraised research knowledge supports the formulation of policy whose chance of success is greater, and at a later point, enables rational public discourse to take place. The Initiative implements this vision in the field of education. The Initiative's method of operation: The issues the Initiative addresses are those raised by decision- makers and it consults with senior Ministry of Education officials and other stakeholders. The Initiative's steering committee, appointed by the president of the Israel Academy, is responsible for the Initiative's work program and the peer-review processes of documents it creates. The Initiative operates by means of expert committees and by convening joint symposia for researchers, professionals in the field and decision-makers. It publishes a variety of reports and makes them available to the public. Members of expert committees carry out their work on a voluntary basis. History of the Initiative: The Initiative was established in late 2003 as a joint venture of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Ministry of Education, and the Rothschild Foundation (Yad Hanadiv). Since the beginning of 2010, the Initiative has been operating as a unit of the Israel Academy. In the summer of 2010, the Israeli Knesset amended the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities Law, regulating the Israel Academy's advisory role vis-à-vis government ministries seeking its consulting services. The Initiative directs the consulting activities on education related issues which the Israel Academy provides to the government and various authorities. | iv | The Inequality and Education Expert Team Socioeconomic inequality is a given; its scope varies from country to country and from time to time. In democratic countries, increasing the prospect of social mobility for those born into low socioeconomic circumstances is considered a worthy goal. The education system is perceived to be a key policy tool for reducing disparities in opportunity. In recent years, there has been a discernible rise in income disparity and in parallel, a rising gap in educational opportunities. Understanding these mechanisms’ reciprocal influences is important for determining effective policy. The Spencer and the Russell Sage Foundations in the United States studied a range of issues within the context of inequality and education. The rich findings were assembled in a volume published in 2011, entitled Whither Opportunity: Rising Inequality, Schools and Children’s Life Chances, which suggest possible explanations for the increasing impact of economic disparity on the academic achievement gaps in the US. Inspired by the above study and with encouragement from those responsible for the US project, the aim of the Initiative activity was to delineate an evidence-based framework for policymakers to understand the relationships between socioeconomic inequality and educational opportunities and achievements in Israel and how these are distributed across the population1. Another objective was to provide information for public and professional discourse on this topic. A steering team comprised of researchers from the fields of sociology, education, economics and welfare guided the activity. The activity had two stages: Stage 1: A study session took place in December 2013 with the purpose of familiarizing professionals with the findings of the US study and holding an evidence-based discussion of the situation in Israel. Experts from abroad participated in the session, among them Prof. Richard J. Murnane, one of the two editors of the book and a key contributor to it, and Prof. Michael S. McPherson, president of the Spencer Foundation, which supported the book’s preparation. Stage 2: During 2015, Israeli researchers examined selected topics in this field. The activity, in the main, had the character of a learning process: In consultation with experts from abroad and stakeholders in Israel, the experts team issued calls for scientific literature reviews to be conducted, and chose the scholars to write reviews on four topics: Socioeconomic inequality, school/class climate and their relationship to educational achievement: Ron Astor, Ruth Berkowitz, Hadass Moore Trends in socioeconomic-based residential segregation/integration in Israel: Audrey Addi- Raccah, Yael Grinshtain, Hana Bahak 1 The assessment of educational achievements as “an independent variable” of this activity stems from the availability of research on educational achievements and does not downgrade the importance of emotional and social variables as educational objectives in them and as factors influencing the pupils’ quality of life – in the present and in the future. | v | Early childhood education as a means of reducing inequality and social gaps: Research, policy, and practice: Smadar Moshel, David Levi-Faur Trends in resource investment in education in Israel as a function of socioeconomic status: Nachum Blass In the spring and early summer (2015), the expert team hosted two study seminars in Israel with the participation of the reviews authors and other invited professionals. In the autumn, George Washington University, located in the US, hosted the expert team members and the review writers, together with colleagues, experts in their fields of study, from the US, to discuss the research methods and review findings. In December 2015, the expert team held a symposium, in which the complete reviews were presented. The symposium also included a panel discussion with the participation of Members of Knesset, moderated by the director of the Knesset’s Research and Information Center, Dr. Shirley Avrahami. The Spencer Foundation and Yad Hanadiv (the Rothschild Foundation) have both been a source of advice and encouragement for the “Inequality and Education” activity. Stage 2 of the activity was supported by the Knesset with the cooperation of the Knesset Research and Information Center. Expert team members: Prof. Noah Lewin-Epstein (chair) – Tel-Aviv University Prof. Rami Benbenishty – Bar-Ilan University Dr. Esther Adi-Japha – Bar-Ilan University Prof. Yossi Shavit – Tel-Aviv University Dr. Analia Schlosser – Tel-Aviv University Academic coordinator: Oded Busharian Professor Fadia Nasser-Abu Alhija of the School of Education at Tel Aviv University and Professor Moshe Justman of the Department of Economics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev where members of the expert team during stage 1 of the project. | vi | Acknowledgements2 In the two years that have passed since the beginning of Stage 1 of the activity, the team organized three workshops for colleagues and a meeting for practitioners, all held in Jerusalem, another meeting at George Washington University, and a symposium, open to the public, in Jerusalem. At each one of the meetings, we – the learning activity participants – were able to learn, deliberate, and receive feedback from academicians and experts on education that see the topic of equality of opportunities in education as a top priority. These experts happily came to the meetings and contributed of their time and their knowledge with no remuneration, in order to promote a better understanding of the topic. Many others