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Equality of Educational Opportunity


File number :
CS-ISC-17e

Bibliographic reference :
Coleman, J. S., & al. (1966). Equality of Educational Opportunity. Washington: Departement of Health Education and Welfare, Office of Education.

Abstract :

Study Description
In 1964, in response to a request from American Congress, James S. Coleman and his colleagues undertook the most ambitious study ever conducted in the field of educational inequalities. Equality here is operationalized by academic achievement, in turn based on the following variables: verbal and non-verbal aptitudes, reading comprehension, mathematics, and general knowledge.

An impressive number of 650,000 students from 4000 schools across eleven regions of the United States participated in the study. Initially, seven questionnaires were used to establish the characteristics of students, teachers and schools concerned. Next, five groups of tests designed to assess academic achievement were administered to the sample students in five different primary and high school grades.

Three groups of variables were studied, namely: i) social origin variables; ii) school variables; and iii) student perceptions.

Some Results
To determine the relative weight of these variables, variance was divided into two groups. The first, inter-school variance (school factors, contextual variables), would explain 5 to 35% of the total variance. The second, intra-school variance (student aptitudes, social status, influence of community context on attitudes), would explain 70% of this variance. The main conclusion of this study is that personal characteristics play a greater role in academic achievement than school characteristics.

More specifically, 10 to 25% of the variance among students within a single school is attributable to family factors, particularly in terms of schooling.

In the case of inter-school variance, the most determining factor appears to be school population composition. The following factor is teacher characteristics and, lastly, material resources. Coleman and his colleagues also report that school factors seem to have greater effect on children from minority groups, especially teacher characteristics.

The researchers also report the determining importance of student perceptions of achievement at all academic levels, in terms of their interest in school and their sense of control and self-image, with the latter being the most closely related to achievement.



Key Words :
Inter-school Variance, Intra-school Variance, Ethnic Origin, Social Origin, School Characteristics, Student Characteristics, Family Characteristics, Teacher Characteristics, Student Perceptions, School Environment, Primary, Elementary, Secondary/High School

Monitored Countries :
United States