The International Observatory on Academic Achievement - Documentary search

File number :
IST-ISC-25e

Bibliographic reference :
Hirtt, N. (2007). Impact de la liberté de choix sur l’équité des systèmes éducatifs ouest-européens. Bruxelles : Appel pour une école démocratique (APED). [En ligne]. <http://www.ecoledemocratique.org/>
Consultée le 14 novembre 2007

Abstract :

In 2006, the European Commission published a paper that recommended making more room for freedom of choice and market strengths within the school systems of the Commission. This trend raised numerous issues, especially regarding its effect on the equity of educational systems, the topic of this statistical analysis.

The author of this article looked for correlations among fifteen Western European countries between the level of educational inequalities (social determination index of school performances) and parents’ degree of freedom when choosing educational institutions. The author based the analysis on data drawn from the 2003 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Social Determination Index
A social determination index of school performances was first calculated (probability for an underprivileged student to underperform in mathematics compared to a more privileged student, divided by the inverse probability).
This calculation showed that educational systems in Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom were less equitable compared to those of Scandinavian countries (especially Finland) and Southern European countries such as Italy and Spain.

Freedom of Choice Index
Three factors influenced parents’ degree of freedom when choosing an educational institution for their child: (1) the number of schools located near their home; (2) how students are steered towards various schools in the public system; and (3) the proportion of students in the private sector. A freedom of choice index was developed after calculating indexes related to each of these factors.

Results revealed that the countries with the highest freedom of choice index were Belgium and the Netherlands. This result is hardly surprising; the freedom to choose among educational institutions, the large number of private schools and the high population density featuring these countries imply a larger number of schools.

Correlation between the Social Determination Index and Freedom of Choice Index
Calculating the correlation between these two indexes revealed that a 47% variance in the equity of educational systems may be explained by the degree of freedom of choice. As pointed out by the author, this implies that “the more schools from which to choose, the more inequitable the teaching.”

Age of Steering towards Tracked Educational Streams
The author analyzed the issue further by also considering the age at which students are steered towards tracked educational streams. The results confirmed that the earlier this transition occurs in the educational path, the greater the inequalities linked to social origin.

Combination of the Freedom of Choice Index and Age of Steering towards Tracked Educational Streams
The author calculated a “compulsory school index” combining the degree of freedom of choice and age of steering. Three groups of countries were thus identified:
(1) High social determination of performances in mathematics (greater inequalities) – great freedom of choice – early steering;
(2) Low social determination of performances in mathematics (few inequalities) – little freedom of choice – late steering;
(3) Countries with an intermediate situation.

Links :
http://www.ecoledemocratique.org/

Key Words :
Equity of Educational Systems, Free Choice, School Map, Public Schools, Private Schools, School Systems, PISA, International Comparisons, European Union, Newsletter10

Monitored Countries :
Finland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Greece, Ireland, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, Germany, Belgium