Excellence through equality of opportunity - Can increasing the social inclusiveness of education systems benefit disadvantaged students without harming advantaged students?

Middle- and upper-class parents tend to think that school systems in which students from different socio-economic backgrounds learn together in the same schools would promote equality of opportunity but would harm their children. I investigate this belief, making both a conceptual and a methodological contribution. Conceptually I broaden the concept of differentiation in education arguing that not only formal differentiation but also more ‘hidden’ forms of differentiation such as residential segregation or private schools might contribute to a segregation of students from different socio-economic backgrounds into separate schools. Methodologically I contribute to the debate by analysing changes within countries, controlling for time-constant unobserved differences between countries. Using five waves of PISA data for 35 countries from 2000 to 2012, I find that in education systems in which schools become more socially inclusive, students from disadvantaged families improve their performance. Students from better-off families perform well independent of whether the education system becomes more socially segregated or inclusive. Thus, there is no conflict between equality of opportunity and excellence in education. In contrast, excellence can be improved through equality of opportunity without hindering advantaged students or top performers

Ausbildungsabbruch oder Ausbildungswechsel: Die Rolle von leistungs- und integrationsbezogenen Risikofaktoren

The dropout rate in vocational education and training (VET) programs is high in Germany. Yet, this study shows that most instances of dropout are not permanent departures from VET. Instead, most trainees later re-enter into a new training program in a different occupation or company (a phenomenon labelled “stopout”). We use Tinto’s model of college dropout, which suggests that the importance of performance-related and integration-related risk factors differs for permanent dropouts and stopouts, and their timing. Our analyses are based on longitudinal data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), which provides measures for competencies and socioemotional (also called noncognitive) skills prior to starting VET programs, information to capture factors related to dis/satisfaction with training and longitudinal information on school-to-work transitions. To examine the relative importance of performance- and integration-related factors, we use Shapley decompositions. Our analyses reveal that performance-related risk factors (in terms of low math competence) increase the risk of permanently dropping out, and both cognitive and socioemotional skills predict occupational changes (occupational stopouts). Whether the VET program corresponds to the desired occupation is the most important integration-related factor, and a poor match increases the risk of both permanent dropout and occupational stopout. Moreover, lower satisfaction with training leads to changes in occupations or training companies. Finally, early training dissolutions are more strongly linked to integration-related problems, while later ones are more due to performance-related problems.Die vorzeitige Beendigung einer Berufsausbildung ist häufig in Deutschland. Diese Studie zeigt jedoch, dass die meisten Abbrüche keine dauerhaften Abgänge aus der Berufsausbildung sind. Stattdessen nehmen die meisten Auszubildenden später wieder eine neue Ausbildung in einem anderen Beruf oder Betrieb auf. Wir verwenden Tintos Modell des Ausbildungsabbruchs, das davon ausgeht, dass die Bedeutung von leistungs- und integrationsbezogenen Risikofaktoren für dauerhafte Ausbildungsabbrüche und Ausbildungswechsel in einen anderen Beruf oder Betrieb sowie deren Zeitpunkt unterschiedlich ist. Unsere Analysen basieren auf Längsschnittdaten aus dem Nationalen Bildungspanel (NEPS), das Indikatoren für Kompetenzen und sozio-emotionale (auch genannt nicht-kognitive) Fähigkeiten vor Beginn der Berufsausbildung, Informationen zur Erfassung von Faktoren im Zusammenhang mit der Unzufriedenheit mit der Ausbildung und Längsschnittdaten zum Übergang von der Schule ins Berufsleben liefert. Um die relative Bedeutung von leistungs- und integrationsbezogenen Faktoren zu untersuchen, verwenden wir Shapley-Dekompositionen. Unsere Analysen zeigen, dass leistungsbezogene Risikofaktoren (im Sinne von geringer Mathematikkompetenz) das Risiko eines dauerhaften Ausbildungsabbruchs erhöhen, und dass sowohl kognitive als auch sozio-emotionale Fähigkeiten Wechsel in einen anderen Ausbildungsberuf vorhersagen. Die Übereinstimmung des Ausbildungsberufs mit dem angestrebten Beruf ist der wichtigste integrationsbezogene Faktor: Eine schlechte Übereinstimmung erhöht das Risiko sowohl eines dauerhaften Abbruchs als auch eines Wechsels in einen anderen Ausbildungsberuf. Außerdem führt eine geringere Zufriedenheit mit der Ausbildung zu einem Wechsel des Ausbildungsberufs oder -betriebs. Schließlich sind frühe Abbrüche und Wechsel stärker mit integrationsbezogenen Problemen verbunden, während spätere eher auf leistungsbezogene Probleme zurückzuführen sind

Was können Schulabgängerinnen und Schulabgänger ohne Mittleren Schulabschluss aus Übergangsmaßnahmen mitnehmen? Entwicklungen und Übergangschancen in Ausbildung

Jugendliche ohne Mittleren Schulabschluss besuchen nach Verlassen der Schule oft Maßnahmen im Übergangsbereich des beruflichen Bildungssystems. In unserem Beitrag untersuchen wir mit Daten des Nationalen Bildungspanels, was sie aus solchen Maßnahmen für ihren weiteren Bildungsweg mitnehmen können. Wir betrachten Entwicklungen in drei Bereichen: Nachholen von Schulabschlüssen, Sammeln von betrieblichen Erfahrungen und Entwicklung des Bewerbungsverhaltens auf Ausbildungsplätze. Wir untersuchen zum einen, wer unter den Schulabgängerinnen und -abgängern ohne Mittleren Schulabschluss in Übergangsmaßnahmen Fortschritte in diesen drei Bereichen macht, und zum anderen, ob die Teilnehmenden dadurch ihre Ausbildungschancen nach Maßnahmenende verbessern können. Unsere Ergebnisse bestätigen, dass alle drei Entwicklungen den Ausbildungszugang erleichtern können. Die Jugendlichen nutzen die Teilnahme an Übergangsmaßnahmen jedoch auf unterschiedliche Weise: Während jene mit vergleichsweise günstigen Ausgangsbedingungen häufiger Schulabschlüsse nachholen, sammeln jene mit schlechteren Ausgangsbedingungen eher betriebliche Erfahrungen und verbessern ihr Bewerbungsverhalten.In Germany, school leavers without an intermediate school-leaving certificate often enter so-called prevocational programs. In this article, we use data from the German National Educational Panel Study to investigate whether and how these young people can benefit from these programs in their further educational careers. We focus on three potential developments: catching up on school-leaving certificates, establishing linkages to firms, and improving one’s application behavior. First, we ask who among the school leavers achieves development in these three areas during program participation. Second, we analyze if these developments are helpful for entering vocational training afterwards. We show that developments in all three areas are connected to better chances to enter vocational training. However, young people make different use of prevocational programs: While those with better starting conditions are more likely to catch up on school-leaving certificates during these programs, those with poorer starting conditions mainly establish linkages to firms and improve their application behavior

Unentdeckte Kompetenzen: Jugendliche ohne Mittleren Schulabschluss finden schwer einen Ausbildungsplatz

Nur die Hälfte der Jugendlichen, die höchstens einen Hauptschulabschluss haben, schafft den direkten Übergang in eine Ausbildung. Weder kognitive Fähigkeiten noch soziale Kompetenzen erhöhen die Übergangschancen dieser Jugendlichen. Solange vor allem Noten und Abschlüsse zählen, ist der Blick der Betriebe auf individuelle Stärken verstellt

The Measurement Quality of the Beck Depression-Inventory (BDI-II) in Different Clinical Samples: An Item Response Theory Analysis

Theoretischer Hintergrund: Das BDI-II ist ein Selbstbeurteilungsinstrument zur Erfassung des Schweregrads einer Depression. Es liegen kaum Analysen mit Modellen aus der Item-Response-Theorie (IRT) vor. Fragestellung: Wie hoch ist die Messgenauigkeit des BDI-II über die unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen des latenten Traits (Depressivität) hinweg und sind die Kategorien der Items jeweils aufsteigend geordnet? Methode: Anhand von sechs großen Datensätzen aus verschiedenen klinischen Bereichen wurden psychometrische Analysen mit dem Graded Response Model durchgeführt. Ergebnisse: In allen Stichproben fand sich eine hohe interne Konsistenz. Die Schwellenwerte waren mit Ausnahme von Item 6 („Bestrafungsgefühle“) geordnet. Gemäß Testinformationsfunktion misst das BDI-II im mittleren bis hohen Depressionsbereich sehr gut (Reliabilität > .90) und im unteren Bereich gut. Schlussfolgerung: Für das BDI-II ergibt sich eine hohe und relativ gleichbleibende Messpräzision über einen weiten Bereich des latenten Traits, weshalb es insbesondere im klinischen, aber auch im nicht klinisch relevanten Wertebereich zur Erhebung des Schweregrades einer Depression gut geeignet ist.Background: The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) is a self-report instrument for assessing the severity of depression. To date, publications on psychometric properties based on item response theory (IRT) are largely missing. Objective: To determine how high the measurement precision is across the latent trait and whether the item categories are in ascending order. Methods: Using six large data sets from different clinical settings, we performed psychometric analyses using the graded response model. Results: We identified high internal consistencies in all samples. Apart from item 6 (“penalty feelings”), all categories were ordered. According to the Test Information Function, the BDI-II shows very good measurement precision (reliability > .90) in the moderate to high depression range, and good precision in the lower range. Conclusions: Our data revealed high and relatively stable measurement precision across a broad range of the depression construct. We consider the BDI-II to be well suited for assessing depression severity levels, particularly in clinical but also in nonclinical settings

Why are children from disadvantaged families left behind? : the impacts of families, schools, and education systems on students' achievement

Defence date: 30 October 2017Examining Board: Professor Fabrizio Bernardi, European University Institute (Supervisor); Professor Hans-Peter Blossfeld, European University Institute; Professor Heike Solga, Berlin Social Science Centre (WZB); Professor Herman van de Werfhorst, University of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Centre for Inequality Studies (AMCIS).Awarded the German Study Award 2018 the First Prize Section in Social SciencesIn this thesis, I examine how families, schools, and education systems shape inequalities in children’s school achievements. I show that in the United States, low-SES children fall behind their peers from better-off families over the course of primary and middle school. This is true even for those low-SES students who perform at similar levels than their peers from better-off families at the time of school entry. Why are these children left behind? Does this happen because they are raised in families that are more disadvantaged than those of their peers from better-off families, or because they attend schools of lower quality than those of their higher-SES peers? To separate the effects of families and schools, I compare learning that takes place during the summer holidays to learning that takes place during the school year. During the summer holidays, schools are closed and learning mainly reflects family influences. During the school year, both schools and families influence learning. Thus, the influences of these two institutions on learning can be disentangled by comparing summer learning and school-year learning. In addition, I examine parents’ educational behavior, finding evidence of their compensatory behavior when their children perform poorly. To determine whether the effects of schooling vary among countries, I compare these effects in the United States and Finland. In the United States, schools are segregated and of varying quality, whereas in Finland, there are relatively small differences between schools in terms of their student intakes and quality. To avoid overstating the effects of schools, I compare summer learning and school-year learning in both countries. I find that in Finland, the lower level of socioeconomic inequality between families helps to explain the higher level of education opportunity. Moreover, Finnish schools are better able to compensate for a disadvantageous family environment than are schools in the United States. To determine whether the socioeconomic inclusiveness of an education system benefits disadvantaged students but harms high-performing students or those from better-off families, I analyze how changes in the level of socioeconomic inclusiveness of the education system affects high- and low-SES students. Based on my findings, I conclude that whereas socioeconomically inclusive education systems benefit disadvantaged students, high-SES students perform well everywhere

Intergenerational Transmission of Educational Attainment: How Important Are Children's Personality Characteristics?

This study examines the role of a wide range of personality characteristics-such as the Big Five personality traits, self-esteem, goal pursuit/adjustment, social behavior, and educational aspirations-for the intergenerational transmission of educational attainment in Germany, and compares their relative importance with that of cognitive skills. We use information on more than 8,000 students from the German National Educational Panel Study. We find that personality characteristics do not mediate the association between parents' and children's attainment of the university entrance qualification (the Abitur) by age 19/20. Only educational aspirations are a strong mediator for intergenerational educational transmission. A few personality characteristics moderate intergenerational educational transmission, and they do so in favor of children with high-educated parents either as Matthew effects or compensatory advantages. In contrast to personality characteristics, cognitive skills act as strong mediators, while moderation is rather weak when accounting for personality characteristics-but again, they work in favor of privileged children. Our German study reveals similarities but also differences compared with the mostly U.S.- and U.K.-based research and inspires to rethink the importance of personality characteristics and cognitive skills for intergenerational education attainment

Persistent Disadvantages or New Opportunities? The Role of Agency and Structural Constraints for Low-Achieving Adolescents' School-to-Work Transitions

School leavers with low educational attainment face great difficulties in their school-to-work transitions. They are, however, quite heterogeneous in terms of their personal and social resources. These within-group differences may influence who shows initiative during the school-to-work transition period and thereby helps employers recognize their learning potential at labor market entry. Yet this recognition also depends on the ways employers select applicants, which may prevent them from discovering such within-group differences. We therefore investigate the interplay between agency and its constraints, that is, whether higher cognitive and noncognitive skills and more parental resources provide low-achieving school leavers with new opportunities in the school-to-work transition period or whether their low school attainment causes the persistency of their disadvantages. We use panel data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), which started in grade 9. The NEPS also includes school leavers from special-needs schools. Our sample consists of 3417 low-achieving adolescents (42% female), defined as adolescents who leave school with no or only a lower secondary school-leaving certificate. Their average school-leaving age is 16 to 17 years. Our key findings are that the transition period opens up new opportunities only for those low-achieving adolescents with better vocational orientation and higher career aspirations, leading them to make stronger application efforts. The success of youth’s initiative varies considerably by school-leaving certificate and school type but not by competences, noncognitive characteristics, and parental background. Thus, the label of “having low qualifications” is a major obstacle in this transition period - especially for the least educated subgroup. Their poor school attainment strongly disadvantages them when accessing the required training to become economically independent and hence in their general transition to adulthood. Our results are also of interest internationally, because participation in firm-based training programs functions as the entry labor market in Germany. Thus, similar explanations may apply to low-achieving adolescents' difficulties in finding a job