Effects of Resources, Inequality, and Privilege Bias on Achievement: Country, School, and Student Level Analyses

Professor Ming Ming CHIU
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
Department of Educational Psychology,
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Dr. Lawrence O. C. KHOO
Ph.D., Harvard University
Department of Economics and Finance,
City University of Hong Kong

Abstract

This study examines how resources, distribution inequality, and biases toward privileged students affected academic performance. 193,076 fifteen-year-olds from 41 countries completed a questionnaire and tests in mathematics, reading, and science. Multi-level regressions show that students scored higher in all subjects when they had more resources in their country, family, or school. Countries with higher inequality, clustering of privileged students or unequal distribution of certified teachers typically had lower scores. Distribution inequality favored privileged students as schools with more privileged students typically had more resources. Overall, students scored lower when parent job status had a larger effect on student performance (privileged student bias) in a school or country. These results suggest that equal opportunity is linked to higher overall achievement.