Contextualising the achievement gap: assessing educational achievement, inequality, and disadvantage in high-Income countries

Keywords

PISA rankings; achievement gaps; educational inequality; educational measurement; international comparisons

Abstract

We examine the disparities in educational outcomes for high income countries as they are reported by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), with a specific emphasis on a more nuanced exploration of SES-based achievement gaps. To explore differences in the educational inequality and disadvantages associated with SES-based achievement gaps by country, we analyze three measures: overall average performance, educational inequality (or achievement gaps), and educational disadvantage (comparative achievement gap patterns). We find that, when examined together, these three measures are instructive for understanding the differences in educational outcomes across countries. Our findings offer insight into the PISA results that go beyond average achievement. We recommend that country-level averages should not be emphasized or interpreted without also considering educational inequality and disadvantage.

Original Publication Citation

Rowley, Kristie J., *Chrisse C. Edmunds, Mikaela J. Dufur, Jonathan A. Jarvis, and *Florencia Silveira. 2020. “Contextualizing the Achievement Gap: Assessing Educational Achievement, Inequality, and Disadvantage in High-Income Countries.” Comparative Education, published online.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2020-06-18

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/7861

Publisher

Comparative Education

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Sociology

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

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