Equity: What it means and why it matters? Leading for Educational Change Cabramatta, NSW 23 rd October 2018 pasi_sahlberg
A short history of equity in education What do we mean by equity? Lessons from the world What to do next?
A short history of equity in education EFFECTIVE SCHOOLS: Schools matter Strong administrative leadership High expectations An orderly atmosphere Basic skills acquisition as the school s primary purpose Capacity to divert school energy and resources to advance the school s basic purpose Frequent monitoring of pupil progress OECD-P I S A 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
What is equity in education?
What is equity in education? Equity in education has two dimensions: Equity as inclusion means ensuring that all students reach at least a basic minimum level of skills. Equity as fairness implies that personal or socio-economic circumstances, such as gender, ethnic origin or family background are not obstacles to educational success. - OECD (2011) Equity in schooling means ensuring that differences in educational outcomes are not the result of differences in wealth, income, power or possessions. - Review of Funding for Schooling (2011) Equity in education is the means to achieving equality. It intends to provide the best opportunities for all students to achieve their full potential and act to address instances of disadvantage which restrict educational achievement. - UNESCO (2015)
What have we learned?
Some indicators of equity in education Resilient students Girls vs. Boys Resource allocation Variability between and within schools Achievement vs. Socio-economic status
80 % Percentage of resilient students 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Hong Kong Singapore Japan Estonia Chinese Taipei China Finland Korea Spain Canada Portugal United Kingdom Latvia Slovenia Poland Germany Australia United States Netherlands New Zealand Ireland OECD average Switzerland Denmark Belgium France Italy Norway Austria Russia Czech Republic Sweden Croatia Lithuania Turkey Malta Luxembourg Hungary Thailand Greece Slovak Republic Iceland Israel Chile Uruguay Mexico Colombia Indonesia Brazil OECD, 2016
Girls vs. boys: Reading performance 0 Score point difference -5-10 -15-20 -25-30 -35-40 -45-50 Finland 526 Slovenia 505 Iceland 482 Korea 517 Norway 513 Sweden 500 Lithuania 472 Greece 467 Slovak Republic 453 New Zealand 509 Australia 503 Malaysia 431 Thailand 409 Poland 506 France 499 Hong Kong (China) 527 Estonia 519 Turkey 428 OECD average 493 Croatia 487 Canada 527 Russia 495 Czech Republic 487 Switzerland 492 Chinese Taipei 497 Hungary 470 Netherlands 503 Indonesia 397 Uruguay 437 Brazil 407 Israel 479 Denmark 500 United Kingdom 498 Luxembourg 481 Germany 509 Spain 496 Singapore 535 Austria 485 United States 497 Portugal 498 B- S-J-G (China) 494 Italy 485 Belgium 499 Mexico 423 Colombia 425 Japan 516 Ireland 521 Chile 459 OECD, 2016
Allocation of educational resources vs. mathematics performance 650 Before accounting for per capita GDP Equity in resource allocation refers to the difference in the index of quality of schools' educational resources between socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged school. Mathematics performance (score points) 600 550 500 450 400 350 1,5 Less equity Italy Portugal Spain France Austria Iceland Luxembourg Slovenia Denmark Czech Rep. Korea Japan Switzerland Netherlands Poland Canada Belgium EstoniaGermany Australia Ireland Finland UK New Zealand USA Sweden Norway Hungary Slovak Rep. R² = 0,33 Israel Turkey Greece Chile Mexico 1 0,5 Equity in resource allocation (index-point difference) 0-0,5 More equity OECD, 2013
Variation in science performance within and between schools Netherlands 114 B-S-J-G (China) 119 Hungary 104 Belgium 112 Slovenia 10 1 Germany 110 Slovak Republic 109 Malta 154 United Arab Emirates 110 Austria 106 Israel 126 Czech Republic 101 Japan 97 Switzerland 110 Si ngapore 120 Italy 93 Chinese Taipei 111 Luxembourg 112 Turkey 70 Brazil 89 Cr oatia 89 Greece 94 Chile 83 Lithuania 92 OECD average 100 Korea 1 01 Australia 117 United Kingdom 111 Colombia 72 Thailand 69 Hong Kong (China) 72 Portugal 94 Dominican Republic 59 Indonesia 52 New Zealand 121 United States 108 Sweden 117 Mexico 57 Macao (China) 74 Estonia 88 Russi a 76 Canada 95 Poland 92 Denmark 91 Latvia 75 Ireland 88 Spain 86 Norway 103 Finland 103 Iceland 93 Within-school variation Between-school variation OECD average 70% OECD average 30% 110 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 OECD, 2016
Equity vs. quality of educational outcomes Student achievement in reading, mathematics and science (PISA) STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT Singapore Hong Kong China EQUITY OF OUTCOMES Weakness of the relationship between student achievement and family background (ESCS Index) OECD, 2016
Lesson 1: School choice advocates often argue that the introduction of market mechanisms in education allows equal access to high quality schooling for all However evidence does not support these perceptions, as choice and associated market mechanisms can enhance segregation. OECD, 2012
Lesson 2: There is no consistent evidence that private schools deliver better learning outcomes than public schools. Numerous risks, such as the exclusion of disadvantaged or less able or desirable students, social segregation, exploitation of families for profit and the undermining of public education. World Bank, 2017
What can you do?
1 Build the sense of shared responsibility
Strengthen common understanding of equity Make time available for professional collaboration Make equity a driver to school improvement
2 Invest in well-being
Strengthen the whole-child approach Secure healthy nutrition for all Let the children play
3 Empower students
We can, whenever and wherever we choose, successfully teach all children whose schooling is of interest to us. We already know more than we need to do that. Whether or not we do it must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven t so far. -Ron Edmonds in 1979
Thank you! pasi_sahlberg